San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
BIDEN’S AMERICAN FAMILIES PLAN
Could offering two free years of community college be a good way to grow the middle class? Our panelists offer their views.
ECONOMISTS NO
I like the idea of subsidizing community colleges as a way to help some young people move up. But in my opinion, making it free is going too far. If the student isn’t paying, they’re less likely to take it seriously and won’t get as much out of it. It’s not fair or effective to ask taxpayers to make all the sacrifices while the beneficiaries
YES
Providing two free years of community college is a great investment for our country. The future workforce will need to compete with robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence that will eventually make current lower-skilled positions obsolete. A wider array of skilled and credential programs will be critical for future career advancement, and investment in a reimagined community college system is a great place to start.
YES
While I oppose totally free college education (aside from scholarships), I suppose we can view this as an optional extension of high school, recognizing that minimum educational levels for most living-wage jobs today require more than high school. The key will be to make community colleges compete with transparency on faculty credentials, student success, and job placement or continuing education success. Without transparency and competition, the concept will not work.
NO
The evidence suggests not. In California, where lowincome students already pay nothing, nearly 60 percent of adults still have not moved beyond high school. Another 20 percent started but never completed college. Nationwide free community college could boost enrollment, but larger class sizes could jeopardize quality. The first priority should be to improve the education and counseling students receive before they even reach college age. The focus should then be to ensure that college attendees actually complete their degrees.
EXECUTIVES YES
Community college offers an education pathway to many with barriers to attending college and can lift economic selfsufficiency. Indicators show that those who attended community college earn 9 to 13 percent more than those with a high school diploma only. This probably is not enough to elevate the majority of those who take advantage of the plan to middle-class status. However, continuing education is a critical start to upward mobility.
NO
The Department of Education already provides the Pell Grant, which is a need-based federal grant program that typically doesn’t have to be repaid. Subsidizing community college isn’t the best solution. It’s estimated that of those who attend a community college that a very small percentage go on to earn a bachelor’s degree; a quarter receive an associate degree or certificate; and more than half do not earn either. Vocational/technical schools could help provide technical credentials and work experience with a targeted career path to help grow the middle class.
YES
But, of the many proposals, most feel poorly targeted at accomplishing the stated goal. If we want to enable social mobility via access to education, fund only those that financially need the assistance to attend low-cost (community colleges are great here) institutions, with high graduation and job placement rates to earn degrees in fields of high need. Thereby, enabling anyone to attend college and start to address our deficits in futureresilient fields.
NO
The benefit of free community college would accrue to many who can already afford it. There’s no easy solution because communities and states are different, but many of these states already have programs for those who cannot afford community college to attend via grants. A country with 330 million people cannot provide free everything — additionally, there is a better incentive to succeed at school when some dollars are spent by those who can afford it.