Posted on 06/12/2017 1:50:10 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The opportunity to go to college for free is more available than ever before. States and cities, in the last year especially, have funded programs for students to go to two-year, and in some cases, four-year, schools.
Tennessee has taken the idea one step further. Community college is already free for graduating high school students. Now Tennessee is first state in the country to offer community college — free of charge — to almost any adult.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has long preached the importance of getting adults back to school. He says it's the only way that more than half of Tennesseans will get a college degree or certificate.
And the program is simple: If you don't have a degree, and you want one, your tuition is free. That's important because research shows the greatest obstacle for adults looking to go back to school is money. They often have to maintain a household budget while reducing work hours, paying for dependent care, and more.
Michelle Griffith is one of those adults. She's 54 years old, and when she walked into the sleek, glass-paneled atrium of Motlow State Community College outside Nashville on her first day of college, she was overwhelmed.
"There was an entire lobby full of traditional students and having to walk through them was hugely intimidating. I just pretended I knew what I was doing."
Griffith says, growing up, she always planned to be one of those traditional students. She got married right after high school, though, and, "Babies came quickly, and school got farther and farther away."
She got busy raising kids, working and eventually putting them through school.
Four years ago her husband died and, with her children grown, she decided she needed to figure out what to do next. "And I kept thinking, school, school, that's what I want to do."
When Griffith enrolled two years ago, she actually qualified for a full federal grant — the state expects many adults who sign up for the program will. The state will use lottery money to pay for anything that isn't already covered by other grants.
Allison Barton, who oversees adult learners at Motlow State Community College, where Griffith goes to school, says it's a simple and powerful message.
The question is, how do you get that message out? When talking to high schoolers, they're basically a captive audience. But adults? She describes it as throwing out a giant fish net and hoping to bring in at least some.
And even for adults they can reach, Barton says getting them through the program is another challenge.
"They may have a schedule change at work and they can't get a sitter, or whatever it may be."
Nationally, only about one-third of adults who start community college finish it. That number is even lower if they go back part-time, which Tennessee allows them to do. The state argues the flexibility is necessary — otherwise, officials say, very few adults would bother enrolling.
Michelle Griffith is now a year away from her degree. After that, she wants to go to a nearby university for a bachelor's degree. And she's been encouraging friends to follow her lead in going to community college.
Can we impeach our worthless RINO Governor?
Nothing is free.
Someone is paying for it.
Yes, but is it education or indoctrination?
How did he get elected in the first place? I really don’t understand how RINOs get elected. For example if Paul Ryan or John McCain were running for office in my state, never ever ever ever in a million years would I ever vote for those two frauds, ever. Even if the worst of the worst was running against them like a Hillary Clinton, I would vote for the independent candidate or not at all. I just could never ever bring myself to vote for a RINO because what you are doing is voting for something worse than a Democrat: You’re voting for a Democrat operative whose sole agenda is to F up the Republican party to help Democrats.
The amount of damage RINOs have done to the Republican party throughout the years is immense whereas today, the party is pretty much gone: it’s basically the Democrat-lite party. Trump is virtually on his own, nobody in the Republican party defends him. Matter of fact Dianne Feinstein of all people defends Trump more than anybody in the Republican party. Look at her yesterday, incredibly asking for an investigation into the Comey/Clinton connection.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/11/feinstein-lynch-clinton-emails-239391
Meanwhile we got Republicans like John McCain acting like Nancy Pelosi, saying Obama was a better POTUS than Trump, incredible!!
RINOs get nominated in Tennessee because we have no party registration, so Dems vote in the Republican primary (the Dems are no longer a force statewide as an opposition party in a general election, so they can flood the GOP primaries). We also have no runoff, so left-wingers like Haslam benefit from having the Conservative opposition split. Until we implement a closed primary and runoffs, this will continue to happen.
“Almost” amy adult
Whites, legals and those people with a job supporting themselves not included
“Almost” amy adult
Whites, legals and those people with a job supporting themselves not included
Thus we get Sundquist, Corker, Alexander, and so on...
Yes, although when Donny Boy ran in 1994 for Governor, he was considered somewhat to the right. Of course, then he became obsessed with the income tax and punishing Conservatives for not implementing it that he lost his mind.
At least for 2018, we know the Conservative standard bearer for Governor is Mae Beavers. Anyone else (especially Randy Boyd, Haslam’s rich leftist clone) must be defeated in the GOP primary.
I see these programs as just a continuation of “free” public education, as well as an acknowledgment that a high school diploma is meaningless in terms of preparing one for the future.
I absolutely agree.
Required course..
Cursive 101...It’s not just for tattoos anymore.
Watch how expensive community college gets now that it is free.
Sure is easy for the state of Tennessee to spend other people's money. I wonder if they would offer it if they had to use state's money.
Haslam was elected because he had locked up almost all the traditional GOP money sources — plus he is a multi-multi-millionaire.
And his brother has no clue how to run a football team.
If community college in Tennessee is already "free" for high school graduates, then there's no reason the same policy shouldn't be extended to someone who is 54 years old and has (presumably) paid taxes to support these schools for decades.
can we defund NPR ?
He may have locked up the money and establishment support, but he failed to get beyond a plurality of the vote. Two ostensible Conservatives (albeit one was a flake, that being Wamp) split the vote, adding up to 51% to Haslam’s 47%. Had it gone to a runoff with a closed vote, Wamp would’ve prevailed. My guy was former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who came in 3rd. I voted for Conservative Independent Carl “Two Feathers” Whitaker in the 2010 general.
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