The Impact of Online Shopping on Higher Education
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Understanding Why There Is So Much Interest In Making At Least A Portion Of College “Free”
The reasons for doing so are basically threefold. Studies show we will need many more college-educated people in the U.S. workplace than we are currently producing. Secondly, studies show that education can and does lift people out of poverty. Thirdly, the cost to attend college can be an insurmountable barrier to entrance for some and the debt accumulated while attending college can become a huge burden for many of our students.
Americans now collectively owe more than $1.2 trillion in student loan debt. About 37 percent of households headed by an adult younger than 40 have student debt according to the Pew Research Center. As a result of this trend, student loan debt is becoming a central issue on the national stage.
The idea of free college is advancing on many fronts. An existing model is the Tennessee Promise, which has been active since 2014. In Oregon, they just approved a similar Oregon Promise model, and the District of Columbia is currently progressing a similar bill. National proposals for free two-year college tuition plans are being put forth by President Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Martin O’Malley. All of these proposals to some degree create a post-secondary system that is similar to K-12 education, available to all, where students don’t have to worry about how they are going to finance at least the first two years college tuition.
Free two-year college would likely have a huge impact on the nation if a lot of people took advantage of it. As a point of comparison, consider the GI Bill that granted free higher education access for GIs in 1944, which was the catalyst for the greatest economic expansion in our nation’s history. These current national proposals, if enacted, would throw open the doors of higher education to all Americans, and potentially prompt another great economic expansion.
Enacting such a proposal would be welcome news to many American families who are worrying about how they will fund a college education. It would also support the mission of community colleges throughout the U.S. to provide open access to a higher education opportunity.
Logistical Issues for Colleges
How might colleges need to change and adapt if a free college plan is enacted? If any of the free college plans being put forth were adopted on a large scale, colleges would have some logistical and infrastructure issues to be worked out. The big overarching question for free college is, assuming enrollment will dramatically increase, how would colleges handle that increase and do so in a manner that enhances student success?
Some questions to consider if the first two years of college were to become free:
Some actions that colleges could begin taking to prepare for free college:
If free two-year college were to become a reality it would pose a challenge for the nation’s community colleges. Just offering free two-year college is not enough. College may become free to students but it will not be cost-free to the colleges. Legislatures and Congress must provide adequate resources to accommodate the increased number of students. Although some questions remain unanswered, it is certain that the nation’s community colleges would rise to the occasion if given the opportunity to serve in this capacity.
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Author Perspective: Administrator, Community College
This is a very practical list and I hope that those making these promises have considered at least a few of them ahead of time. But as stated in the article, community colleges have always been at the forefront of educational accessibility, and I have no doubt they’ll find a way to rise to the occasion.
It’s a bit ironic that there is a possibility that by opening these doors colleges could lose what makes them different (and in some cases better) than four-year universities, namely the quality of personal interactions. Instructors will find themselves spread thinner and administrative tasks will have to be automated and put online even more than they already are in order to meet demand.
Karen and Greg, I enjoyed reading your thoughtful comments about the article. It’s an interesting concept to ponder. I’m hope we’ll see more details about the potential plans in the coming months.