Rhode Island just made community college free

[workinclasszero]

Rhode Island just made community college free
by Katie Lobosco August 4, 2017: 10:12 AM ET

Rhode Island just became the fourth state in the nation to make community college free, following examples in New York, Oregon and Tennessee.

The Promise Scholarship will cover the cost of tuition and fees at the Community College of Rhode Island for new students starting this fall -- regardless of their income.

Lawmakers approved the four-year pilot program on Thursday and appropriated $2.8 million for the first year, as part of the state's budget.

They rejected, however, a broader proposal from Governor Gina Raimondo that would have made two years free at both of the state's public four-year colleges, as well as the community college.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/03/pf/college/rhode-island-tuition-free-college/index.html

[BigmanPigman]

1. Only 46 more states to go. I hope it's contagious.

[workinclasszero]

2. It would be great

for sure.

[barbtries]

3. don't hold your breath.

i'm in NC and as long as republicans have a stranglehold in Raleigh i'm sure they would never agree to something that would be so good for so many.

[BigmanPigman]

4. Do they purposely want to keep the poor uneducated?

After all that is their base and they love to boost them with terms like "liberal elite".

[barbtries]

7. yes, they do

this goes back at least to Reagan. Smart people, thinking people, by and large do not vote for republicans.

[lpbk2713]

6. True.

Rethugs are classist. If they can keep people from bettering their lot in life they will do it.

[hunter]

5. Sigh. I have a university degree and I never took out any loans.

It wasn't because my parents were wealthy.

No tuition, fees occasionally waived, I sometimes got grants (not loans) for books, and my rent for crappy off-campus student housing was $85 a month.

My crazy grandma gave me a stipend of $100 a month because I was the first kid in her family to go to university.

I could also get work loading and unloading trucks, but that's how I flunked Organic Chemistry the first time. I liked loading and unloading trucks more than I liked Organic Chemistry and I'd missed too many classes to pass the final exam. (Organic Chemistry was my only Tuesday/Thursday class.)