Monday, January 12, 2015
It's not nothing... But does that mean it's something? Really, is it anything?
The thing in question is free community college. Obama, in a desperate attempt to be relevant and provide some boost to the Democrats in 2016, has proposed free community college tuition nationwide. As a financial aid counselor working at a community college who is obsessed with the possible changes to my employment and the structure of higher education, I was intrigued. Actually, upon hearing it, my blood turned to ice. I thawed quickly, but I knew I'd need to post about it, if only to process it for myself. Let's take a look at the various aspects of such a plan:
First, where did the policy come from? Tennessee offers free community college, and Obama's plan is based off that state's program, from the Tennessee Promise website:
In other words, this program would augment financial aid, not replace it. It's aid for the middle and upper classes. Ergo, financial aid counselors such as myself are safe. In fact, we'll actually have more work. I'm getting ahead of myself by saying that. Speaking of which...
Second: How would this affect financial aid? Using the Tennessee program as a guide, we can safely assume that this would be available to people just about to graduate from high school, and those above the age of 22 or so would be ineligible. This means that only dependent students would qualify, and there would probably be a time limit after graduating from high school.
The bottom line is that it would increase my workload, not reduce or eliminate it. Referring to the italicized quote above, replace TSAA with HESC (TAP) and ignore HOPE Scholarship all together, and what we're facing is an entire school populace applying for financial aid as if they were all in the National Guard. Only after all aid sources have been denied can a Guardsman receive the promised military tuition benefits. If this were to happen, the news would not be all good. There are two smaller aid programs: the Student Equal Opportunity Grant (SEOG), and Federal Work Study (FWS) which are awarded to schools based on the average income of financial aid applicants, and if the family making $225,000 a year suddenly applies (this is Westchester; we have plenty of families making that much), then SEOG and FWS go bye-bye. These programs don't make or break a student's ability to attend college, but a little extra money for books, or the paycheck received while learning higher ed, have beneficial effects lasting a long time. Most people who have college administration as careers began their paths via Work-Study. You don't choose financial aid; it chooses you.
Nevertheless, the good would outweigh the bad. The best result of this policy would be the elimination of student loans at the community college level. True, this would eliminate loans only for the wealthiest Americans, as you'd still need to apply for financial aid, and the poor would come here for free anyway. That's the theory, anyway. The probably reality is a little different. Counting the grant/scholarship/whatever-they-end-up-calling-it as a form of aid, which it should be, students would still be able to take out loans. Assuming no financial aid, and using my school as a guide, the yearly budget for a full-time dependent student is $12,500. Tuition and fees would be $4900, so the student would have $7600 in unmet budget, which could be partially met via student loans. A student could borrow an additional $5500 in the first year, then either $5500 or $6500 the second year. There's the chance student loans could be curtailed, but I doubt it.
There's also the possibility that tuition and fees would skyrocket, as is often the case when the government pays for something. This wouldn't hurt the students receiving the new program, but everyone else would pay more. Because the program is limited to two years, this probably isn't an issue.
Academics: The policy essentially makes community colleges an extension of high school. That this is even discussed shows how badly the education system has decayed, but whatever. The question I need to ask is whether or not remedial courses would be covered. I'd venture yes, but this flies in the face of the path colleges and financial aid were contemplating: no more money and no more emphasis for remedial classes.
Also, there's the possibility of grade inflation. The policy requires a 2.5 GPA, and while that's not hard, a lot of our students won't make the grade. This isn't that much of an issue here, as teachers have never been under that much pressure to boost grades. This dovetails with financial aid, as I'd question what would happen if the GPA dips below the C+ threshold. Would the grant disappear? Would there be a waiver process? I doubt even the President could answer.
Political realities: I wasn't sure if this should have been first or last. The bottom line is that as a national policy, it's dead on arrival. The Republicans control the House and Senate. There's the possibility that the policy could be undertaken on a state-by-state basis, but again, there's no political will to fund any phase of this program. There will be more information given on Friday, but I have a feeling it will be drowned out by the crisis in Europe. Larger issues are crowding the news cycle, so if this was Obama's big push in his final days as president, it fell short.
