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| President Barack Obama speaks at Pellissippi State Community College, Friday, Jan. 9, 2015, in Knoxville, Tenn., about new initiatives to help more Americans go to college and get the skills they need to succeed. |
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) -- President Barack Obama on Friday proposed to bring the cost
of two years of community college "down to zero" for all Americans, an
ambitious nationwide plan based on a popular Tennessee program signed
into law by that state's Republican governor.
However,
the idea and its $60 billion federal price tag over 10 years would have
to make the grade with a Republican Congress that is showing little
appetite for big new spending programs. Obama, who plans to push the
issue in his Jan. 20 State of the Union address, argued that providing
educational opportunity and creating a more skilled U.S. workforce
shouldn't be a partisan issue.
"Community
college should be free for those willing to work for it because, in
America, a quality education should not be a privilege that is reserved
for a few," he said in a speech at Pellissippi State Community College.
He said a high school diploma is no longer enough for American workers
to compete in the global economy and that a college degree is "the
surest ticket to the middle class."
The White
House estimated that 9 million students could eventually participate and
save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year if they attend fulltime.
Students would qualify if they attend at least halftime, maintain a 2.5
grade point average and make progress toward completing a degree or
certificate program.
Participating schools would have to meet certain
academic requirements.
At North Lake College,
part of the Dallas County Community College system, student Courtney
Banks said such a program would help her and also allow others to enroll
in classes.
"Other people, other young adults
would be willing to get into school because it wouldn't be so far out
of reach," she said. She added she's still trying to pay back loans from
a previous school. "It costs a lot of money," she said.
The
White House said the federal government would pick up 75 percent of the
cost and the final quarter would come from states that opt into the
program - a cost of $20 billion over 10 years. Spokesman Eric Schultz
said Obama will propose new programs to pay for the federal portion in
his budget next month.
Obama is calling the
idea America's College Promise, modeled after Tennessee Promise, which
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law last year to provide free
community and technical college tuition for two years. It has drawn
58,000 applicants, almost 90 percent of the state's high school seniors.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former White House chief of staff,
has a similar program for students in his city.
"If
a state with Republican leadership is doing this and a city with
Democratic leadership is doing this, how about we all do it," Obama
said.
Obama brought Tennessee's two Republican
senators, Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander, with him on Air Force One for
the event. But both said they thought states, not the federal
government, should follow Tennessee's lead.
"Creating
a federal program to me is not the way to get good things to happen in
education," Corker told reporters from his seat in the third row of the
speech. "You're always better off letting states mimic each other."
Alexander,
a former education secretary who is set to take over the Senate
committee that oversees education, said Washington's role should be to
reduce paperwork for student aid applications. Obama said he agrees and
wants to see that happen this year.
Obama also
was joined on the trip by Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill
Biden, who drew applause when she told the audience she's been teaching
English at community college for 20 years and still does as second lady.
"This is the moment for community colleges to shine," she said.
The
president and vice president also visited a manufacturing facility,
Techmer PM in nearby Clinton, Tennessee, to promote a second proposal to
create a fund to help low-wage workers with high potential get training
in growing fields such as energy, information technology and advanced
manufacturing.
"If the last decade was characterized by outsourcing, I wanted to define this decade for insourcing," Obama said.
He
also named the Institute at Knoxville his fifth manufacturing hub,
along with Youngstown, Ohio; Raleigh, North Carolina; Detroit and
Chicago. Tennessee's hub will include 122 public and private partners
teaming to make lighter and stronger manufacturing materials for things
like fuel-efficient cars or wind turbine blades.
Obama
and Biden checked out a 3D printed carbon fiber replica of a Shelby
Cobra, which weighs half as much as the 1960s original but is just as
strong. The seats were blocked off so they couldn't climb in.
"Biden
wants to put on his aviator glasses," Obama joked, in reference to a
spoof video the vice president once did giving "Veep" actress Julia
Louis-Dreyfus a ride in a Corvette.
"It ain't my Corvette, but it's OK," Biden responded.
