Can Free Community College Unite a Divided U.S.?

Photo caption: Jill Biden visits Red Rocks Community College’s campus in Arvada, Colo., to learn about the school’s renewable energy technology programs in 2010. Credit: Andy Cross Getty Images. Interview by David Noonan. Scientific American – January 6, 2021.

The incoming Biden-Harris administration wants to launch a new era in higher education that will make it open to everyone

“The Biden Plan for Education beyond High School,” a platform document circulated by Joe Biden’s team during the 2020 presidential campaign, refers to community colleges as “America’s best kept secret.” While that may come as a surprise to the 8.2 million students enrolled in these institutions (who represent 37 percent of the country’s year-round undergraduates, according to the U.S. Department of Education), it is a point worthy of consideration. Higher education in the U.S. has long meant four-year colleges—and it has become a societal dividing line. […]

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