An article in the recent edition of the online magazine The Bridge had some very interesting data on relationship to future jobs and post secondary school training/education. 65% of the jobs in the US will require education beyond high school by the end of this decade. However fewer than 40% of Americans have post secondary education. In Michigan it is worse. Only 38% of Michiganders have at least an associate degree.
So, it is clearly important that the states continue to find ways to make post secondary education via community colleges, middle college programs and universities more accessible to everyone and more affordable. In fact there is an increasing discussion going on around the country on the notion that post secondary education is a human right and needs to be made affordable, if not free, to all citizens. Germany of course is a leader in this area. Not only can Germans get a post secondary education free but non Germans who live in Germany can also attend for free.
President Obama's proposal for free tuition at all community colleges in America is going to be tough to get thru Congress. I hope it gets a lot of debate and discussion in Congress. It deserves to heard out and all the implications debated, discussed and presented: fiscal costs, access issues, income equality issues, etc., etc..
Universities need to be involved in this debate and more discussion on the cost of obtaining a baccalaureate degree and access issues. We should not forget the governance issues that are so important to getting a more affordable university experience for students.