Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer plans to urge state lawmakers to pass legislation that would provide free community college tuition for all high school graduates during her sixth State of the State speech on Wednesday.
Whitmer also prioritized community college access in her annual address last year. State lawmakers responded by temporarily lowering the minimum age for free tuition from 25 to 21 years old. The Democratic governor now wants to expand the program by removing all age requirements for free community college, according to details of her plan provided to The Associated Press by Whitmer’s office.
Whitmer’s administration created the Michigan Reconnect program in 2021, aiming to increase the percentage of the state’s workforce with a postsecondary degree or training from 50.5% to 60% by 2030. It made Michigan residents 25 years and older eligible for free community college tuition.
why limit it to only high school graduates?
My guess is it has to do with effective use of resources. The tuition is free to the student but not the taxpayer. Teachers and administrators don’t work for free. If you can’t get through state funded education up to high school then the chances probably aren’t great for college. Those seeking a second chance could always complete a ged and get the benefit, hopefully.
If you can’t get through state funded education up to high school then the chances probably aren’t great for college
not true at all, the types of people that don’t do well in high school are usually the smartest ones
I can see where you are coming from and do not disagree. However these decisions have to be made in aggregate and proportionally, the “geniuses” that failed or dropped out of highchool, are most likely a small minority compared to the overall population.
not true at all, the types of people that don’t do well in high school are usually the smartest ones
There’s a difference in “not doing well” and “not graduating”. Also there are lots of different ways you could define the “smartest ones”, but ability to earn an income is a at least one indicator of success. Using that metric the data doesn’t support your assertion:
There is no empirical data to support that at all. If you have some we’d love to see it.
While it is not unheard of for someone to do poorly in school and still be smart, education is a clear predictive variable for future success. Period.
Also too, studies have shown that a direct outcome of improving starting wages and reducing unemployment is a reduction in violent crime. Also better median income in the state also results in better taxes for the state.
This is by no means a giveaway. This is an investment in the state that pays many dividends. By the way Tennessee did this several years ago. It’s a net benefit for society.
I would assume those who could actually reasonably pass.
Saying that, over here you automatically get uni entrance when you hit 20 so those who grew after high-school aren’t disadvantaged. Have somethings similar would be good.
being a high school graduate says zero about intelligence, and just shows you can blindly follow rules
If you think college doesn’t also require you to follow blind rules, I’ve got bad news for you. A good chunk of life is the requirement to follow stupid rules. In that way school is a pretty good preparation for life after school.
It says you’re smart enough and driven enough to do literally the bare minimum for your own education, and sure, you follow the rules enough to pass.
But spoilers, that’s what the community colleges want too. Smart enough, driven enough, following instructions enough to pass.
And spoilers again, that’s what employers want too.
You generally have to graduate high school or complete the GED to be eligible for enrollment in higher education. This has nothing to do with ability, it’s just the minimum for entry
Would you like to elaborate, or provide any information of value instead of just saying “nope”?
“Admission is open to all high school graduates, GED recipients, college transfer students and persons 18 years of age or older.”
Note it says “and persons 18 years or older” and not “or.” This means you have to be both 18 or older and a high school graduate or a GED recipient and 18 years or older.
My initial point stands and you’re still lazy and incorrect.
It’s a step in the right direction but won’t help if employers are only hiring senior roles or upping the requirements for entry level positions as they did in the past.
That’s an oddly specific whataboutism. Your premise is bullshit. More education, especially in trades which CC specialize in, is a huge benefit that improves employment outcomes. A better educated workforce also attracts employers. The classic econometrics formula (actually documented in textbooks written by Dr. Jeffrey Woolrich at MSU) is literally: Salary = Education + Ability. Education has a clear positive impact, ability is much harder to measure
In fact it could upskill nearly half the state: https://www.statista.com/statistics/588922/educational-attainment-michigan/#:~:text=Educational attainment in Michigan 2021&text=In 2021%2C about 19.2 percent,their highest level of education.
Good idea, hope this does not deteriorate the quality of education. Corruption gets very rampant in public education when there isn’t constant and vigilant oversight.
The same reason poor highschool kids are often part of the school to prison pipeline. Corruption in poor students’ education leads to intentionally poor education which leads them to struggle as adults to meet the requirements of jobs that a student who got a scholarship to a “good” school will. I think this is a good idea but it’s not enough to make community college free. Higher education in general needs to come down drastically in price and the difference in cost between schools needs to come down as well. There is already judgment in adulthood about which school you went to. Now imagine what that judgement will be like when they find out you went to the free kind of community college.
So your argument is that poor kids shouldn’t get free college upon graduation because they are inherently stupid and thus needed standards lowered to get them to graduate high school in the first place, and this will carry on into the future. Because they are inherently dumber and less capable simply by virtue of being poor.
You are clearly one of those dumb people.
I’m usually against free college, but this is actually a really great idea. It makes education available to everyone, without the additional risk of government mismanagement hamstringing our world-class universities in the process.
Because I see the state of public school funding in the US, and I think it’s utterly, ludicrously naive to think that our universities will somehow magically avoid the same fate. We live in a world where there’s a very real possibility that Trump is elected again, and the people advocating for free college don’t seem to be able to put two and two together to realize that this would put Trump’s government in complete control of the funding of the universities that he condemns as “liberal brainwashing”.
The push for all universities to be free in the US is nothing but utopian wishful thinking that ignores the actual state of US politics, and will have disastrous real-world consequences for the already shaky state of education in the US.
Making community college free seems like a pretty ideal compromise though - everyone gets access to college, and the ability of our universities to take advantage of funding through tuition to ensure that their quality remains among the best in the world is unimpeded.
Personally, it doesn’t really matter if it’s Biden or Trump. The US will continue breaking fossil fuel records regardless of who sits in the oval office. We have already triggered climate tipping points that will cascade for centuries, even if we stopped global co2 production tomorrow. I predict collapse before or around 2030.
SOCIALIST! REAL Patriots use Tax Dollars to give Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos more money, NOT Educate Kids!
