Free community college for everyone? We can all be Aric Hall!

[SwaggyP]

I prefer to have a cap with no more than 3% increases in tuition for inflation. This smells very similar to the ACA. I do not believe there are caps for insurance companies either (correct me if I'm wrong).

There was someone on this board who said that the community colleges in 1989 were charging around $11 a credit, and due to the very easy (believe me I know) student loans, the cost of tuition exploded. In fact $11 in 1989 is worth around $21 today. That tells me the rate of inflation with colleges is much higher with all of that free money floating around. Many CC's are charging $85 and above.

However, if this is true and the program would implement caps, this could be a very wonderful thing.

My county CC charges $113 per credit, and $140 per credit for on-line courses. So when I looked at the $175 per credit under enrolled options at TESC, I was pleasantly surprised and it made the decision easier to cease taking CC classes in favor of TESC UL courses.

I'm personally not a big fan of this proposal, it's simply adding the 13th and 14th grade after HS for students. And anytime something becomes free, it's also devalued. Higher education should be affordable to the masses; but education also offers professional and personal enrichment; and there should be a cost associated with gaining that. What I would like to see is at least 30-45 General Education College Credit hours earned in HS through classes during Jr. and Sr. years. Not dissimilar to AP, but minus the exam and limited selection process; students should be graduating HS with an equivalent of CC level general studies anyways; College should be about learning specialized knowledge- I think a lot more people would finish under that scenario. If everybody graduated HS 1/4 complete in pursuit of a BA/BS, it would make it financially reasonable to continue their studies and keep students motivated by knowing their within reach. Our system of 4 years of college post HS to get a degree is an exception rather then the rule when compared to most of the world.