President Obama’s proposal to make community college free is getting an enthusiastic reception from two-year colleges and their advocates across the nation. Not surprisingly, though, representatives of other higher-education sectors aren’t quite so bullish. One of their greatest fears: that the plan, if enacted, could end up pushing a large number of students away from their institutions and into community colleges.
Here’s a look at several groups of institutions with something at stake—and at how they’ve responded to the proposal.
For-Profit Colleges
It’s hard not to see the president’s proposal as a direct shot at proprietary colleges, which have been targets of criticism from the administration for high costs and high loan-default rates. A program that makes public community colleges free could further cut into enrollment, wrote Jeffrey R. Silber, a financial analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
“If these proposals were implemented,” according to Mr. Silber, “we believe it would have a negative impact on the for-profit sector, particularly on schools with a high percentage of associate and certificate degrees.”
In addition, the plan would designate federal money specifically for community colleges, unlike existing financial-aid funds, which students can access at any participating institution. That could mean a shift in enrollments from for-profits to community colleges, said Claudia Goldin, a professor of economics at Harvard University.
But some reasons that might drive a student to choose a for-profit college over a community college come down to convenience, not cost, said Constance A. Iloh, a higher-education researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Southern California’s Pullias Center for Higher Education. “These factors included being able to support family, campus proximity to home and work, flexible class schedules, and the accelerated nature of the program,” Ms. Iloh wrote, with her co-author William G. Tierney, in a study published in August by the Teachers College Record.
A spokesman for the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, the for-profit sector’s main lobbying group, said that the organization would not be issuing a response to the plan.
Private Colleges
News of President Obama’s initiative met with skepticism among some private-college presidents, who wonder why community colleges are being singled out as a gateway to higher education.
Small, less-selective private colleges have long struggled against a stereotype that they are expensive and mainly serve affluent students. In fact, they enroll significant numbers of low-income, first-generation, and at-risk students, and they graduate those students at much higher rates than do community colleges. And just like two-year colleges, small four-year colleges have long dealt in preprofessional programs, too.
“I wish the Obama administration would not leave out the small private colleges that actually do the same work that community colleges do,” said Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University.
Some small-college presidents see Mr. Obama’s proposal as something that might cannibalize their programs while sacrificing the educational experience. “Once you are into the two-year system, not all two-year colleges are the same, and they’re not all good, and students don’t always have the ability to discriminate,” said Ed L. Schrader, president of Brenau University, a Georgia institution that has extensive preprofessional programs.
Experts can’t predict if the Obama plan would endanger small, private colleges by undercutting enrollment in the first two years. W. Scott Friedhoff, vice president for enrollment and college relations at the College of Wooster, in Ohio, said that applicants to his institution are not also considering enrolling at a two-year college. But he noted that less-selective private colleges would probably be pinched by the new plan, should it become reality.
Others aren’t so sure. “People already choose to go to four-year institutions, whether they are public or private, for reasons other than price,” said Sarah A. Flanagan, vice president for government relations and policy development at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. If the plan sends people to college who wouldn’t normally enroll—and who may become transfer students at private colleges—"everyone would benefit,” she said.
Other Public Colleges
The impact on other public colleges could be quite different, depending on the size and mission of the institution.
Regional comprehensives, where most students in public four-year colleges are enrolled, could be the most heavily affected by the president’s proposal. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which represents some 400 of those colleges, issued a statement warning of the long-term costs of the plan and the shifting of resources to community colleges at the expense of other sectors.
“A thorough examination must include whether such an allocation of limited federal financial resources focused on eliminating tuition at a subset of institutions for all students is the optimal strategy,” the organization said.
Flagship universities—which can, in many cases, recruit students both nationally and internationally—would probably feel less competition for students from community colleges. But like public regional institutions, they are concerned that state and federal money for higher education is already scarce and could become more so if many states participate in the president’s plan.
While nearly every higher-education organization is responding to President Obama’s plan, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities declined through its spokesman to comment on the president’s proposal. “We need to learn more about the proposal before commenting,” Jeff Lieberson, the group’s vice president for public affairs, wrote in an email.
F. King Alexander, president of the Louisiana State University system, said he understood the concerns of the regional institutions. “If the same concept had included support for four-year institutions, you would have their full support,” said Mr. Alexander, a former president of California State University of Long Beach who has spoken out in favor of a proposal to use federal aid as a way to leverage more state money.
That plan, put forth by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, would establish a “maintenance of effort” requirement, setting “a threshold of state financial support required in order to receive federal funding.”
The president’s plan could be “very helpful to all of higher education if it ensures that state investment increases down the road,” he said.
But it would be a big problem if the federal money simply supplanted state and local dollars, Mr. Alexander said. “States have discovered this trick: Once the federal government puts its money in, they pull their money out.”
Clarification (1/12/2015, 10:56 a.m.): This article was updated to clarify how Claudia Goldin thinks federal funding might shift from for-proft to community colleges.
Scott Carlson is a senior writer who covers the cost and value of college. Email him at scott.carlson@chronicle.com. Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs.You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.
