Why more community colleges offer free tuition
By Mike McPhate, New York Times
After President Obama announced a goal last year to make community college free for all Americans, no state has moved as aggressively as California.
In 2016, at least 20 programs offering support to incoming community college students were introduced in California, bringing the state’s total to about 30, according to the federal Department of Education.
Critics of the move toward free community college have argued that the programs would strain public budgets and that aid should rather be narrowly targeted toward needy students.
California’s 113 community colleges have become an increasingly attractive option for families looking for alternatives to the state’s public universities, where academic competition has grown fierce and tuitions have tripled since 2000.