Last week President Obama announced a new proposal that would essentially make community college free for most students. The president spoke of the issue as extending the concept of a free public education from the K-12 grades to two-year colleges, as higher education has become increasingly important to the country’s job market.
But what does this announcement mean for local community colleges? Reedley College President Sandra Caldwell, part of the State Center Community College District and Stan Carrizosa of the College of the Sequoias in Visalia join us to talk about their thoughts on the issue. Do local colleges have the capacity to accommodate an influx of new students, and will such a proposal improve graduation rates or actually hurt them?