A New (But Familiar) Future for American Higher Education

In the early 1900s, America made the progressive decision to make attaining a high school education more achievable by creating schools that were both less financially and less academically demanding. While many European countries continued to only offer costly, rigorous secondary education, America's high school graduation rates skyrocketed past its competitors, leading America to have the most highly-skilled workforce in the world by the mid 20th century. In the decades since, those other countries caught on and soon not only matched, but exceeded, America's educational prowess by offering a tuition-free college education as well. Due to both increasing economic inequality and increasing college tuition costs, the number of Americans with a solid education fell into a steep decline. Over time, America found itself quickly slipping behind the countries it was once so far ahead of and has been unable to recover. But just this week, President Obama announced a proposal that could finally put America back in the running and hopefully, somewhere down the road, return it to its former glory as an educational powerhouse. 

Dubbed "America's College Promise," this proposal would, if approved by Congress, offer any student willing to work for it at least two years of community college for free. All tuition costs would be paid for by federal and state funding, saving students around $3,800 annually. In return for the free education, these students "must attend community college at least half-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing their program." Community colleges in states that choose to take part would offer "1) academic programs that fully transfer credits to local public four-year colleges and universities, or 2) occupational training programs with high graduation rates [that] lead to in-demand degrees and certificates." It is estimated that by 2020, 65% of jobs will require some level of higher education and, according to the official White House blog, "students should be able to get the knowledge and the skills they need without taking on decades' worth of student debt."

Although this proposal doesn't quite match the level of education accessibility that countries such as Sweden and Germany currently have, it's a promising start that mirrors the beginnings of the early 1900s high school reform. If passed by Congress, this plan could bring not only the same outcome that we saw with the high school reform, but it could also lessen the staggering economic inequality that plagues America today. But the question remains, could this proposal truly be start of America's return the the forefront of education? Or have we already dug ourselves in too deep?