WASHINGTON, DC – The Campaign for Free College Tuition (CFCT) applauds President Obama’s initiative to make community colleges tuition free in partnership with state governments.
“The President’s plan would transform the nation’s higher education system, and help countless families make the American Dream a reality for their children. For many, it could cut the cost of a four-year college degree in half. The plan deserves, and should get, bipartisan support,” stated Morley Winograd, the President of the Campaign for Free College Tuition (CFCT).
“President Obama has sent a powerful signal in choosing to announce his proposal in Knoxville, with Tennessee’s Republican Governor Bill Haslam.” Winograd said. “Governor Haslam has demonstrated tremendous leadership in enacting the ‘Tennessee Promise’ that will make his state’s public community and technical colleges tuition free for high school graduates. Thanks to his leadership and the President’s, the once seemingly unobtainable idea of tuition-free college is gaining broad bipartisan support. We now call on Congress to make tuition free for almost half of all students currently enrolled in college.”
“In today’s global economy, we need an even more educated workforce that can only be built by making college tuition free,” Winograd continued. “We look forward to learning more about the President’s proposal and working with both Democrats and Republicans to restore our nation’s historic commitment to free and universal education.”
James Blanchard, Former Governor of Michigan, Congressman and Ambassador to Canada, also applauded President Obama’s announcement “I am pleased that the White House is seeking to work with the nation’s governors to make the attainment of a college education a possibility for every American, without regard to their financial circumstances, Blanchard said. “It is in our nation’s economic interest to invest in our citizens looking to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the 21st Century.”
During his tenure as Governor of Michigan, Blanchard championed the creation of the first tuition guarantee program in the nation -- the Michigan Education Trust (MET) in 1986. Since implementation, over 100,000 Michigan students have participated in MET and received full tuition.
Former Governor of Delaware and Congressman Michael Castle added that he was pleased that President Obama will travel to Tennessee “to, in the words of the state’s Republican Governor, talk about a program that will ‘help change the face of our country.’ I agree with Governor Haslam that’s a good thing and hope that the announcement in Knoxville portends bipartisan congressional action.”
CFCT is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization established in the State of Washington in 2014 to educate parents, students, the higher education community, policy makers and taxpayers about efforts needed to fundamentally reform our nation’s system for financing higher education. We believe free college tuition is a goal that is supported by people of all political persuasions and are proud to have both major parties represented in our leadership. For more information, please visit www.freecollegenow.org.
Our goal is to make higher education a possibility for every American, without regard to their financial circumstances.
We have a lot to do and not much time to do it, so your support is critical for our campaign to succeed. It’s with your investment that we can fundamentally reform how higher education is financed in this country, opening the doors to a more equitable society.
If you agree with our goal, our plan, and the urgency of the problem, we ask that you give what you can to help us write the next chapter in our nation’s history of continuously expanding access to universal, free education.
