This idea is not really new - the California Master Plan for Education essentially promised a free higher education to everyone in California. In 1960. [1]
As these things go, the plan was eroded over time, with the (in)famous Proposition 13 of 1978 dealing a big blow.
There is this meme that Prop 13 is responsible for everything bad in California because of course we could pay for anything if we had more money. In reality the CA budget has grown faster than inflation for decades. https://www.statista.com/statistics/313176/california-state-...
To be fair a lot of California students get a free education. I moved to California as a poor teenager. I became a resident and then had all of my costs (minus housing) covered during both community and state college.
I never thought something like that would be possible for me. It ended up being fairly easy. Moving to California radically changed my life for the better.
The State of New Mexico adopted a policy in 2022 that expands existing state-funded scholarship programs to ensure that undergraduate tuition will be fully covered for all state residents, and fees and housing for most. Depending on how you squint at it, it's probably the first state to have done so. Unfortunately the program does not have guaranteed funding going forward but there is a history of strong political support for state tuition programs and so, with fingers crossed, we can be optimistic that undergraduate debt will be a thing of the past for most students here.
It is perhaps reflective of this state's small size that there has been almost no national news coverage of the change, and even a lot of websites comparing state programs still haven't been updated to include the new changes that significantly expanded eligibility.
New Mexico also makes it relatively easy for students to establish in-state classification after moving into the state for college, so we can expect a number of out-of-state students to take advantage as well.
Middle class families can pay for school: In 2019-20 in state tuition and fees in California averaged $9k. 100% of which you can take a federal loan and payback <$150/mo that begins 6 months after graduating.
Rent/living cost is another matter, but tuition can be still be reasonable if you state in state and don’t attend expense universities.
But I totally agree - there is a lower/lower middle class of people that attending college is vet challenging and free tuition for all at some schools would be massively beneficial for them and society.
It's already difficult to attend California's public universities as a state resident; the more popular campuses prefer nonresidents/international students because they pay full price. No-tuition residents will be even less desired by admissions offices.
64% of foster youth graduating high school is far far higher than I thought it would be. I’m beyond delighted by this. And if that 64% has free access to post-secondary… that’s a cycle breaking opportunity.
I'm sure this varies by region, but the standards for graduating HS are fairly low where I am in California. Granted doing even basic things with the level of trauma many foster kids have is an impressive feat.
I thought this was already a thing. It turns out to be partially covered in 35 states:
> As of 2021, there are 35 states that have some type of statewide postsecondary education tuition waiver or scholarship program for students who have been in foster care.
> 24 states have statewide tuition waivers: Alaska[1], Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, (Dark blue color on the map)
> 4 states have state funded grant programs for students in foster care are: Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia. (Light blue color on the map)
> 7 states have state funded scholarship programs for students in foster care are: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and Washington. (Purple color on the map)
> 16 states and the District of Columbia have only the Federal Chafee Educational Training Voucher: Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming (Yellow color on the map)
What I was thinking of was the Chafee Educational Training Voucher, which gives up to a $5000/year reimbursement:
> Students can get up to $5,000 per academic year based on cost of attendance, available funds, the student’s unmet financial need.
> Note: For the federal fiscal year 2022, the voucher’s maximum annual amount was temporarily increased to $12,000. On Oct. 1, 2022, the maximum award will revert to $5,000 per year.
ALL kids in Tennessee can now attend any two year trade school upon graduation from a state high school. Adults can, as well, based on certain additional requirements (that really are easy after you've lived in-state).
I mean, no. it should be state-by-state thing but if all states implement it then great. but it shouldn't be federally mandated. maximizing state autonomy is a good thing.
We should go back to a California State university system that had capacity for any resident who academically qualified, and was tuition free. This was actually more cost effective than the byzantine money handling administrative policies we have now.
I'll take it, but I wish 16 continuous years of education were not required for basic life success. Germany seems to have a better system where schools teach useful job skills and paid apprenticeships help refine these. Especially for foster youth, it seems important to have some income as well as place in society as soon as possible. Provided they can even get into a college in the first place with limited opportunity to focus on academics.
this, almost inevitable this will be abused. Way too much money at stake for it not to be, I've heard plenty of stories of rich people who bought houses in certain zip codes so their kids get preferential treatment
I'm all for making education more accessible, but why does it have to be one extreme or the other (free or tuition) - if taxpayers are making education free, can't we levy a requirement for the graduate to at least volunteer Peace Corps style? Perhaps the term of volunteering could be inversely proportional to their grade such that someone who drops out early has to volunteer for a longer period of time.
I don't ask my kid to volunteer because he got a chicken pox vaccine, he just gets to not have chicken pox for free. And that's ok.
