Where to start
When people hear the word free, excitement arises for a period of time. Then for a split-second doubt comes into play… guessing if “free” really means free.
College is a big topic to consider being free. Following in the footsteps of other countries to tuition a free four-year college program state-wide would be unrealistic for the United States. Considering the U.S. is $1.31 trillion in total student loan debt, to begin with. Fortunately, the tuition of Community College is substantially lower than a public four-year university. Community College is way more affordable for the government to reinvest in, one hundred percent.
Americans and lawmakers across the country need to see college as a public good just like a standard education is. Imagine public high school costing over $7,000.00. We live in an age where college is seen as a necessity. Almost an implied next step after high school. If that’s true, then we need to ratify the current education system.
There is a program at my local Community College that I benefited from called College Now. As a senior at Bloomington High School, I attended the Bloomington Area Career Center where I was enrolled in the Nursing Assistant (Certified Nursing Assistant) program. The program that I was in qualified for dual admission into Heartland community college. Meaning I received college credit for a class I was still completing at my Career Center. If I would have decided to take this course directly at Heartland Community College after High School, I would have had to pay over two thousand dollars for the class. There are a dozen courses that the College Now program is affiliated with in conjunction with local high schools and career centers that provide a free head start to a college education for high school students.
Intrigued with the program I sought to have a conversation with the director of College Now, Alauna S. Akins, to find out more information. Here is my interview with her below.
Define the College Now program in your own words.
The College Now program is a partnership with High School and Career Centers that provide early access to higher education for qualifying High School students.
What are the only requirements for students to be eligible for the program?
The requirements to be enrolled in a dual credit course depends on the courses that the student takes. English 101, for example, is a general education class, so those students would have to fill out a Heartland student application. And would have to meet those requirements for that course via assessment or ACT score. Yet it’s the same requirements that a regular college student outside of High School would have to meet. On the Career Center side, we offer career technical courses like welding, nursing, and EMT. Those are traits that students can go directly into the workforce with and might not attend college so we try to prepare them for early entry. Those classes do not require a specific assessment score.
What are the benefits to a High school senior completing college credit classes while still in high School?
There are many benefits. Early exposure for students that don’t know what they want to do is great. Some students wait until they get to a university to change their major several different times before they find the right one for them. So an advantage to College Now is a student getting the freedom to say, I like this but no I don’t like that. [sic] In a very safe time because the student is still in high school.
Another huge benefit is tuition free. Not all courses are free, but many of them are. You can think about the huge savings for families, particularly the families who struggle to afford college tuition as it is because there is no financial aid for high school students to take college-level courses.
And lastly reducing time to degree completion. For those who are going, you have some students who are coming out of high school with as many as 12 credit hours already.
Do you believe The College Now program motivates students to continue their education, especially at Heartland Community College?
I think so,particular we’re able to connect with students who are maybe not necessarily thinking about college at all. You know, I think about myself growing up as a young girl on the west side of Chicago… excelling in school yet still not realizing college was an option/possibility for me. This type of program didn’t exist where I’m from. So, I’m passionate about the program for that very reason. Obviously, we have those students who know they are going on to college. Their parents went to college, brother, sister or aunt and uncle. I try to think about the more non-traditional students who are maybe not sure, who may need that one class, that one opportunity to say, “Oh you know what…I can do this.” When you can complete some of the courses while you’re in high school it gives you way more confidence for you to go off to college and say, “I’ve done this before and I can do it again.”
Would you say the College Now program is a good first step in moving toward the direction of tuition-free community college?
Absolutely, I think that education can and should serve as an equalizer… To address, I mean deliberately address some disparities that exist among people in the world. And so, for that reason I think that it is a great first step, I’m looking to expand the program. Again, I’m looking for that untapped, unrepresented population of students, who maybe…are kind of in limbo about higher education. I think this is a great opportunity for those who may not be able to afford the opportunity yet, in fact, appreciate it more.
While College Now at Heartland Community College is a great program, it is only scraping the surface to what needs to come in the future. Unfortunately not every state will more toward tuition-free community college. For those that don’t a program like College Now is a huge benefit for students that want to go to college but might not be able to afford it. In a previous story called The Tuition Crisis, in Obtaining a Higher Education Without the Shackles of Debt. I brought up the fact that many states have pulled funding for public services. While that is still true, some have stepped up and provided their citizens with Tuition-Free Community College.
One state with a program in place is Tennessee.
Tennessee has a program called Tennessee Promise to “ensure that recent high school graduates have the opportunity to attend state Community Colleges without paying tuition or fees”. Only requiring a few eligibility requirements yet none pertaining to how much money your family makes. Generally, all recent high school graduates have access to this program. Tennessee Promise is funded through an “endowment fund…most of the original money coming from $300 million of lottery reserve funds. And $47 million from a one-time state gen fund.” This program has changed the lives of many high school seniors in Tennessee.
Ceaser Sanchez is a recent high school graduate. He is doing something “he never thought possible.” Through Tennessee Promise, he is completing two years of community college education for free. Ceaser said, “at one point, I didn’t see myself going to college after graduation, it made me really happy.” Meghan Moyer, the director of government relations at Portland community College, hopes, “opportunities like this create a college-going culture.”
This is a map of states in the US that have a tuition-free community college program in place, legislation passed, and legislation introduced. On the National Conference of State Legislatures website, the map is interactive and you can see the actual bill set in place regarding tuition-free community college your state has.
One city recently took a bold step and declared that all of its’ residents qualify for tuition-free Community College education. With the only requirement being that you’ve been a resident for two years and a day. San Francisco’s City College is “tuition-free to its residents regardless of income under a deal by Mayor Ed Lee.” The funding is totally different from how other states do it. The deal was passed through, “A tax on properties sold for at least $5 million.” Since it is a tax, Franciscans voted for this deal themselves. The city plans to provide $5.4 million annually for qualified students. In addition, low-income students with fees already waived get an extra $500 a year if enrolled full-time to help with the cost of books. Given San Francisco’s location, this tax works out well. Lawmakers saw the benefits of college and realized that everyone deserves the chance to have a better life.
Cost-free community college gives students the peace of mind to make a decision that can truly change their lives. Mayors and governors across the country see the window of opportunity that a degree brings, “Today, we fling wide open the doors of opportunity by expanding access to post-secondary education, the precursor to a better life.” Kate Brown, governor of Oregon, said after signing a bill that will offer tuition-free community college to the state’s recent high-school graduates.
At Community Colleges, there are many high school graduates that “chose college over dim employment prospects and older workers returned to retool and gain new skills.”-CBPP. This proves again that Community College is a vital tool in the community.
If you live in a state or city that does not provide tuition-free community college I encourage you to contact the office of your state Representative and Governor . Get support from your high school and Community College. Every citizen in the United States of America deserves to have a true shot at the American dream through education. That cannot happen without action. Americans take for granted that we live in a country where we can voice our opinion. Stand up and demand that higher learning is not only limited to those who can afford it.
With tuition-free community college, every student is college material.
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