Blog#1: Obama's Community-College Plan: A Reading List

Summary:

President Obama went to Tennessee with the state’s Republican governor and two Republican senators, to introduce his plan for free community college. If approved by the congressional, the plan would apply to students attending a two-year college. This would include part time students. So as long as the college offered credits that could transfer to a four-year college or provide training that led to jobs. The odds of a Republican congress passing an Obama proposal on any issue are very slim. But if some Republicans showed an interest there is a great chance that congress will pass a related program. Or even states and local governments could decide to implement their own, smaller versions of the Obama plan. The Obama plan was influenced by a proposal from Sara Goldrick- Rab and Nancy Kendall, professors at the University of Wisconsin. Their proposal argued that the current financial aid systems is broken. Which is the reason for “students from high-income families who enter college are now six times more likely than those from low-income families to complete bachelor’s degrees by age 25.”

Analysis:

Every school year there are many students who are stressing over how they are going to pay for school. Whether the reason be that they don’t get enough money they need for financial aid, unable to get approved for student loans, or just not being able to get any funding. The Obama’s community- college plan would give this students the advantage of a fresh start and not having to stress about paying for college for the first two years. I started off at a community college and was unable to received financial aid due to my mother’s income. However, I have three younger siblings that my mom also has to support. So for my two years at community college I paid for my tuition, classes, and books. If the Obama plan was around I definitely would have taken an advantage of it.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/10/upshot/obamas-community-college-plan-a-reading-list.html?abt=0002&abg=1

Candace Burton

7:21 pm

2/8/15