Obama wants community college to be free "for those willing to work for it"

[ivwshane]

You flunked out of community college didn't you?

He never got accepted



/s

 

[Knowing]

Hmmm

Join the military for 4-6 years or... go to community college and work really really hard to maintain a barely passing GPA?

I guess my definition of work differs from the president's.

As long as that "education" isn't wasted on the liberal arts then it's a good idea. They should specifically cater it to students pursuing the sciences since that is what the US is lacking w/respect to other nations like S. Korea, China and Japan.

The people who can perform academically can already get scholarships and grants. This program is not for them.

 

[DrPizza]

Make it a 2.5 gpa, and I'm on board. If you want a 2.0 gpa, you can pay for it yourself.

 

[TheSiege]

FYI higher education = less chance of criminal behavior and recidivism rate. So that's a secondary benefit.

 

[5150Joker]

Hmmm

Join the military for 4-6 years or... go to community college and work really really hard to maintain a barely passing GPA?

I guess my definition of work differs from the president's.



The people who can perform academically can already get scholarships and grants. This program is not for them.

There's many people who may not have done well in high school due to any number of circumstances and are seeking a second chance at a community college. The military is far from a good solution. I do think the minimum GPA should be at least 2.5 though.

 

[ivwshane]

Make it a 2.5 gpa, and I'm on board. If you want a 2.0 gpa, you can pay for it yourself.

Yeah, 2.0 does seem rather low, it's not like community college is hard.

 

[BoberFett]

Do you think America is better off or worse off with universal high school education vs the pay by year model of the developing world?

That wasn't the moral of the story you criticized. It was about value placed on things a person receives for free.

 

[Knowing]

There's many people who may not have done well in high school due to any number of circumstances and are seeking a second chance at a community college. The military is far from a good solution.

I did piss poor in high school because it bored me. I sailed through by the skin of my teeth by acing tests, quizzes and the odd assignment that interested me. I never took the SAT but still tested out of most of my basic requirements in college. When my military money ran out I switched to scholarships without missing a beat.

The military is far from a good solution, but they did something to earn it.

 

[BoberFett]

Germany provides education for free including college.

Germany also has a track system where they separate the wheat from the chaff long before they reach college. Do you want to implement that here also? Segregate the smart kids from the dumb kids? Wouldn't that hurt the dumb kids' feelings? This is America, where we want everyone treated the same. What kind of person are you?

If you're going to pick a model and claim it works, then you need to use the whole model.

 

[ivwshane]

I did piss poor in high school because it bored me. I sailed through by the skin of my teeth by acing tests, quizzes and the odd assignment that interested me. I never took the SAT but still tested out of most of my basic requirements in college. When my military money ran out I switched to scholarships without missing a beat.

The military is far from a good solution, but they did something to earn it.

I'm opposed to anything that feeds the industrial military complex. There are plenty of other, better uses for tax payer money than making more soldiers.

 

[BoberFett]

FYI higher education = less chance of criminal behavior and recidivism rate. So that's a secondary benefit.

Correlation =/= causation

 

[ivwshane]

Germany also has a track system where they separate the wheat from the chaff long before they reach college. Do you want to implement that here also? Segregate the smart kids from the dumb kids? Wouldn't that hurt the dumb kids' feelings? This is America, where we want everyone treated the same. What kind of person are you?

If you're going to pick a model and claim it works, then you need to use the whole model.

What's wrong with separating out the smart kids from the dumb ones?

Instead of assuming you know my position on something and adding yet another straw man to a thread, just ask me where I stand (because I know you want to know)

 

[Knowing]

and drones, hellfires outside of war zones, the black sites that aren't closed, the mercenaries that are still working for us and so on...

You're entitled to your opinion on what benefits the people who signed contracts are entitled to.

 

[ivwshane]

and drones, hellfires outside of war zones, the black sites that aren't closed, the mercenaries that are still working for us and so on...

You're entitled to your opinion on what benefits the people who signed contracts are entitled to.

