Posted by Morley winograd on December 18, 2017 at 6:24 AM
This has been a remarkable year of progress in our campaign to make college tuition free. As the year draws to a close, residents of eleven states, more than double the number we could claim at the beginning of the year, are now enjoying the benefits of free college tuition.
As a result, over 1 million students have enrolled in some form of a state Promise program this year, many of them the first in their family to do so. We plan on telling some of their stories in 2018 to help convince other states to jump on the free college tuition bandwagon. If someone you know was given a new opportunity in life thanks to a free college tuition program in their state, please encourage them to share their story with us so we can spread the word and help bring similar support to other students.
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Posted by Eloy Ortiz Oakley on November 15, 2017 at 8:49 AM
Governor Jerry Brown’s signature of AB 19 in October 2017 lays the groundwork for the California College Promise in the nation’s most populated state. Once funded in 2018, it will become the nation’s only first-dollar state-funded Promise program and provide one year of support to first-time full-time community college students.
In addition to aiding students with tuition/fees, the Promise aims to promote successful outcomes. To this end, participating community colleges must partner with local school districts and/or four-year universities to establish an Early Commitment to College Program that will provide student, and their families, assistance in learning about postsecondary opportunities, completing college prep courses, and applying for college and financial aid.
We are very happy to share with you the following guest post from California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Oakley, who worked tirelessly with Assembly Member Miguel Santiago and other legislators on this important legislative framework. As he notes, “while more work needs to be done, we are all on our way.” Chancellor Oakley, CFCT stands with you in removing cost as a barrier to attending college.
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Posted by Morley winograd on October 24, 2017 at 6:01 AM
While the school year is only several months old, there are already great results to report about programs making public colleges tuition free in Tennessee, Rhode Island, and New York. In Tennessee, data from the initial cohort of Tennessee Promise recipients shows that they are persisting in their community college careers at a rate 17 percent greater than those who do not have a TN Promise scholarship. Both Rhode Island and New York launched their Promise programs to make public colleges tuition free this Fall with very aggressive implementation schedules. In both states, initial participation data demonstrates the power of programs that make college tuition free.
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Posted by Morley winograd on September 28, 2017 at 10:15 AM
A collaborative post by Morley Winograd, Ted Kahn, Harris Miller, and David Wolf
America’s system of higher education is not meeting the needs of its students or our economy in terms of economic opportunity and growth. Those of us who believe ardently in its power to advance individuals, families and society want all aspects of the system, from enrollment to graduation, to work better.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on August 07, 2017 at 12:41 PM
Last week Rhode Island passed a budget and the fight for free tuition passed a major landmark: ten states now offer some form of free college tuition to their residents!
States offering such a benefit range from the very red, such as Kentucky, Arkansas and Tennessee to the very blue like New York, Hawaii and Oregon. In June, Nevada’s Republican Governor signed a bill making their community colleges tuition free after it unanimously passed the state’s Democratically controlled legislature. The bill includes a provision requiring each community college that offers free tuition to also provide a mentoring program similar to Tennessee’s ground-breaking public/private partnership that provides a low-cost way for states to offer that type of support.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on July 11, 2017 at 1:08 PM
With the cost of higher education growing exponentially, a bachelor’s degree is no longer a requirement for many. Most young adults are being taught to view college as an investment in their future. While many programs exist to help lower and even negate the overwhelming cost of college, a college education still costs a substantial amount.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on June 28, 2017 at 7:47 AM
A 2013 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce indicates that 30 percent of the job openings through 2020 will require some college or an associate’s degree. Unfortunately, many of these well-paying jobs will go unfilled as there is a critical shortage of skilled technical graduates at the two-year Associate's Degree and one-year certificate level in fields such as Electronics, Industrial Robotics, Healthcare, and Advanced Manufacturing Technology.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on April 26, 2017 at 6:55 AM
Major public policy changes, such as promise programs, which make public colleges tuition free, should be subject to scrutiny, criticism, and improvement. We at CFCT welcome them. But we implore critics to move out of their Ivory Towers, where they can create hypothetical problems 365 days of the year, and instead focus on the demonstrable operation and impact of promise programs. The critics are entitled to their own opinions. They are not entitled to their own facts.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on March 24, 2017 at 9:51 AM
It’s a simple fact that Rhode Island’s economic success depends on a highly educated and skilled workforce. But, with higher education tuition and fees continuing to rise and incomes stagnating for many lower and middle class Ocean State residents, the ability of thousands of families to afford the key to economic and social mobility for their children has been greatly diminished. ...
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Posted by Gina Raimondo on March 03, 2017 at 9:06 AM
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo has announced a bold plan to provide two-years of college tuition-free for all Rhode Islanders. Her Rhode Island’s Promise proposal, when enacted, will provide either two-years of tuition-free community college for full-time students, or last dollar scholarships to make tuition free for junior and senior students at the state’s public four-year colleges. She writes in the following blog post, written at the request of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, “this policy will encourage both access and completion, ensuring that Rhode Islanders are earning their degrees without falling behind.”
We applaud Governor Raimondo and share her hope “that leaders across the country will follow Rhode Island’s example in designing free tuition policies that meet their local needs and reach all students.”
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