topic Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program in Community Chat

Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:03:31 GMT

The other thread on the President's proposal to fund two years of attendance at a community college was getting so long I decided to post this information to a new thread. As a resident of Tennessee and a retired public school teacher I would like to clarify some misinformation on the other thread about the Tennessee Promise program that Republican Governor Bill Haslam signed into law.

This link is to the Tennessee Promise website:

http://tennesseepromise.gov/about.shtml

Tennessee's program will be funded entirely with lottery money. No additional tax money will be required to provide all Tennessee high school graduates, from 2015 on, with a free community college/technical school education.

High school seniors graduating in 2015 were required to complete the application process by November 1, 2014. Almost 90% (57,000) students did so and were assigned to a mentor. 7,500 Tennessee citizens, serving as mentors, will guide from 5-10 students each through the process and will meet with them, correspond through email, FaceBook, Twitter, or by phone to keep track of their progress.

This is an excellent program if all goes as planned. It is a tremendous opportunity for so many students in our state to have the chance to succeed.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

SnowPink — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:12:29 GMT

Yes, the lottery. So community college is being paid for largely by the low-income residents of Tennessee since it's mainly low-income people who throw their money away on the lottery. Kind of ironic.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

dooBdoo — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:19:09 GMT

Hey, Cha1k! I didn't know you were a fellow Tennessean! Cool!

Thanks for posting the information. Even though it's my "home state," I have to say there's huge room for improvement (example, being in the "10 States with the Worst Quality of Life"). I've been reading as much as I can about this program, and I hope and pray it can be a success. We know that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is pointless, so it's time for big changes in my opinion.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

ROMARY — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:22:05 GMT

Yes, Lottery! I've heard that story elsewhere before, but I'm glad that Tennessee will be hopefully successfully implementing it. Lots of good luck!

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

SnowPink — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:22:53 GMT

Dave Ramsey was just talking about this on his radio show the other day.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

ROMARY — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:27:26 GMT

There really isn't much or any need to raise property and whatever else taxes when there is a healthy lottery in place.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

RoughDraft — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:33:55 GMT

Yes, I was aware of the lottery and mentioned it on the other thread. It sounds promising and hopefully the follow through will not fall by the wayside. Almost any movement has to begin with a first step. Our state lottery helps implement senior citizen services.

Is there a proviso where the students must maintain a certain grade point average? The mentoring program sounds slightly daunting but I hope it works out.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:41:54 GMT

On 1/10/2015 SnowPink said:
Yes, the lottery. So community college is being paid for largely by the low-income residents of Tennessee since it's mainly low-income people who throw their money away on the lottery. Kind of ironic.

Hopefully, some of the students benefitting from Tennessee Promise are from those very low-income families who purchase lottery tickets.

I've heard the saying that those who purchase lottery tickets have poor math skills. Perhaps their college educated children and can help rectify that.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:43:39 GMT

On 1/10/2015 dooBdoo said:
Hey, Cha1k! I didn't know you were a fellow Tennessean! Cool!

Thanks for posting the information. Even though it's my "home state," I have to say there's huge room for improvement (example, being in the "10 States with the Worst Quality of Life"). I've been reading as much as I can about this program, and I hope and pray it can be a success. We know that doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results is pointless, so it's time for big changes in my opinion.

Doobs! Hey there you ole Volunteer! Born and raised in Tennessee.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:44:46 GMT

On 1/10/2015 SnowPink said:
Dave Ramsey was just talking about this on his radio show the other day.

Dave Ramsey is a Tennessean.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:47:22 GMT

On 1/10/2015 ROMARY 1 said:
There really isn't much or any need to raise property and whatever else taxes when there is a healthy lottery in place.

I've read that of the 44 states that have a lottery, Tennessee ranks 6th in the amount of money it brings in.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

SnowPink — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:49:34 GMT

On 1/10/2015 Cha1k said:
On 1/10/2015 SnowPink said:
Dave Ramsey was just talking about this on his radio show the other day.

Dave Ramsey is a Tennessean.

Yes, I know.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 05:55:45 GMT

An interesting side note to those who think the federal government shouldn't fund college education. Approximately 48% of the students who have applied for Tennessee Promise already qualify for Pell Grants which will provide $5500 per year toward community college/technical school funding. That is more than enough to pay the tuition in Tennessee schools.

So, after applying federal monies, Tennessee will not need to kick in anything extra.

One of the key components of the Tennessee Promise program is the dissemination of information through the mentorship initiative. That and the publicity the program has generated will get more students into the mode of thinking "maybe college is a possibility for me".

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Cha1k — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 06:03:10 GMT

On 1/10/2015 RoughDraft said:

Is there a proviso where the students must maintain a certain grade point average? The mentoring program sounds slightly daunting but I hope it works out.

From the Tennessee Promise website:

"Tennessee Promise is both a scholarship and mentoring program that will begin in the fall of 2015. It will provide students a last-dollar scholarship, meaning the scholarship will cover tuition and fees not covered by the Pell grant, the HOPE scholarship, or TSAA funds. Students may use the scholarship at any of the state’s 13 community colleges, 27 colleges of applied technology, or other eligible institution offering an associate’s degree program. While removing the financial burden is key, a critical component of Tennessee Promise is the individual guidance each participant will receive from a mentor who will assist the student as he or she navigates the college admissions process. In addition, Tennessee Promise participants must complete eight hours of community service per term enrolled, as well as maintain satisfactory academic progress (2.0 GPA) at their institution."

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

RoughDraft — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 06:04:45 GMT

Thanks Cha1k.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Suziepeach — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 06:21:50 GMT

NM, wasn't important anyway...

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Blahblahvampemer — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 07:00:24 GMT

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Blahblahvampemer — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 07:11:32 GMT

On 1/10/2015 ROMARY 1 said:
There really isn't much or any need to raise property and whatever else taxes when there is a healthy lottery in place.

You don't raise any other taxes, you just raise the requirements to get the grant. Georgia did that when revenues ebbed, and wham, the students lost their funds in a New York Second.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Blahblahvampemer — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 07:26:01 GMT

On 1/10/2015 Cha1k said:
An interesting side note to those who think the federal government shouldn't fund college education. Approximately 48% of the students who have applied for Tennessee Promise already qualify for Pell Grants which will provide $5500 per year toward community college/technical school funding. That is more than enough to pay the tuition in Tennessee schools.

So, after applying federal monies, Tennessee will not need to kick in anything extra.

One of the key components of the Tennessee Promise program is the dissemination of information through the mentorship initiative. That and the publicity the program has generated will get more students into the mode of thinking "maybe college is a possibility for me".

Sounds nice, but to give something like this, you have to take something...from the taxpayers. Local to federal still comes from the same people, and with unfunded liabilities, we may well be looking at over 100 TRILLION in debt. In short, we're beyond broke.

Re: Free Community College - Tennessee's program

Snowpuppy — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 07:34:19 GMT

Community Colleges are very good at what they do, short term technical training, retraining for a new career or preparation for transferring to a 4 yr university.

That said before you begin to cheer or jeer, check your local community college's graduation rates. Statistically they are extremely low, less than 20% ever stay long enough to graduate.

That factors two things. One is that many students go for a few classes as refreshers to enter the workforce or renew some skills. They don't stay to graduate.

The other is community colleges generally have no admission requirements other than HS graduation and many waive that. There are no ACT/SAT scores so these students are generally not able to get into a state university.

Here in Mi the reception was very cool to the proposal. U of M and MI State run the board of regents here and they make transferring from a CC to a University very difficult.