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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

Wednesday's Message


Last week, President Obama announced the initial outline of a proposal to provide two years of community college free to qualifying students: America’s College Promise (ACP). Given the landslide of media that this announcement triggered, it’s important to remember that the proposal has yet to reach the critical mass of detail necessary to call it a fully developed plan, and currently, there is no funding tied to ACP.

Still, with that said, the origins of this proposal, the proposal itself, and much of the follow-on discussion all underscore the central role that community colleges are coming to play in higher education policy at the state and federal level. Or, to use the words of the Wall Street Journal reporting on ACP, “It is time for the community college sector, the Cinderella of post-secondary education, to come to the ball.” America’s College Promise calls valuable attention to the importance of community colleges’ access mission and the degree to which declining state funding has eroded the promise of affordable higher education for so many potential students.

As for the details: the most significant precursor to the President’s proposal is the Tennessee Promise, which was conceived and moved to approval and funding by that state’s Republican governor. That plan is in its first year of implementation. While widely praised for increasing student application and access to college, the TN Promise has also been criticized for its exclusive focus on full-time students who must start in the fall after their high school graduation and begin in college-level courses. ACP, as described by the White House, has seemed to address these concerns, noting community colleges “are particularly important for students who are older, working, need remedial classes, or can only take classes part-time.” ACP students will be required to be enrolled in programs leading to transfer or career; sustain steady progress toward their degrees; and maintain a 2.5 GPA.

There are other aspects of ACP that are not being as widely reported but could have significant impact on individual community colleges and states. According to the White House Fact Sheet, colleges must adopt “promising and evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes,” and states that choose to participate in ACP will be required to:

- contribute the additional funds necessary to make community college tuition “free” for eligible students
- commit to maintenance of effort in higher education funding

- coordinate high schools, community colleges and four-year colleges to reduce remediation and repeated courses

- allocate a significant portion of funding based on performance, not enrollment alone

Reflecting on the excitement generated by the President’s announcement, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity between the names of our strategic plan, Fulfilling the Promise, and that of American’s College Promise. There’s a good reason. At their core, both speak to the promise community colleges have long held out as democracy’s colleges, opening the door of access to opportunity for the full diversity of our nation. As our communities look for meaningful ways to address the challenges of unemployment and inequality, there’s a lot to be hopeful for in the dialogue ACP has opened. I hope you will participate. Please share your thoughts here.

Anne M. Kress
President
01/14/2015