Obama Proposes Free Two-Year Community College Education for Students

President Obama proposed to have two years of community college free for students.

Many students will be interested to hear that President Obama has proposed making community college free for students for two years. He announced on Thursday that the tuition bill would instead be paid by the federal government and states.

The average annual savings for each student will be about $3,800. The White House said that if all states participate, about 9 million students could partake in the benefits.  This could add around 34 billion dollars in annual cost to the federal government and states. The White House said that about 75% of the cost would be funded by the federal government, and the other 25% would be paid by the states that participate in the program.

The program will support both part time and full time students, however the students will only receive the benefits if they maintain a GPA of 2.5.

Obama said, "It's not just for kids, we also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to constantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better benefits."

There is also a lot of skepticism towards this proposal. For example, Cory Fritz, press secretary for John Boehner said this about it,

“With no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan.”

At this point in time, the exact details about funding are unsure of. It is reported they will be announced later in time.