Free Community College
Higher Ed, Not Debt Partners Respond: President Biden Cancels Student Debt, Extends the Payment Pause, and Announces Additional Reforms

25 August 2022
On August 24, 2022, President Biden announced broad cancellation for federal student loan borrowers, in addition to an extension of the federal student loan payment pause through…
Affordability / Quality, Blog, Events, Existing Student Debt, Free Community College, I Need Help With My Student Loans, Issues, Media, Partners, PressSupporting Students of Color and Addressing Racial Disparities in Higher Education: What Our Partners and Allies Think

19 February 2019
While education is considered the great equalizer in society, the costs of college and the burdens of student debt are particularly great for students of color. For these students and their the educational and economic success, it is a very unequal playing-field. Our partners identify some of the leading factors contributing to this inequality, and give Members of Congress their recommendations to fix these problems.
Affordability / Quality, Blog, Existing Student Debt, For-Profit Programs, Free Community College, Partners, Wall Street's Role in EducationA Blueprint for College Without Debt: A Policy and Messaging Guide for States to Make Higher Education Affordable Again

2 October 2018
A new policy and messaging guide by Mark Huelsman at Demos looks at how states should think about designing tuition-free or debt-free college programs, focusing on how these programs should address the student debt crisis and educational inequities for low income and minority groups.
Affordability / Quality, Blog, Fact Sheets, Free Community College, Partners“Free College:” Here to Stay?

16 July 2018
Providing “free college” programs is growing in popularity as more states seek to implement their own versions. But what can assure skeptics that these programs are as politically sustainable as they are politically popular?
Jen Mishory of The Century Foundation examines the fiscal sustainability of these plans. Looking at six free college programs that existed during the Great Recession, Mishory shows how they retained their financial and political support even as states were cutting other aid programs and education spending.
Four Principles for a Free Community College Program That Works for All

6 June 2018
Policymakers looking at free or debt free college plans must also ensure their proposals are not overly restrictive or based on inaccurate assumptions about students. Sara Garcia at the Center for American Progress lays out the four key principles that these free community college programs should consider as more states seek to increase college access.
Affordability / Quality, Blog, Free Community College