In advance of his State of the Union address, President Obama is traveling to Tennessee today to announce one of his keystones of his 2015 agenda: two free years of community college. The proposal, called America’s College Promise, is based on Republican Governor Bill Haslam, who developed and launched Tennessee Promise, which begins this year. Tennessee Promise allows any high school graduate in that state is eligible for two years of free community college tuition under the Tennessee Promise. The President’s announcement is expected to be a cornerstone of his FY16 Budget Request.
The Administration’s proposal would make community college free for any student who enrolls at least part-time and maintains a 2.5 grade point average. The plan would allow anyone admitted to a community college to attend without paying tuition, so long as they enroll in a program meeting certain basic requirements, and they remain on track to graduate in three years.Qualifying programs would be one of two types: it would had credits that fully transfer to local public four-year colleges and universities or it would consist of training programs with high graduation rates that lead to in-demand degrees and certificates. All community college students, including those first entering community college or those going back to school, would be eligible for the program.
The White House estimates that approximately 9 million students would participate a year.
Any state participating would have to maintain funding for all higher education as well as pay 25% of the total cost. It is estimated the program could cost upwards of $15 billion per year. It is unclear how it would be paid for, but that information is expected to be made clear in the President’s Budget Request for FY16 on February 2.
Typically, the President would do these visits to promote new initiatives after the State of the Union and before the release of the President’s Budget Request. However, the President will be making a state visit to India after the State of the Union, and so promotion for big initiates is happening now in what the Administration is calling a Spoiler Alerts.
The President is expected to formally announce the America’a College Promise at 1 pm Eastern. In addition to Governor Haslam, the President will be joined by both of Tennessee’s Republican Senators, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander. Senator Alexander is the Chairman of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee. Watch the announcement live here.
The Office of Federal Relations will continue to track and update information on this initiative as it becomes available.