First, where did the policy come from? Tennessee offers free community college, and Obama's plan is based off that state's program, from the Tennessee Promise website:
It will provide students a last-dollar scholarship, meaning the
scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by the Pell grant,
the HOPE scholarship, or TSAA funds.
In other words, this program would augment financial aid, not replace it. It's aid for the middle and upper classes. Ergo, financial aid counselors such as myself are safe. In fact, we'll actually have more work. I'm getting ahead of myself by saying that. Speaking of which...
Second: How would this affect financial aid? Using the Tennessee program as a guide, we can safely assume that this would be available to people just about to graduate from high school, and those above the age of 22 or so would be ineligible. This means that only dependent students would qualify, and there would probably be a time limit after graduating from high school.
The bottom line is that it would increase my workload, not reduce or eliminate it. Referring to the italicized quote above, replace TSAA with HESC (TAP) and ignore HOPE Scholarship all together, and what we're facing is an entire school populace applying for financial aid as if they were all in the National Guard. Only after all aid sources have been denied can a Guardsman receive the promised military tuition benefits. If this were to happen, the news would not be all good. There are two smaller aid programs: the Student Equal Opportunity Grant (SEOG), and Federal Work Study (FWS) which are awarded to schools based on the average income of financial aid applicants, and if the family making $225,000 a year suddenly applies (this is Westchester; we have plenty of families making that much), then SEOG and FWS go bye-bye. These programs don't make or break a student's ability to attend college, but a little extra money for books, or the paycheck received while learning higher ed, have beneficial effects lasting a long time. Most people who have college administration as careers began their paths via Work-Study. You don't choose financial aid; it chooses you.
Nevertheless, the good would outweigh the bad. The best result of this policy would be the elimination of student loans at the community college level. True, this would eliminate loans only for the wealthiest Americans, as you'd still need to apply for financial aid, and the poor would come here for free anyway. That's the theory, anyway. The probably reality is a little different. Counting the grant/scholarship/whatever-they-end-up-calling-it as a form of aid, which it should be, students would still be able to take out loans. Assuming no financial aid, and using my school as a guide, the yearly budget for a full-time dependent student is $12,500. Tuition and fees would be $4900, so the student would have $7600 in unmet budget, which could be partially met via student loans. A student could borrow an additional $5500 in the first year, then either $5500 or $6500 the second year. There's the chance student loans could be curtailed, but I doubt it.
There's also the possibility that tuition and fees would skyrocket, as is often the case when the government pays for something. This wouldn't hurt the students receiving the new program, but everyone else would pay more. Because the program is limited to two years, this probably isn't an issue.
Academics: The policy essentially makes community colleges an extension of high school. That this is even discussed shows how badly the education system has decayed, but whatever. The question I need to ask is whether or not remedial courses would be covered. I'd venture yes, but this flies in the face of the path colleges and financial aid were contemplating: no more money and no more emphasis for remedial classes.
Also, there's the possibility of grade inflation. The policy requires a 2.5 GPA, and while that's not hard, a lot of our students won't make the grade. This isn't that much of an issue here, as teachers have never been under that much pressure to boost grades. This dovetails with financial aid, as I'd question what would happen if the GPA dips below the C+ threshold. Would the grant disappear? Would there be a waiver process? I doubt even the President could answer.
Political realities: I wasn't sure if this should have been first or last. The bottom line is that as a national policy, it's dead on arrival. The Republicans control the House and Senate. There's the possibility that the policy could be undertaken on a state-by-state basis, but again, there's no political will to fund any phase of this program. There will be more information given on Friday, but I have a feeling it will be drowned out by the crisis in Europe. Larger issues are crowding the news cycle, so if this was Obama's big push in his final days as president, it fell short.
