Why Free Community College Solves The Wrong Problem

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | September 17, 2021 | Preston Cooper

[karpov]

House Democrats have released their draft plan to make free community college a reality across much of the country, at a price tag of over $100 billion. The obsession with a zero sticker price for community college is odd, given that community colleges are already one of the most affordable sectors of America’s higher-education system. Average tuition is less than $4,000 per year, and after existing financial aid is applied, the typical student pays no tuition at all.

The more pressing concern at community colleges is not the price of admission, but what that tuition payment is buying students.

Most students say the top reason for pursuing higher education is increasing their earnings power. Some programs at community colleges will help them realize that potential. Consider the A.S. in Registered Nursing degree at California’s College of the Sequoias. According to federal government data, graduates of this program will earn a median salary of $81,400—well above the U.S. median income and even most four-year college degrees.

Nationwide, more than 94 percent of community college associate’s degrees in registered nursing yield median salaries of $50,000 or more. Career-oriented fields in health care and manufacturing are usually good choices for students who want to see a financial return on their educational investment. But America’s community college sector is not a uniformly powerful engine of upward mobility.

[Mr. Blond]

Subsidized trade schools would be better, if we must go that route.

[woodbutcher1963]

IF they are willing to work in the oil fields somewhere a welder can make $150K.

[woodbutcher1963]

The problem is the ITT technical schools went out of business.
Here in Nashua, NH there was a private 4 year college called Daniel Webster College.
It had been here for 50 years. They got bought by ITT and are now out of business.

Daniel Webster was one of two places you could become a commercial pilot without going into the military.
Their graduates would all get hired by the major airlines after graduation. They also had an air traffic controller program. Again, one of the few in the country outside of the USAF.