WASHINGTON — President Obama will announce Friday that the federal government will work with states to waive the first two years of community college tuition for some students.
If states go along, the program would cover full-time and half-time students who maintain a 2.5 grade point average and “make steady progress toward completing a program,” the White House said in a fact sheet released Thursday night.
The federal government would cover three-quarters of the average cost of community college for those students, the White House said.
White House officials declined to reveal how much such a program would cost, although they called it “significant.” And they acknowledged in a conference call with reporters that the program was unlikely to quickly win approval in Congress.
States that choose to participate would have to contribute the remaining funds necessary to eliminate tuition for the eligible students. No price tag was included in the fact sheet, and the White House provided no estimate of the number of students who might qualify.
Mr. Obama, in the video, said that if the program was carried out, “it’s something that will train our work force so that we can compete with anybody in the world.”
The president will announce the initiative at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tenn. The trip is part of a tour in which he is previewing issues he will talk about in his State of the Union address.
About 7.7 million Americans attend community college for credit, of whom 3.1 million, or 40 percent, attend full time, according to the American Association of Community Colleges, relying on 2012 data.
Over all, the federal government provides about $9.1 billion to community colleges, or about 16 percent of the total revenue the colleges receive. Tuition from students provides $16.7 billion a year, or nearly 30 percent of revenue.
Obama Proposes Free Community College Education for Some Students - NYTimes.com
