Westly: California should pay for a community college degree

ap on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/30/06 | Juliet Williams - ap

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Controller Steve Westly said Monday that every Californian is entitled to free community college - and the state can afford to pay for it.

Westly, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, proposed to pay tuition for students who successfully complete a community college degree. He said the proposal would cost $100 million to $200 million a year, money he said the state should already be paying community colleges. The former eBay executive and millionaire announced his proposal at the annual legislative conference of the Community College League of California in Sacramento Monday.

"Community colleges are the most important part of the higher education system," he told the group. "Too often, they're also the most neglected."

Westly said the cost of attending the state's 109 community colleges has increased 136 percent in the last three years, to about $800 a year for a full courseload. Attendance has meanwhile lagged, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.

Westly said 180,000 students were priced out of education when fees climbed dramatically in 2003. But the legislative analyst found in 2003-04 about 40 percent of full-time students had their education subsidized and did not pay any tuition.

Westly's plan would let students borrow the full cost of their education, interest-free, and the money would turn into a grant if they completed their program. Students who dropped out would have to repay the loans as usual.

The state has shortchanged community colleges in recent years, Westly said. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget this year is $255 million short of what colleges should be receiving, he said. Schwarzenegger has proposed eliminating fee increases at colleges and universities in an effort to control the costs to students.

Westly's Democratic rival, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, has an education proposal that includes reducing taxes on education, admitting 20,000 more students to state universities, expanding the state's grant system and creating an endowment to boost funding by around $300 million a year.

[Political Junkie Too]

Absolutely! There's a need for all sorts of vocational work, like replacing freon refrigeration with more green-friendly coolants, installing low-volume flush toilets, and removing wood-burning fireplaces from homes.

-PJ

[Mogengator]

No mention of all the illegals and how they might be impacted.

Why, of course they will get free education too. Paid for by taxes on the rich (anyone with a job).

[Carry_Okie]

For once I'm going to break with standard conservatism and suggest that if this idea applied only to subject matter wherein there is a real prospect of a job, then subsidizing the education could well pay for itself with the taxes on higher wages an AA degree might bring. Obviously, if the coursework is in race studies, anthropology, or queer lifestyles, then it's a loser. Unfortunately, Westley doesn't make a distinction there. So what will likely happen is to delay the comeuppance on how bad California education really is by keeping borderline dropouts in school for two more years.

Considering what we waste on illegals, $200 million is a pittance, especially with the financing structure Westley suggests and the potential revenue from a more educated workforce. Not a bad try for a liberal; too bad there's a devil in the details.

[forester]

So what will likely happen is to delay the comeuppance on how bad California education really is by keeping borderline dropouts in school for two more years.

Your so cynical...I mean, observant ;o)

[Amerigomag]

Westly's suggestion is curious. We have all but abandoned the community college theory in California. Why the emphasis?

California today has opened their public, postsecondary educational system up to anyone in California who has a perceptible temperature and casts a shadow, with only one exception. Those applicants who can't read, speak or write English must first take a year of remediation in the CSU system before being accepted to the UC system.

This pandering probably won't net Westly too many new votes. If he should promise to wave tuition and entrance requirements to both the CSU and UC systems to anyone certified by the local, Mexican Consulate he'd win by a landslide. The Mexicans would love him and the press would promote his great gesture of brotherhood.

A win-win deal for both the Mexicans and Westly. I'll contact his campaign.

[FreedomSurge]

California should defund all university liberal arts programs and use the money to fund this program. Community colleges are the most important aspect of today's education. They are the high level trade schools of our time. With males being forced out of the university system, community colleges are becoming more important.