My local JC was exactly that. Did a complete vocational welding program, plus theater arts (techie side) as well as drafting.It was inexpensive back in the day.
Utterly agree - subsidizing technical and trade classes heavily would be a good investment of *community* taxpayer funds. It should be a local decision, and when it has been it has worked out really well. The local car dealers sponsored a program to teach hybrid and electric car mechanics; pretty much everyone got hired before the class ended. The welding class I was in, the guaranteed way to get your 6 units of ‘A’ was to get hired before class finished!
Vocational Training that leads to jobs makes sense. But if it’s totally free, it will have little value.
Students following the liberal arts at a “free college” will be frustrated, not only for themselves but for the 60% who didn’t learn squat in high school and need remedial courses. Here’s a quote for which I found several sources, “The national rates of remediation are a significant problem. According to college enrollment statistics, many students are underprepared for college-level work. In the United States, research shows that anywhere from 40 percent to 60 percent of first-year college students require remediation in English, math, or both. Remedial classes increase students’ time to degree attainment and decrease their likelihood of completion. While rates vary depending on the source, on-time completion rates of students who take remedial classes are consistently less than 10 percent.”