Obama proposes free community college plan
President Barack Obama today proposed a plan that would provide free community college to qualified students. Students would need to attend at least halftime, maintain a 2.5 grade point average and
News 12 Staff
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Jan 10, 2015, 3:47 AM
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Updated 3,401 days ago
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President Barack Obama today proposed a plan that would provide free community college to qualified students.
Students would need to attend at least halftime, maintain a 2.5 grade point average and make progress toward completing a degree or certificate program. Participating schools would have to meet certain academic requirements.
The president says the federal government would pay for three-quarters of the tuition and that states who wish to participate would cover the other quarter.
It's estimated that the program would cost $60 billion over 10 years. Obama has yet to lay out how he would pay for that. The proposal also needs approval from the Republican-controlled Congress.
At Nassau Community College, tuition is over $2,000 per semester, not including other fees and costs of being a student. Nassau student Evan Pinnock says not having to pay tuition would be a game-changer.
"That would be great," he told News 12 Long Island. "I wouldn't have to pay for anything, and I could finally save my money."
AP wires contributed to this article.
