North Texans Respond To A Free Community College Education
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TARRANT COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) - In President Obama's State of the Union speech Tuesday night his focus was the middle class. His 'To Do List" included expanding paid sick leave, reforming the tax code and lowering the cost of community college to zero.
In North Texas some students are giving the plan a positive response.
Jessica Munoz a Tarrant County College nursing student says getting an education is really tough. It's competitive, it's hard, and not easy.
Like others at her junior college Munoz identifies with the middle class and feels the President's plan will go a long way. Many people don't have the money or access to the scholarships needed to succeed.
Others like IT major Anthony Hill feel a free education could attract less than motivated students, "I can just go to school for free and I don't have to worry about getting dropped and loosing my funidng. I can just leave."
Hill's opinion is a sentiment echoed by the community college research center at Columbia University. The center's director Tom Bailey says, "Free community college tuition on it's own will not necessarily improve completion: even with low tuition many community students fail to earn a credential."
College administrators feel being able to train more local job seekers will compliment the ever expanding workforce in North Texas. They say community colleges are excellent in providing not just the academic side of the house, but also the technical programs that are putting people to work quickly.
The full details of the President's plan are still unknown. However, he says students will have to meet certain requirement including maintaining a C plus grade point average.
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