America's College Promise was a proposal by the Barack Obama administration to offer all students two free years of community college tuition.[1][2][3] It was based on the Tennessee Promise, a similar program for the state of Tennessee. State level programs, like the Tennessee Promise, have faced critique for their ability to fill tangible educational benefits.[4][5] The bill was referred to committee in July 2015, where it languished.[6] Later that year, Obama announced the College Promise Advisory Board, an independent coalition of American leaders in community college, political, foundation, and business sectors to advocate for the proposal.[5] A criticism of the plan is its lack of focus on existing student loan debt.[7] Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representative Andy Levin re-introduced the bill in July 2019.[8]
Tennessee was the first to offer free community college.[9] To be eligible for the Tennessee Promise, you must meet the requirements of a Tennessee Promise partnering organization, apply senior year and meet application deadlines, attend all team meetings and college orientation, begin in the Fall, maintain at least twelve hours per semester, attend for consecutive semesters, complete FAFSA, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and complete at least eight hours of community service per semester.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ Davis, Julie Hirschfeld; Lewin, Tamar (January 8, 2015). "Obama Plan Would Help Many Go to Community College Free". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Miller, Zeke J. (January 8, 2015). "Obama Proposes 2 Years of Free Community College". Time. Archived from the original on January 17, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Mangan, Katherine (January 8, 2015). "Obama Proposes Free Community College for Millions of Students". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN 0009-5982. Archived from the original on March 2, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ Hightower, Tristan (July 2019). "Tennessee's Promise: Education for All?". Pursuit - the Journal of Undergraduate Research. 9 (1).
- ^ a b Smith, Ashley A. (September 9, 2015). "Obama unveils new push for national free community college". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ Alter, Charlotte (January 12, 2016). "Here's What Obama Got Done After the Last State of the Union". Time. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ Osterndorf, Chris (March 31, 2015). "Why colleges have to start caring about student loans". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
- ^ "America's College Promise Act re-introduced". Community College Daily. July 24, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ "Tennessee Promise". August 6, 2014.
- ^ "TN Promise". April 25, 2018.