We can choose to make the next generations lives better than ours, even if we gain no material benefit ourselves. (Though I'd argue that an educated youth does materially benefit the populace.)
For many, foster care is a temporary program with an agency directive at reunification of the family.
I was a foster parent and one kid was briefly in the system due to a clerical issue where the father was not awarded custody after the mother was arrested.
Would that 14 day clerical issue now be awarded with a free education? Cause that system can be easily gamed.
What is the legal status of foster kids with regard to general financial aid? Is their parents' income considered to be $0? Does the government want the parents' income information? (This used to be the norm for non-custodial and estranged parents.)
It feels great to say "California's most vulnerable young people can take agency over their lives by seeking higher education," but how much is this changing? And since we know most high school grads aren't prepared to basic college freshman classes (cough social promotion cough), then how many of these foster kids are really going to benefit, rather than just spinning their wheels before they fail out?
This feels a lot like a big headline that makes people feel good but doesn't actually do much (if anything, or makes things worse).
0 EFC. No info on parents required (FAFSA) and asset information can also be skipped. Anything past community college won't necessarily be covered, though.
About 61% of foster youth in California graduate high school on time. Past 18 things turn into a messy patchwork of semi support, simply successfully transitioning to a point with a high school diploma, a job, and stable housing is a success story. Many are homeless at points, and living on the street is the backup plan if anything goes wrong. (Note: non-CA experience, but Google shows a similar alphabet soup in CA.)
NFYI says about 3-4% of foster youth graduate with a 4 year degree.
Something doesn't need to be perfect to be better. We're talking about 60k kids who will be able to receive an education instead of 4% of that. It won't solve hunger, but for these kids it's a good news.
This is no doubt good.
It is also a strange patch.
I wonder if this could plausibly cause some families to
purposefully get kids placed into foster care 1 or 2 years before
college. Hopefully not. Usually that whole experience is a nightmare.
Letting everyone attend state college for free is the real deal.
To save costs fire 90% of the admin staff.
(I have not done research on the California state specifically but
most colleges have absorbed far too many admin roles.
Then due to cost not done enough to expand the teaching staff)
Where is the support for the middle class? The ones deemed too wealthy for financial aid, but not wealthy enough to actually afford the cost of college?
Just more tax dollars being siphoned away from my family that got zero assistance.
I grew up on welfare in a shit neighborhood, but now I'm an upper middle class engineer. Trust me, poor people need the help. We are all indirectly benefitting from people getting out of poverty.
The cost of post secondary education is untenable.
Post secondaries are quite overpriced. Community / state colleges are usually priced better.
Can you give an example of a college that you are priced out of?
The increasing gap between graduates and the non market because the rate of change in the world is outpacing the rate of change in curriculum to keep up in post secondaries is an opportunity.
Effective allocation of public funds and ensuring there is value received for the public purse is something that needs to be taken up by the average person to learn about and to ask informed questions about.
It sucks when tax dollars that weren’t going to me in the first place continue to not go to me. It’s like nobody wants to discuss how people getting things is the same as the government taking away things I never had!
[+] [-] xmddmx|2 years ago|reply
As these things go, the plan was eroded over time, with the (in)famous Proposition 13 of 1978 dealing a big blow.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Master_Plan_for_Hig...
[+] [-] slavboj|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sosodev|2 years ago|reply
I never thought something like that would be possible for me. It ended up being fairly easy. Moving to California radically changed my life for the better.
[+] [-] ajju|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bandrami|2 years ago|reply
OTOH, that in itself shows that the increased tuition hasn't actually kept people from going to college.
[+] [-] unknown|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jasmer|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] 999900000999|2 years ago|reply
Realistically this doesn't change much since it's extremely unlikely a foster kid wouldn't qualify for a full ride prior to this.
The only people who really get screwed are middle class families who make too much to qualify for aid, but can't really afford to pay for school.
[+] [-] jcrawfordor|2 years ago|reply
It is perhaps reflective of this state's small size that there has been almost no national news coverage of the change, and even a lot of websites comparing state programs still haven't been updated to include the new changes that significantly expanded eligibility.
New Mexico also makes it relatively easy for students to establish in-state classification after moving into the state for college, so we can expect a number of out-of-state students to take advantage as well.
[+] [-] soared|2 years ago|reply
Rent/living cost is another matter, but tuition can be still be reasonable if you state in state and don’t attend expense universities.
But I totally agree - there is a lower/lower middle class of people that attending college is vet challenging and free tuition for all at some schools would be massively beneficial for them and society.
[+] [-] petsormeat|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thsksbd|2 years ago|reply
I don't agree its fair, though, for the blue collar folks or the people who aren't bright enough to go to college to have to subsidize it.
Or in Georgia's case, those with a gambling problem.
