On the surface, community colleges like Obama plan for free education
MWCC President Daniel Asquino says higher education helps in getting hired.
Money isn't the only barrier preventing some from going to college. But taxpayers can build an open gate through that barrier.
President Obama wants them to. He offered an idea last month that would provide two years of community college tuition-free, with states picking up a quarter of the tab and the federal government paying the rest.
Though likely to be a tough sell in Washington, the proposal has sparked thought and discussion. If the country is sitting in the classroom seats, the problem on the board says: Fill the jobs of the future.
There's no one solution, but area educators interviewed are enthusiastic about tuition-free community college, yet curious how to make it work.
“The intent,” said Paul Reville of Worcester, Massachusetts' secretary of education from 2008 to 2013, “is right on the money.”
“The mechanics,” the Harvard professor added with a chuckle, “are something that can be talked about. … It's a complicated matter.”
The administration of former governor Deval Patrick, whom Reville served under, entertained a similar plan in 2007 before the Great Recession hit. “Making community college an entitlement is something I believe deeply in,” Reville said.
He and other professionals agree: Workforce development is an increasingly complex and critical issue. But the key first step has always been to connect people with the opportunity to learn.
“It is good to have the issue of affordability for college students on the front burner,” Worcester State University President Barry Maloney said. “President Obama's bold proposal offers one way to get more students started on that path.”
Maloney said WSU has expanded agreements with area community colleges to ease the transfer process. But despite such efforts to enhance access to area four-year colleges, “the Massachusetts workforce will face a graduate gap of some 50,000 degree-qualified employees by 2025,” he said.
A stronger, more competitive economy is the bottom line to a slate of higher-education initiatives since Obama took office in 2009, the White House says. Experts say the nation's productivity relies more than ever on a workforce trained beyond high school. Practical, middle-skill careers in computers, health care, research, manufacturing and other sectors are available to competent, motivated people with at least an associate's degree, but employers often report too few qualified applicants.
Of course, the president's proposal, America's College Promise, has to pass Congress. But in the current political climate, with both chambers in Republican control and the national budget deficit at more than $500 billion a year, most observers agree: Ain't gonna happen.
Large precedent
Why would taxpayers pay for two years of college? Daniel Asquino, president of Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, frames the answer as a question: “Why did America decide to pay for K-to-12 education?”
Something we take for granted was once a plan that had to be formulated and fought for, he noted. He sees Obama's proposal as an extension of an idea that worked for decades: that a high school diploma equipped a person well for the years ahead.
Only, “times have changed,” he said, and employers are calling for increasingly specialized training.
Some might dismiss Obama's proposal as essentially a tax on the rich to give two free years of college to the masses. But Asquino urges a longer, more inclusive view: that preparing more people for a challenging and changing workforce makes the entire country better.
“But the devil's in the details,” he said. “We'll have to wait for the details.” Just one of those, he said, is how the plan would dovetail with the existing federal Pell Grants for people with lower incomes, which about half MWCC's students receive to pay for at least part of their tuition.
Meanwhile, Asquino and others said, existing educational systems need to be shored up as much as possible; better results in the earlier grades, for instance, mean less time spent on remedial work later.
'Many questions'
“Intrigued” is how Quinsigamond Community College President Gail Carberry describes the school's reaction to the free-tuition proposal, although “there are many questions swirling” about how the law would be implemented, whether states could afford their 25-percent match, and how campus facilities would be affected.
QCC appears better prepared for more students than most. It opened facilities in Southbridge, Marlborough and downtown Worcester recently, and is building new space on its main campus for STEM studies (science, technology, engineering and math).
Already, about 40 percent of QCC students attend free because of Pell grants, Carberry said. “For some students, though, particularly the 'working poor,' there are sometimes challenges to qualifying for student aid. For these students the program might be very helpful, enabling them to take more classes and graduate sooner.” After their schooling, she pointed out, they're likely to become homeowners and get better-paying jobs that put taxes back into the community.
“In short,” Carberry said, “we believe that the relevance of community colleges, the affordability and the unique mission that leads both to careers and transfer are being recognized by the president. Whether Congress decides it can support the plan remains to be seen; but we stand ready if it becomes law.”
Reville noted that the tuition cost of about $5,000 a year isn't quite the problem for many, especially with grants and other forms of assistance available. Some need academic help or guidance. And in terms of finances, he said, lower- and middle-income people find the costs of transportation, child care, and basic living expenses more daunting.
Meanwhile, Reville said, the economy needs more people getting advanced education. “The ante has gone up in terms of what's required for the workforce.”
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