"By eliminating community college tuition and fees universally for a student’s first two years, the Build Back Better Act could revolutionize U.S. postsecondary education, reducing students’ total costs to attend college and the burden of student loan debt dramatically. The resulting boost in educational opportunity would propel Americans back into the workforce in better-paying and family-sustaining jobs."
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Andy Levin (MI-09), member of the House Education and Labor Committee and author of America's College Promise Act, led Congresswomen Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Haley Stevens (MI-11) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) in a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to urge the inclusion of robust funding for federal-state partnerships to provide two years of tuition-free community college and significantly reduced tuition at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) in the final Build Back Better bill advanced by Congress and signed by the President.
"Investing in high-quality education for every American free of means-testing criteria will be critical in our fight to build back better from the pandemic and grow our economy," wrote the lawmakers. "By eliminating community college tuition and fees universally for a student's first two years, the Build Back Better Act could revolutionize U.S. postsecondary education, reducing students' total costs to attend college and the burden of student loan debt dramatically. The resulting boost in educational opportunity would propel Americans back into the workforce in better-paying and family-sustaining jobs."
"In the State of Michigan, we know the impact tuition-free community college programs can have and how popular they are thanks to Michigan Reconnect," the lawmakers continued. "Launched in February 2021 under the leadership of Governor Whitmer, Michigan Reconnect is a last dollar tuition assistance program that helps Michiganders 25 or older by paying the cost of tuition for an associate degree or skills certificate at their in-district community college. It's the largest effort in state history to ensure that more than 4.1 million Michiganders will have an opportunity to pursue their dream careers. The program has had more than 70,000 people signed up to receive college or career training in the first year."
Source:https://andylevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/levin-mi-democrats-leadership-do-not-means-test-free-community-college