[+] [-] mynameishere|2 years ago|reply
Oh, they're paying for it all right.
[+] [-] Waterluvian|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aidenn0|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hotpotamus|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaron695|2 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] armchairhacker|2 years ago|reply
> As of 2021, there are 35 states that have some type of statewide postsecondary education tuition waiver or scholarship program for students who have been in foster care.
> 24 states have statewide tuition waivers: Alaska[1], Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, (Dark blue color on the map)
> 4 states have state funded grant programs for students in foster care are: Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia. (Light blue color on the map)
> 7 states have state funded scholarship programs for students in foster care are: Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, and Washington. (Purple color on the map)
> 16 states and the District of Columbia have only the Federal Chafee Educational Training Voucher: Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming (Yellow color on the map)
https://depts.washington.edu/fostered/tuition-waivers-state (bonus points for software gore right below the title)
What I was thinking of was the Chafee Educational Training Voucher, which gives up to a $5000/year reimbursement:
> Students can get up to $5,000 per academic year based on cost of attendance, available funds, the student’s unmet financial need.
> Note: For the federal fiscal year 2022, the voucher’s maximum annual amount was temporarily increased to $12,000. On Oct. 1, 2022, the maximum award will revert to $5,000 per year.
https://studentaid.gov/sites/default/files/foster-youth-vouc...
[+] [-] Avshalom|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ProllyInfamous|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ec109685|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pirate787|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alangibson|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] localplume|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] happytiger|2 years ago|reply
Now let’s invest in a free state education for every citizen!
[+] [-] WalterBright|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dv_dt|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cat_plus_plus|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] starside|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tarr11|2 years ago|reply
https://www.nycfoodpolicy.org/states-that-have-passed-univer...
[+] [-] 01100011|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LouisSayers|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ren_engineer|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stevenjgarner|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nxx788|2 years ago|reply
I don't ask my kid to volunteer because he got a chicken pox vaccine, he just gets to not have chicken pox for free. And that's ok.
We can choose to make the next generations lives better than ours, even if we gain no material benefit ourselves. (Though I'd argue that an educated youth does materially benefit the populace.)
[+] [-] pawelmurias|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hollandheese|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hermannj314|2 years ago|reply
For many, foster care is a temporary program with an agency directive at reunification of the family.
I was a foster parent and one kid was briefly in the system due to a clerical issue where the father was not awarded custody after the mother was arrested.
Would that 14 day clerical issue now be awarded with a free education? Cause that system can be easily gamed.
[+] [-] AYBABTME|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] brightlancer|2 years ago|reply
It feels great to say "California's most vulnerable young people can take agency over their lives by seeking higher education," but how much is this changing? And since we know most high school grads aren't prepared to basic college freshman classes (cough social promotion cough), then how many of these foster kids are really going to benefit, rather than just spinning their wheels before they fail out?
This feels a lot like a big headline that makes people feel good but doesn't actually do much (if anything, or makes things worse).
[+] [-] tyrfing|2 years ago|reply
About 61% of foster youth in California graduate high school on time. Past 18 things turn into a messy patchwork of semi support, simply successfully transitioning to a point with a high school diploma, a job, and stable housing is a success story. Many are homeless at points, and living on the street is the backup plan if anything goes wrong. (Note: non-CA experience, but Google shows a similar alphabet soup in CA.)
NFYI says about 3-4% of foster youth graduate with a 4 year degree.
[+] [-] charles_f|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ThinkBeat|2 years ago|reply
I wonder if this could plausibly cause some families to purposefully get kids placed into foster care 1 or 2 years before college. Hopefully not. Usually that whole experience is a nightmare.
Letting everyone attend state college for free is the real deal. To save costs fire 90% of the admin staff.
(I have not done research on the California state specifically but most colleges have absorbed far too many admin roles. Then due to cost not done enough to expand the teaching staff)
[+] [-] DropInIn|2 years ago|reply
This shouldn't have ever been a question and should have been the default.
[+] [-] kbos87|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kepler1|2 years ago|reply
https://calmatters.org/education/2021/11/california-math/
[+] [-] ecf|2 years ago|reply
Just more tax dollars being siphoned away from my family that got zero assistance.
[+] [-] TheBigSalad|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] j45|2 years ago|reply
Post secondaries are quite overpriced. Community / state colleges are usually priced better.
Can you give an example of a college that you are priced out of?
The increasing gap between graduates and the non market because the rate of change in the world is outpacing the rate of change in curriculum to keep up in post secondaries is an opportunity.
Effective allocation of public funds and ensuring there is value received for the public purse is something that needs to be taken up by the average person to learn about and to ask informed questions about.
[+] [-] jrflowers|2 years ago|reply