Earlier this week, President Obama proposed a mind-blowing idea that is getting the attention of all types of students: two years of free community college to Americans that are "willing to work for it." This is a dream come true to many youngsters and adults who want to go back to school, but it is a lot more complicated than people think. The White House announced that this plan would require at least $60 billion over 10 years and any state that is involved in the program is required to pay $20 billion while the federal government covers the rest. According to the White House, about 35% of jobs are going to require at least a bachelors degree and about 30% are going to require an associates degree by 2020. Obama explained that his rationale behind the idea in a speech at Pellissippi State Community College: "Community college should be free for those willing to work for it because, in America, a quality education should not be a privilege that is reserved for a few." He also said that a high school diploma is no longer enough for American workers to compete in the global economy and that a college degree is "the surest ticket to the middle class."
Even though this is a great initiative for the expensive higher education dilemma this country has, this proposition still does not fix the fact that four-year universities are so expensive. According to Russia Today, the average cost for a public four-year university is $9,139 and $31,231 for a private school per semester. You still have to multiply these numbers by 8 to get the real cost which is about $73,112 for public and $279,848 for private (and this is WITHOUT room and board costs.) Even community college students have to transfer to a four-year university after two years which will leave them with about $36,556 if they transferred to a public school and $139,924 if they transferred to a private school. With the greater number of students striving to go to four-year universities and receive masters and PhD degrees, I think that it would be a better idea to fix the ridiculous prices that these universities are charging to make them more accessible to everyone. If you are going to take on a problem as big as this one, you might as well hit it head on.
Link to article:
http://rt.com/usa/221311-obama-free-college-cost/
Even though this is a great initiative for the expensive higher education dilemma this country has, this proposition still does not fix the fact that four-year universities are so expensive. According to Russia Today, the average cost for a public four-year university is $9,139 and $31,231 for a private school per semester. You still have to multiply these numbers by 8 to get the real cost which is about $73,112 for public and $279,848 for private (and this is WITHOUT room and board costs.) Even community college students have to transfer to a four-year university after two years which will leave them with about $36,556 if they transferred to a public school and $139,924 if they transferred to a private school. With the greater number of students striving to go to four-year universities and receive masters and PhD degrees, I think that it would be a better idea to fix the ridiculous prices that these universities are charging to make them more accessible to everyone. If you are going to take on a problem as big as this one, you might as well hit it head on.
Link to article:
http://rt.com/usa/221311-obama-free-college-cost/
Rachel Devine 6th
ReplyDeleteI think it would be wonderful to give everyone the opportunity to get a college experience. It would take a lot of work to put it into effect, but I think it will be worth it.
This is a great concept if all it comes together, and hopefully the government will be able to handle this project even in economically hard times.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a wonderful idea. I hope more colleges do this!
ReplyDelete