On Friday, January 9, President Obama announced a new initiative to make community colleges tuition-free for students across the country. Modeled after Tennessee’s free community college initiative, the program would help an estimated 9 million students a year to save an average of $3,800 a year.
“Put simply, what I’d like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everyone who’s willing to work for it,” said Obama in an online video. “It’s something we can accomplish and something that will train our work force so we can compete with anyone in the world.”
Senior fellow Morley Winograd, founder of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, helped push for President Obama’s new initiative to make community college free for millions of students.
“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,” writes Winograd, who was quoted in The Chronicle of Higher Education. “For many, it could cut the cost of a four-year college degree in half. The plan deserves, and should get, bipartisan support.”
Big shout outs to Bob Samuels, Morley Winograd, Jordan Weissmann, Mike Dannenberg and others who PUSHED for #FreeCommunityCollege !
— Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab (@saragoldrickrab) January 9, 2015
In fact, the Pew Research Center has found that “households headed by a young, college-educated adult without any student debt obligations have about seven times the typical net worth ($64,700) of households headed by a young, college-educated adult with student debt ($8,700).”
Winograd founded the Campaign for Free College Tuition in 2014, following a series of discussions between former elected officials and policy experts who were inspired by the legacy of John F. Kennedy to give back to the country that had once offered them such privileged opportunities. Since then, Winograd has led a series of strategy summits and educational outreach activities, gaining over 6,000 social media supporters.
The once seemingly crazy idea of tuition-free college is gaining broad bipartisan support-thank you Gov @BillHaslam & President @BarackObama
— CFCT (@FreeCollegeNow) January 9, 2015
“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,” writes Winograd.