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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Posted by Maica Pichler on February 22, 2017 at 10:05 AM
Then make college tuition free.
Higher education is the key to economic mobility in America. A recent study, with unprecedented access to individual and family incomes, has proven the case for this proposition beyond a reasonable doubt. The study confirms what families already know, and why paying for their children’s college education is a high priority topic of conversation at kitchen tables across America. Governors in states as diverse as New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Oregon are addressing this challenge by leading efforts to make their colleges tuition free and winning wide public support from grateful constituents. Without waiting for the federal government to get its act together, these pioneering efforts are creating an unstoppable momentum in favor of each state adopting free college tuition as the solution to economic inequality and the source of a more skilled workforce for the entire country.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on December 20, 2016 at 9:30 AM
Eloy Ortiz Oakley, the new Chancellor for California’s Community College system, was interviewed recently by the Campaign for College Opportunity as he prepares to take office. As the instigator and spark that made the Long Beach Promise a reality, we thought his comments on how the idea of free community college tuition could be spread across the entire state would be of interest to our supporters. Remember, Chancellor Oakley’s ideas will be the governing policies for twenty percent of all community colleges students in the country in the coming years.
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Posted by Maica Pichler on November 22, 2016 at 8:27 AM
Sara Goldrick-Rab, one of the most influential and articulate advocates for the cause of free college tuition, was recently asked to debate the idea that public higher education should be universal and free at a conference at the State University of New York. We found her argument to be so well presented that we have created a short video excerpt from the debate, which we think everyone in favor of free college tuition should watch. You can view it here.
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