With the cost of an education at a private university spiraling way out of many American families' price range, state colleges become appealing, but free tuition at a community college would be even more appealing.

According to Stateline, "the daily news service of the Pew Charitable Trust," free community college is something on a lot of state's minds. Sen. Mark Hass (D-Ore.) has sponsored legislation to explore the possibility of granting free community college admission to any high school graduate.

"Higher education for kids should not break families down," he told Stateline.

OregonLive.com reported Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) signed the bill, but not before asking if the money should instead be spent on need-based scholarships for students heading to two- and four-year schools.

Hass said the bill would tremendously help middle-class families send students who intend to go to a larger school eventually. Students can earn general education credits, or obtain their Associate's Degree, for free before saving money on a two- or four-year institution.

Hass also said it will help students who simply wish to learn a trade. In the past, he said, high school graduates have been able to find work in the lumber mill or elsewhere, jobs that now require some sort of technical training.

"This is a bold promise," Gov. Bill Haslam (R-Tenn.) said of a similar proposal in his State of the State address in February. "It is a promise that will speak volumes to current and prospective employers. It is a promise that will make a real difference for generations of Tennesseans."

New York's City University of New York (CUNY) school system, a community college education was free from 1970 to 1976. California did the same from 1960 to 1984 and states like Massachusetts and Mississippi have made similar proposals in past years, but have not been successful.

"I think these proposals come from a good place," said Debbie Cochrane, research director at The Institute for College Access and Success, an Oakland, Calif. nonprofit, according to Stateline. "They come from concerns about making sure that college is affordable, and they come from a place that recognizes that postsecondary education is increasingly critical for today's workforce."

Paul Attewell, a CUNY Graduate Center professor of educational sociology, said the direction of free community college tuition is right, but the "no charge" aspect is not. He said students should be applying for Pell Grants and states should try to help alleviate tuition rather than pay it off completely.

"It's not obvious that in all circumstances, using public dollars to reduce tuition to zero is the best use of (public) funds," Attewell told Stateline. "It may work out that if you reduce tuition, you're essentially saving the Pell system money."

Related