President Barack Obama has proposed making publicly funded community college available to all Americans with a program that would make the first two years of higher education as free and accessible as high school.
With few details available on the plan, which is estimated to cost the federal government $60 billion over 10 years, Georgia officials were cautiously optimistic about its possible impact on the Peach State.
“The governor’s view is that Georgia has been doing this for years. It’s certainly paid dividends for our citizens,” said Brian Robinson, spokesman for Gov. Nathan Deal. “He’ll no doubt take a look at the program and see how it fits with what we’re already doing under HOPE.”
Any federal program that aids in this area could potentially allow Georgia’s HOPE dollars to go further, Robinson said.
The White House estimates about 9 million students could eventually participate in the community college plan and save an average of $3,800 in tuition each year if they attend full-time.
Students would qualify if they attend college at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and make progress toward completing a degree or certificate program. Participating schools would also have to meet requirements, such as offering programs that fully transfer credits to local, public four-year institutions or that count as training for high-demand job fields.
The federal government would pay for 75 percent of the costs, with the final quarter coming from states that opt into the program.
Georgia is in the midst of its own efforts to increase the number of college graduates in the state and boost skills needed for the modern workforce. State lawmakers recently expanded the popular HOPE scholarship program to pay full tuition for the state’s highest-achieving technical college students, and for those enrolling in high-demand fields. The state has also launched a program through its technical college and university system to encourage Georgians with some college credits to finish their degrees.
With those initiatives already underway, Georgia’s investments could satisfy the one-fourth state funding requirement under Obama’s plan, said Claire Suggs, senior education policy analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. If so, some lottery dollars — which fund the HOPE program — could be allocated for a need-based scholarship program or more pre-K funding, Suggs said.
Obama’s plan is based on a model implemented by Tennessee, which for two years pays community college tuition and fees not covered by federal grants. The president plans to unveil more details of the proposal during his State of the Union address later this month.
Early reviews from Georgia’s congressional delegation were mixed.
“The devil is in the details, especially in our current fiscal climate,” said Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany. “Nevertheless, the more emphasis we can place on education, especially technical education and job training, the better we will be able to remain competitive and maintain our status as a global leader.”
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins denounced Obama's plan. "The President thinks 'free' community college is a good idea. There's no such thing as a free government program," Collins, R-Gainesville, said in a Twitter post on Friday. He also included a link to a similarly titled article written by an education policy fellow of the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.
But economist Thomas Smith of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University said that for taxpayers, the costs of investing in education are returned in the form of faster growth and higher incomes.
“This is how you increase the productivity of your labor force,” he said. “The returns on investments in education are really quite high.”
About the Author
