Reports this week state that U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA) will introduce legislation to make community college free for low-income students.
The America’s College Promise Act will provide a federal match of $3 for every $1 invested by states to waive tuition and fees at community, technical and tribal colleges. The bill expands on President Obama’s proposal by creating an affordable path to a baccalaureate degree, by covering a significant portion of the cost of two years of college for low-income students who attend qualifying minority-serving institutions, such as historically black colleges and universities.
The sponsors envision a federal investment of $79.7 billion over the next decade.
Some of the primary features of the bill include:
- Funds would be awarded to states, upon submission of an accepted application. States would have to commit to “maintenance of effort” equal to or exceeding their average spending on public higher education, including student financial assistance, for the three previous years. States also would have to provide a 25% match.
- Available funds would be distributed to states according to their proportion of eligible students nationally.
- States would have to commit to certain “evidence-based institutional reforms and innovative practices to improve student outcomes.” There is not an explicit mandate that any one reform be undertaken, and they are largely consistent with ongoing community college reforms. Alignment between K–12 and postsecondary education, as well as 2- and 4- year public institutions, is also required.
- The bill would mandate that state recipients allocate a portion of funding for public institutions of higher education, including 4-year colleges, on performance. No specific level is required.
- States would receive a payment for each eligible student. They would receive 75% of the national average community college tuition and fees for residents. Funds could not increase each year beyond 3% or the average in-state tuition increase across the sector.
- Students would automatically qualify for a full tuition waiver for two academic years or their equivalent if they enroll in programs that can fully transfer via articulation agreement toward a bachelor’s or post-bachelor’s degree at a public institution in the state or are enrolled in an occupational skills training program that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential that is in an in-demand industry sector or occupation in the state.
- Only first-time students who maintain satisfactory academic progress would be eligible. Students would have to be enrolled on an at least half-time basis. (The legislation eschews the 2.5 grade point average and financial eligibility cap proposed by the administration.)
- States would ratably reduce their support for students if the funds available were not sufficient to cover all eligible students. Alternatively, if the funds provided to a state exceeded student eligibility, funds could be used for other purposes, such as extending benefits to non-first-time students, program improvement, college readiness, and dual enrollment.
- The legislation provides mandatory, i.e., guaranteed, funding, but it is not “paid for,” meaning that no budgetary reduction or revenue increase has been identified to cover its considerable cost. Until an offset is identified, the legislation does not have a viable path to enactment.
- The legislation also includes a much smaller section that provides assistance for students attending 4-year Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs). Many of the other provisions in this section are modeled along the lines of the community college section, although eligible students would have to be low-income. Significantly, community college transfer-in students could be supported. Funding for this portion of the legislation is about one-eighth the size of the community college section.
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