Building Back Better Means Free Community College
The “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” cut free community college education. If the Biden Administration truly wants to help Americans, they should find a way to still fulfill that promise.
A portion of the Santa Monica College library remains empty on the SMC main campus grounds on Thursday, October 21, 2021 in Santa Monica, Calif. (Marc Federici | The Corsair)
On Monday, Nov. 14, Biden signed into law a historic bipartisan 1 trillion dollar infrastructure bill which the administration coined the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.” However, the plan which the house passed was a significantly smaller bill than the administration had initially proposed. In the name of compromise, lots of ideas originally included in the bill were slashed to appeal to hesitant right-wing politicians. One measure cut, days before the bill passed, was free community college tuition for all across the country. That policy, which Biden promised throughout his presidential campaign, is a measure the administration should include in the upcoming “Build Back Better Act” if the president would like to truly build back America better.
Santa Monica College (SMC) student Miguel Gomez, like many others in the community college system, has benefitted immensely from the helpful programs that the institutions offer. At SMC, all full time students are lucky to receive free tuition if they pass all their classes each semester. “College is like, really an alternative for a lot of students who, let's say, a four year is too expensive for," he said in reaction to the infrastructure bill cutting out free community college tuition.
SMC offers various supplemental programs to help students interested in advancing themselves professionally. These include Adelante and SMC Scholars for those who would like to transfer to a four year institution, work studies for those interested in earning extra cash, and Center for Wellness and Wellbeing for those who need some extra personal care.
Students enjoy a conversation on Santa Monica College campus on Thursday, October 21, 2021 in Santa Monica, Calif. (Neil O’Loughlin | The Corsair)
Making community college free at a national level can help students across the country access these same, extremely helpful programs that those at SMC already use. Any eligible person, say in Arkansas or Oklahoma, should be able to have the same educational benefits as SMC students without having to pay thousands of dollars a semester.
Plus, free community college was one of the most emphasized promises of the Biden campaign. President Biden's wife, Jill Biden, is herself a community college professor of English. That personal connection is what Biden cited as a reason his administration saw free community college tuition as a priority. The Biden Administration's approval rating has tanked recently, with a Nov. 18 Quinnipiac University poll reporting favorable view of the Biden Administration at just 36 percent and disapproval at 53 percent. If Biden wants his own Democratic Party to have any sort of victory in the 2022 midterms and retain the presidency in 2024, then he should stop backpedaling on promises he made when campaigning.
The Biden Administration still has opportunities to deliver on their promises of creating free community college at a national level. Although the "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." cut free community college, they can still pass another bill specifically including it. If Biden wants the best lives for young Americans, and to truly build back America better, he should fulfill his promise to give Americans free community college education in the upcoming “Build Back Better Act”. Students across the country, not just at schools like SMC which already offer free enrollment, should receive that extraordinarily beneficial education at no charge.
