Education is the key that unlocks a better life for pretty much everyone, and the big barrier that keeps all too many people from grabbing that key is money. Beyond high school, education is expensive, and it’s often a tough choice of whether to go into debt to access it or forgo it altogether in favor of jobs that don’t require much training — which tend not to pay well. And some people don’t even get to make that choice!
First Lady Dr. Jill Biden recently continued her long-time push to break down that barrier by providing free access to community college and training programs, and she did so with a new sense of urgency, too.
A career educator herself, Dr. Biden has long advocated for easier access to higher education.
Even during the Obama administration, she and her husband, then-VP Joe Biden, tried to make two years of community college tuition-free for Americans, a plan that ultimately fell to Republican objections in Congress.
But the idea came back on the 2020 campaign trail, with candidate Biden frequently touting the notion of providing two years of community college or training “without debt,” AP News reported.
That wasn’t a campaign promise that the first lady was about to let her husband forget about.
In a taped address to a virtual legislative summit hosted by Association of Community College Trustees and the American Association of Community Colleges, Dr. Biden expressed an increased sense of urgency about the matter due to the economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to get this done. And we have to do it now,” she said, according to AP News. “That’s why we’re going to make sure that everyone has access to free community college and training programs.”
Free access to those higher education opportunities could open a lot of doors.
According to the American Association of Community Colleges , annual tuition and fees for community college averaged $3,730 in 2019-20, compared to $10,440 for in-state tuition for a four-year program at a public college.
“We’re going to make sure students have the support they need to cross that finish line,” Dr. Biden continued. “We’re going to invest in programs that prepare our workers for jobs of the future.”
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In her remarks, Dr. Biden did not get into specifics about the proposal.
However, she suggested that the White House would hold a summit on community colleges in the future, as she hosted during the Obama administration.
Dr. Biden continues to teach English at Northern Virginia Community College virtually while also serving as first lady, making her the first in the nation’s history to hold outside employment while also in the White House.
Watch Dr. Biden’s address in full below.
h/t: AP News
