Obama proposes free community college program, cost details unclear

WASHINGTON –  President Obama on Thursday proposed making community college free for all Americans who are "willing to work for it," though the administration has not revealed the price tag or how exactly it would be paid for. 
In a video posted on Facebook, the president previewed his plan, which will be formally announced during a trip to Tennessee Friday. The president said he wants to provide free community college for two years, by covering enough tuition to get students who keep their grades up an associate's degree or halfway to a bachelor's. 
"It's not for kids," Obama said. "We also have to make sure that everybody has the opportunity to constantly train themselves for better jobs, better wages, better benefits." 
On a conference call with reporters, however, administration officials were vague on the details. 
They said the funding details would come out later with the president's budget. They estimated 9 million students could participate and save an average of $3,800 in tuition per year. 
That suggests an annual cost in the tens of billions of dollars. The White House said the federal government would pick up 75 percent of the cost and the final quarter would come from states that opt into the program. 
The proposal drew an immediate critical response from House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, whose spokesman said, "with no details or information on the cost, this seems more like a talking point than a plan." 
The idea was reminiscent of Obama's 2013 State of the Union proposal to provide universal preschool, which Congress did not take up because of cost issues. Obama policy adviser Cecilia Munoz pointed out that even without federal action, many states are taking up the idea and expanding preschool. 
Last year, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law a scholarship program that provides free community and technical college tuition for two years to the state's high school graduates. About 58,000 of the state's roughly 62,000 seniors have applied to participate this fall. 
But Tennessee Republican Rep. Diane Black said her state's plan, called Tennessee Promise, is paid mostly with lottery funds, while the federal funding source for Obama's plan is unclear and states will have to help pick up the tab. "Ultimately, any efforts to reboot Tennessee Promise as a one-size-fits-all nationwide approach will be met with heavy skepticism from Congress," Black said. 
Under the president's new plan, students would be required to maintain a 2.5 GPA while in college, and must make steady progress toward completing their program in order to have their tuition eliminated, according to the press release. 
"Put simply, what I'd like to do is to see the first two years of community college free for everybody who is willing to work for it," the president said.