Dive Brief:
- President Obama’s free community college plan would cost $60 billion over 10 years, according to the White House.
- More details about the free tuition plan are expected Feb. 2, when Obama’s budget proposal is scheduled to be released, Reuters reports.
- Meanwhile, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports on several higher education groups that may have a problem with the free community college plan because it could take away some of their students.
Dive Insight:
The list of higher ed groups that could be hurt by federally funded free community college include for-profit colleges, especially those with a high number of certificate and associate’s degree programs; private colleges with higher rates of first-generation, low-income and at-risk students; and public colleges that have less federal and state funding available. Also, fewer Pell grants may be funded, and states could use increased federal spending on higher ed as an excuse to cut back on their own college spending.
