Quote:
Originally Posted by Lanny_McDonald
Guess what? It's the Republicans preventing that. Again, that's how governance works down here.
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.
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The prices you quoted are what we expected to pay. However after filling out the overly complicated FAFSA forms, tuition and books were fully re-imbursed by grants, and she gets a $1470 check for living and school expenses per semester. There's nothing really special about her case as far as I can tell, other than having low income parents. Her mom makes about $45k/year, Dad doesn't claim much income, and my income doesn't count.
Parents I talk to with kids in 4 year colleges often pay no where near the posted rates for tuition either, and that includes parents with professional salaries. It doesn't seem anyone really knows what they are going to pay until they fill out the FAFSA forms.
The system is way overly complicated, and impossible to figure out why or what you have to pay, but at least in Virginia, low income families are not paying much or anything at all for community college.