California Embraces Barack Obama's 'Free College' Plan: Schools Now Offering Two-Year Scholarship Degrees

Two-year colleges in California are lining up with President Barack Obama's plan to make community colleges free for all students. The state is doing this by offering free tuition, scholarships and other measures to help students study even without money.

Inspired by America's College Promise spearheaded by Obama, colleges in California have promoted free tuition, additional advising and mentoring and expanding summer orientation programs for the upcoming academic year. These colleges are seeking the support of local foundations, businesses and agencies that support Obama's movement, the East Bay Times reported.

California Cities Doing More Efforts

In Oakland, California, a $39 million initiative called Oakland Promise is offering a free semester of community college to new graduates. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said the state wants all students to finish their studies and earn degrees.

In Santa Clara, Mission College is providing $1,000 scholarships to local students via a program named Mission First, while West Valley College in Saratoga is giving a tuition-free first semester to 600 local high school graduates. San Bruno's Skyline College, meanwhile, is also offering a scholarship for newly graduated high school students.

The College of San Mateo is slightly different. It doesn't offer free classes for all students; instead, it is sending counselors to local high schools to help students with course scheduling. The college invites students to campus during the summer and establishes peer support groups for them in the pilot program.

California Community Colleges Have The Lowest Tuition Fee Cost

The California College Promise offers financial aid to community college students as well. Assemblymember Miguel Santiago said the scholarship program will shoulder students' books, transportation and housing costs, among others. According to Santiago, California's community colleges are the lowest in the country, with almost 70 percent of full-time community college students not paying tuition, ASMDC.org reported.

Experts said California's two-year schools charge $138 for a common course or $1,100 to $1,380 annually, the East Bay Times wrote. Two-year college students don't pay tuition because of a fee waiver set in 1984 for financially impaired individuals.

In January of this year, a legislative package called AB 1721 was announced to expand the Cal Grant program to cover non-tuition costs for community college students, ASMDC.org added. Funds for the Cal Grant will be increased thanks to AB 1721. More students will have access to the California Community College Transfer Entitlement Award by lifting the age limit from 28 to 31, as well as extending the deadline of the application.