Yesterday, while aboard Air Force One, President Obama
took the opportunity to announce a new entitlement, free community college
education. Alrighty then.
The proposal was short on details, like how much it
was actually going to cost the taxpayers, only that the cost would be “significant”
and be shared with the states who would be required to pick up 25% of the
unstated cost. Here are the details that were
provided:
The program would be offered to “students of any age”
who were “willing to work for it” and were able to maintain a 2.5 GPA, be enrolled
at least “half time” and make “steady progress” toward their degree. In order
for community colleges to participate in this program they must adopt, “promising
and evidence-based institutional reforms.” The President estimated that the
plan could benefit up to 9 million students.
Several questions leap to the inquisitive mind:
1. What
does “willing to work for it” mean exactly? How many hours a week? What kind of
job? Will someone be required to provide these jobs?
2. What
does, “steady progress” mean with respects to qualification for this program?
3. Since
this program is open to “students of any age” and will not be needs tested, is
it possible that the primary beneficiaries wind up being the middle and even
upper classes, and not the needy? Especially since the needy are already
qualified for Pell grants?
4. Does
the requirement that State run community colleges adopt “promising and
evidence-based institutional reforms” amount to an unconstitutional overstep by
the Federal government which does not have jurisdiction over the educational
institutions of the States? And, what are these “evidence-based institutional
reforms” of which the President speaks?
5. Since
our nation currently has amassed 18 trillion in debt and still is running a
dangerous annual accounts deficit, where exactly will the money for this new
entitlement come from?
Ok, whenever any President or any politician for that
matter introduces a new spending program, my default position is usually
intense skepticism. The reason for this should be self-evident, (see large
intimidating number in #5 above). However, since even a broken clock is right
twice a day, a thinking person should not dismiss every proposal out of hand. For example, while I might object to
transforming a college education into an entitlement on the grounds that A. we
are broke, and B. this is no business of the Federal government, I must confess
that there are far dumber things to spend money on that giving a deserving kid
a shot at a decent education. So, maybe I could be persuaded to support this
under a couple of conditions:
1. Full
financial disclosure before any votes
are cast. None of this 3000 page crap that we have to pass before we can find
out what’s in it.
2. A
dollar for dollar exchange of another government program for this one. For
example, let’s say that it is determined by the wise men at the CBO that this
thing is going to cost 100 billion. It would then be the job of the proponents
of “free college education” to find a 100 billion dollar federal program, or a
combination of several smaller programs that add up to 100 billion to
eliminate, (I would suggest the Small Business Administration and the Commerce Department
for starters).
Yes, I’m aware that
the State of Tennessee already has a program very much like the President’s and
that’s great since the States are where these initiatives should be coming from. And yes, I’m aware that college is free for
all in Germany and much of Europe. But the fact that Europe does something does
not necessarily imbue it with the ability to end all debate. Europe has its own
financial time bombs, many of which make that large, intimidating number in #5
look like child’s play, and many of which might very well be the result of such
a profligate welfare apparatus. However, as a reasonable man, I am willing to
entertain this particular idea knowing full well that when it comes to Federal
programs, an awful lot can go wrong.