I know I am, as are you, that's why I added my opinion

 

[5150Joker]

I did piss poor in high school because it bored me. I sailed through by the skin of my teeth by acing tests, quizzes and the odd assignment that interested me. I never took the SAT but still tested out of most of my basic requirements in college. When my military money ran out I switched to scholarships without missing a beat.

The military is far from a good solution, but they did something to earn it.

Good for you and on the other hand I have friends who recently finished military service and still have PTSD and said it was one of the worst decisions of their life. So its not all roses in joining up w/the military, especially these days.

 

[umbrella39]

8 hours of volunteering = work? LOL. how hard is it to get a c+ at a community college, isn't that like showing up?

I'm with you on the grade point. I think at least a 2.5-3.0. I also think it should be with degrees only in certain fields ie RN, Dental Hygienist, Air Traffic Controller, Radiation Therapist, Nuclear Technician etc... The community service is just a feel good attachment. Some of the programs I mention have lab and clinical requirements that should more than satisfy that component.

 

[ivwshane]

I'm with you on the grade point. I think at least a 2.5-3.0. I also think it should be with degrees only in certain fields ie RN, Dental Hygienist, Air Traffic Controller, Radiation Therapist, Nuclear Technician etc... The community service is just a feel good attachment. Some of the programs I mention have lab and clinical requirements that should more than satisfy that component.

I agree, I think the field of study should be specific to what the country needs. It should be something our government studies and makes projections about what businesses will need and target that field of studies with subsidies.

 

[Subyman]

I thought community college was already practically free?

Pretty much, a semester at a really nice community college in my area is about $950 a semester. That is a few weeks working at a fast food joint. I'm wondering where people are going to have to spend $3800 per semester? That is getting close to a state university.

On a side note, I saw some local job openings that showed even crappy jobs need a college degree. One was a porale officer making $32,000 and required a bachelors degree. Another was a clerk at the high school. Required a college degree and starts at $29,000. So many people have a degree these days that practically any job, even the most basic, requires a degree.

 

[TheSiege]

Correlation =/= causation

http://phys.org/news/2011-12-lowers-crime.html

Correlation = causation

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Why did I not see this coming?

Why don't we just have grades 13-14? Screw this stupid shit of paying welfare checks and helping morons get their art/history/philosophy degrees.

Where to start?
8 hours of community service? Holy crap what a joke
2.0 GPA Requirement? In Community College? They go that low in community college? seriously. fucking joke.

 

[MongGrel]

FYI higher education = less chance of criminal behavior and recidivism rate. So that's a secondary benefit.

Makes a good side benefit.

 

[Strk]

Why did I not see this coming?

Why don't we just have grades 13-14? Screw this stupid shit of paying welfare checks and helping morons get their art/history/philosophy degrees.

Where to start?
8 hours of community service? Holy crap what a joke
2.0 GPA Requirement? In Community College? They go that low in community college? seriously. fucking joke.

I don't get why people like to denigrate community colleges so much. What exactly are they? For a transfer program, they are just your first two years of college. How many people fail out of their first year? A lot.

And let's not forget you have quite a few professional programs that have pretty strict requirements. They also result in some very good jobs (RNs, dental hygienists etc). You also don't get into those programs automatically either.

Now, if you want to complain about people getting generic liberal arts degrees for free, then by all means, go for it. We don't need more basket weavers. The whole 'work smarter not harder' needs to stop being warped into the whole idea that working with your hands is bad.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Can we not simply up standards for graduation?

 

[Exterous]

Why more focus on the federal government subsidizing college costs? Has what we've done so far worked out well? I'd rather see a bit more focus on improving the skilled trade options

 

[zinfamous]

Seriously, how many high school students do you know that actually value their education? Unless things have changed since I was in school, most kids are there for sports, socializing, or whatever else they can find to do while they're putting up with being forced to be there. It's a small minority of students that actually care about studying.

And yet it has been that way since, forever. Still, out of that system, we created people that cured Polio, sequenced the Human Genome, went to the damn moon, and gave us Chuck 'E Cheezes.