Free community college? Not so fast
Local school heads say devil is in the details
Gov. Deval Patrick's recently proposed plan to make community college tuition-free promises to make quality education universally affordable for commonwealth students.
But it could create big headaches for administrators and bean-counters at area schools.
"Students who have to invest something in their own education, other than their time, are more inclined to stay motivated and matriculate," Carberry said. "Maybe a sliding fee scale of some sort based on income, I think that might be a more appropriate way to go."
Carberry also worried that the commonwealth may shoot itself in the foot if it loses federal student financial aid money by making community college education "free." Carberry said about one third of QCC students receive federal aid.
"If we just set a plan where all of the education is 'free,' and those federal dollars don't wash through the process, we have lost a valuable revenue source to help fund higher education in the commonwealth," Carberry said.
Money streams
Daniel Asquino, president of Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, said his school would have to rely much more on public funds without the revenue generated by tuition and fees.
"Someone has to pay for new technology, higher salaries, and rent," Asquino said. "So we'll necessarily have to become more publicly funded."
Both Carberry and Asquino stressed the importance of involving the private sector in funding initiatives. A major role of community colleges is as a workforce development tool, they said, and companies should help foot the bill to produce the kinds of workers they want.
"Where there is a deployment of new technologies into a workforce sector, the industry that is leading the way needs to help us transfer that knowledge to potential workers," Carberry said.
Currently, QCC has a partnership with Verizon, while MWCC runs some of its programs at Devens in conjunction with Bristol Meyers Squibb. Both said they would like to see new partnerships develop.
Another problem Carberry foresees is one of growing demand that will ultimately put too much strain on QCC's already overburdened capital infrastructure. If a student is academically and financially eligible to attend community college, Carberry said, the school must admit them.
An influx of new students with no accompanying revenue for capital improvements and state of the art technology would further hinder the school, she said.
Still, Asquino thinks the plan will go a long way toward helping the long-term financial health of the state.
"It's an investment towards putting more people into the workforce," Asquino said. "It's a chicken and egg thing. If we have more people coming to the area because of more jobs, we'll have a larger workforce, which will attract more companies and even more jobs, which will in turn generate revenue for the state."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments