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Today's Poll: Should the first two years of community college be free?

By Howard B. Owens
Cheryl Wilmet

I am wondering what the cost comparison is between the grants students are given now for college which aren't paid back and the cost of 2 years at community college. Also if it were to happen, it should not include the cost for someone to attend a community college out of state. You should only be able to get this if you stay local.

Jan 15, 2015, 7:59am Permalink
Raymond Richardson

Cost per semester at MCC is just over $1700, or $3400 per year, for a total of $6800 for a 2 year tuition, for a NYS resident, as compared to $3416 a semester for non-NYS residents, or $13664 for a 2 year tuition, not including the small, less than $10, fees added for each semester.

Jan 15, 2015, 8:11am Permalink
Peter O'Brien

A program put in place for full time workers, earning less than $10/hr with good attendance at work, that pays tuition only, so long as they keep working I could get behind.

But I don't want to create grades 13 and 14.

Jan 15, 2015, 8:46am Permalink
Raymond Richardson

So basically you're saying the graduating H.S. seniors are left out of this, by your theory, because they can't meet the full time employment requirement?

Heart's in the right place, just a bad idea is all.

I was actually thinking more along the lines of, maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher to qualify for the free two year tuition.

Jan 15, 2015, 8:50am Permalink
Jerry Buckman

No, because not everyone is college material and it's not what America needs.

Two years of trade school, however, makes a lot of sense to me. A young person learns an actual skill then commits to use it for a period of time in return for the government-provided tuition.

If Pres Obama would've introduced 2 years of mandatory, paid community service after high school, I'd heavily support him. Military, Peace Corps, any kind of public service that would expose a young person to America, teach some Americanism, demonstrate how to get along with others, and result in a good citizen.

Jan 15, 2015, 8:58am Permalink
Dave Olsen

I think there needs to be more and better affordable access to continuing education after high school. However, the problem with this idea is that subsidies typically raise the price of everything around it. That is already evident by the cost of college skyrocketing in the face of government subsidized financing. So the next 2 years of college will cost yet more than they do now and nothing will have been solved. Also, it will dilute the value of an associates degree.
Nothing is free, it has to balance somehow.

Jan 15, 2015, 11:28am Permalink
John Roach

Nothing is free. This has to be paid for somehow, and we cannot pay for what we spend now. We are in debt up to our great grandkids ears.

And like so many well meaning programs, it will spiral out of control. And why should only groups picked by the government get it for free? That is just plain not fair on the face of it.

Jan 15, 2015, 11:38am Permalink
Peter O'Brien

If a HS senior get a job and works full time over the summer, they would qualify. There is no exclusion. I am for helping people who work hard, not giving people a hand out.

Jan 15, 2015, 11:55am Permalink
Scott Ogle

"That is already evident by the cost of college skyrocketing in the face of government subsidized financing."

But is that the cause of the skyrocketing costs, Dave? Government has been financing higher education since the GI Bill of Rights of 1944.

Jan 15, 2015, 12:03pm Permalink
Dave Olsen

It's not the only cause, but surely a contributing factor. The rise of administration is probably the biggest reason, same as in public schools. Government mandates, affirmative action reporting and accounting related to accepting government grants and subsidized loans helped that to happen. Not to mention the arrogance of college faculty in believing they are above such menial bourgeois tasks without any thought of how more underlings would get paid.

So, like most anything else connected with government, the cause of high costs is bureaucracy, politics and poor fiscal stewardship.

Jan 15, 2015, 12:56pm Permalink
Scott Ogle

True, but I think it's important to remember that student loans, just like the GI Bill, aren't handouts. They're government backed loans that no form of bankruptcy can forgive. The post war (WW II) prosperity fueled a burgeoning middle class such as the world had never seen before, and the government played no small role in the transition from a full-production war economy to the consumer economy we still, for the most part, enjoy today.

Jan 15, 2015, 1:23pm Permalink
Mark Potwora

I voted no...If you want a higher education put some of your own money out..You go to two years of college and fail who should bear that cost.... The government would like to have you from the age of 3 {UPK}up until the age of 20 {2 years of college}all on the taxpayers dime..The people who have no children really lose out....Boon for teachers unions, loss for taxpayers..

Jan 15, 2015, 1:33pm Permalink
C. M. Barons

Dangling free tuition to a community college is politics- pure and simple. The real issue is student loans, usurious rates and the inability to pay them back. Obama, for the sake of his Wall Street banker-buddies, won't re-invent the higher education loan system. Offering a student intent on a prestigious law or medical degree two years, free, at MCC is... I like Jerry's idea describing a quid pro quo; something that benefits both the recipient, the provider and the community. These corporations that receive corporate welfare: why not a provision that they open up internships as part of the qualification for tax breaks and grants?

Jan 15, 2015, 2:14pm Permalink
Scott Ogle

"The real issue is student loans, usurious rates and the inability to pay them back."

Yes.

"I like Jerry's idea describing a quid pro quo; something that benefits both the recipient, the provider and the community."

And yes again.

Jan 15, 2015, 2:53pm Permalink
Tim Miller

As Jerry noted - not everybody is "college material"... So the 2-year education should include trade schools as well.

Jan 15, 2015, 4:17pm Permalink
david spaulding

Let's see if anybody likes this idea......... How about making student loans interest free? The money lent is yours and mine to begin with. We lend money to the student for tuition. The student gets an education , goes to work and pays back what they borrowed. I think we would all benefit from the education we invest in.

Jan 15, 2015, 4:56pm Permalink

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