Published 3:34 pm, Saturday, February 4, 2017
Gov. Andrew Cuomo's latest proposal, the Excelsior Scholarship,
like some of his previous education-related proposals, seems to ignore research.
Cuomo may be gambling with taxpayer funds to further his political ambitions.
His latest proposal is to make community college free for
individuals and families whose income is less than $125,000. Other than
grabbing headlines for a few days, does Cuomo's proposal have merit?
Irrespective of cost, roughly one-quarter of new community college students
leave after one semester. Further, available data show that less than 40
percent of those enrolling in community college graduate within six years.
According to some studies, at least 50 percent of students who
enroll in community college might require at least one remedial course.
Students who take remedial courses are less likely to graduate than those who
don't.
Based on the abysmal success rate of poor and minority community
college students, many of whom serve to benefit from the proposal, Cuomo should
work with the Legislature and colleges and universities to improve K-12 public
education, which would reduce the need for costly remediation. It's not
feasible to provide a free education to students who may not be prepared to
take advantage of it.
Since Cuomo did not provide any details about his proposal, it is
difficult to determine if he plans to tie performance indicators to the tuition
funding. Cuomo's Excelsior Scholarship may be putting the cart before the
horse.
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