President Obama announced on Jan. 8 a proposal in favor of free “for anyone willing to work for it” community college tuition. As college students face higher debt than ever, The Echo asked: “Do you think free tuition for community college is a good idea? Why or why not?”
I don’t think it would be a good idea because Washtenaw is already so inexpensive compared to any other school you can go to. That’s where I went, and they put most of their money, from what I know, back into the school and it makes it a really good community college to go to. It’s one of the best in the area and probably in the country. It’s like $100 a credit hour right now, so that’s $300 a class. You pay three times as much here for most of the same teachers. Most of my teachers at Washtenaw teach here as well, or at U of M, so I think it would probably diminish the quality of the school.
-- Andrew Elliott, marketing, senior
“No, I don’t think that free tuition to community college would be a good idea, because I feel like a lot of people would stop at two years and wouldn’t continue their education. Which, in the long run, would minimize the opportunities for a lot of jobs or keep people at jobs that they don’t really feel satisfied in. People can be lazy, so I just feel like a lot of people wouldn’t continue to actually go to a four-year university or further.”
-- Amy Elliott, undecided, freshman
“Yes, because I think that money should not be a barrier for people pursuing higher education.”
Adrianna Duchene, social work, senior
“I think it’s a great idea because it would really help people who can’t afford the major universities to at least get some kind of further education. Basically, now college is a requirement if you want any sort of decent job. So, yeah, I think it would be a great thing. People can at least get an associate’s degree or they can save their money, get two years of community college out of the way and then go to a major university and get a bachelor’s.”
-- Nicklas Casella, theatre, junior
“I think it’s a good idea. It opens up a bigger market for education, in a sense. Basically, it allows students an opportunity who don’t have the typical opportunities that other students have and who can’t afford college, the opportunity to enhance their learning.”
-- Gilda Hall, biology, senior
“I think it would be a good idea to have free tuition for community college, because I feel like it would give more people an opportunity to go to school. Although a class at Washtenaw is only $100 a credit hour, still, that is a lot of money to most people who are not in as good of circumstances as other people. So, it would give a majority of Americans the chance to go to community college and receive an associate’s degree, and help them to gain employment. Most of the reason people don’t get hired is because they don’t even have a two-year degree, so that could eliminate one more reason why someone couldn’t better themselves.”
-- Keren Flores, psychology, senior
