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Originally Posted by rubecube
I mean if they don't do anything on climate change, it's all kind of moot.
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Guess what? It's the Republicans preventing that. Again, that's how governance works down here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nfotiu
Those seem like reasonable compromises and Biden trying to get some compromises to get a deal seems like the job he was elected to do.
Free community college doesn't really seem like a winning policy anyway. It's basically free up to middle class families anyway. I have a step daughter in community college. they calculate her fees based on my wife and her ex's income and she pays no tuition, gets credit on her books and some money for living expenses.
Also community colleges classes are pretty packed already and you have to be on top of registration to even get in all your classes. Making it free for everyone would stress the system even more.
It's an idea that sounds good, but in practice wouldn't help too many people and might cause more problems than it fixes.
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There's the problem, you're expecting there to be compromise, but rubecube believes the "progressives" should be able to just ram things through, since Biden is in the White House and all.
To your comments on community college, it does vary by system, but generally speaking, your anecdotal evidence is not the way it is for the vast majority of the country or students. Community college is the much more affordable method of going to school, driving the cost per credit hour down to double digits at some institutions, but still averaging $135 per credit hour. Conversely, the cost per credit hour to go to a four year degree granting institution has reached $594 per credit hour on average. Community colleges do try to provide a plethora of scholarship opportunities to drive those costs further down, and a very small percentage get a free ride, but it is far from free for most students to go to school.
I don't know what type of arrangement your step daughter has, but that is a very unique situation. The only means testing I have seen for students and their parents' income is for receiving student loans, or being gifted through the college foundation (scholarship for disadvantaged students). That doesn't seem consistent with Virginia's Community College's policies. Here's the numbers for students in Virginia, and by college.
VCCS - $154 per credit hour ($354 out of state)
BRCC - $154 per credit hour ($330 out of state)
CVCC - $161 per credit hour ($362 out of state)
NVCC - $180 per credit hour ($360 out of state)
VHCC - $157 per credit hour ($357 out of state)
RCC - $158 per credit hour ($335 out of state)
J.SRCC - $158 per credit hour ($358 out of state)
VWCC - $156 per credit hour ($356 out of state)
PGCC - $155 per credit hour ($355 out of state)
While those numbers are way below the $594 average at a four year degree institution, they are far from free. The average student is still going to face a bill of around $10K to complete their associates degree, and that does not include costs of labs, books, and living expenses. Way cheaper than going to even a state school, but still a hefty price when all you're doing is completing your lower division credits and have no actual specialization.