I'm excited to hear about the America's College Promise program. This country needs better access to affordable higher education. As it stands today, graduating students find themselves strapped with debt in the tens -- if not hundreds -- of thousands of dollars after completing a higher education program. High debt makes it difficult for young graduates to start families and purchase necessary goods and services.
Tennessee has a model program already in place, as the Brookings Institution describes in this pithy piece. And of course, Georgia residents can qualify for a HOPE Scholarship to attend any state institution of higher learning. In both programs, though, funding cuts could limit enrollment opportunities for many college hopefuls.
This movement toward making higher education more accessible promises a great way to build much-needed skills in new and returning students. However, a truly accessible economy also delivers low and middle skill jobs that provide living wages with benefits. America's workforce and economic development policies has traditionally glossed over the wage shortfalls that makes it difficult for those without an advanced education to meet basic needs. Is the President -- and our country -- ready to take steps that will make living wage jobs for all skill levels a policy priority?
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| Artwork by a third grade class. Photo by Tracy A. Corley |
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