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20 Hartford Business Journal • January 26, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com OpiniOn & Commentary otHer VoICeS Free community college may not work By Michael B. Horn I n his State of the Union address, President Obama proposed making community col- lege tuition free for two years to boost col- lege graduation rates and lift more people into the middle class. Unfortunately, his plan doesn't make the grade. The proposal would not only pile up more debt by further subsidizing runaway college costs, it would also perilously under- cut the emergence of more innovative edu- cational programs designed to help stu- dents succeed in the workforce. Offering only a lukewarm pathway to the job market, com- munity colleges are incapable of fulfilling the President's lofty ambitions. Although there are some high- performing commu- nity colleges and stel- lar stories of success for certain students, the overall picture of success at two-year community colleges is dismal. According to the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University, only 22 percent of students graduate within three years, and 28 percent graduate within four. More telling, 80 percent of students say they want a bachelor's degree or higher, and yet only 20 percent of these students transfer to a four-year institution within five years. Even for those who earn a community col- lege degree, it often isn't as useful as other options. Thanks to credential inflation, pursu- ing a professional certification — which more clearly indicates a person's skills than a degree — often pays off better than an associate's degree, according to Census Bureau data. The conversation around making commu- nity college free also masks a larger problem, which is that community colleges are already heavily subsidized and far less affordable than commonly believed. At $3,300, community college tuition is well under the $5,730 currently available in Pell Grant aid to low-income students. But the expenditure per student at a community college — the true cost of the education — is far higher, about four times more at $13,000 per student. That means that more than 60 percent of the cost of com- munity college isn't paid for through tuition, but through various forms of government aid at the federal, state and local levels. As a result, even if the President's plan passed, it wouldn't help the large number of already-overcrowded community colleges that have waiting lists numbering in the thousands. Tuition is only a small part of the funding needed to educate additional students. What's more, because of the limited produc- tivity gains possible in the community college model, those costs will continue to rise, which means that tuition will, too. The proposal's $60 billion price over 10 years is likely to grow with only a questionable return on the investment. The larger question the proposal misses is not how to allow students to afford college, but how to make college affordable. There's a huge distinction. The focus should be to make postsecondary education less costly and of better quality, such that the question of how to afford it becomes manageable. The President's proposal merely charges educa- tion, in the form of debt for future generations of taxpayers, rather than changes it. Instead we need to encourage students to seek innova- tive offerings that are lower cost and improve the quality and accessibility of higher education. Such options are emerging. Patten Uni- versity offers a new online, competency- based program that charges undergradu- ate tuition of $350 per month, or $1,316 per term. Tuition includes access to as many courses as one can complete and all the ebooks and course materials needed, and Patten receives no government fund- ing. Another online, competency-based program, Southern New Hampshire's College for America, charges annual tuition of $2,500. Rather than supporting innovative options like Patten and Southern New Hampshire, the President's plan would nudge students toward a community college sector that is incapable of repositioning its model around student success and fuel rising college costs. If enacted, the President's proposal would be unlikely to achieve its ultimate aims and would exacerbate a larger problem lurking behind college financing. Although the plan amounts to little more than politi- cal posturing given the current congressio- nal makeup, it will negatively influence the political conversation around higher educa- tion in the years ahead. By supporting free community college, Pres- ident Obama is merely kicking the can down the road for future generations to confront. We need a better strategy for skills training overall before we go further down the track of subsidiz- ing students to attend community college only to emerge with little to show for it. n Michael B. Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innova- tion and executive director of its education program. He is author of "Blended: Using Dis- ruptive Innovation to Improve Schools" and "Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns." This column originally appeared on CNNMoney. edItorIal State must re-examine role of local governments A s we prepare for a major state budget debate in February, cities and towns already are jockeying to protect their interests. Municipalities don't want their current state funding levels cut, and they want more relief from special education spending, which collectively costs them $1.8 billion annually. The state's 169 towns and cities are battling the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection over a new proposed storm water permit that municipal leaders say will require $100 million in investment to comply with. Municipalities were spared from state budget cuts four years ago, but they may not be a protected class this year, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and legislative leaders try to tackle billion-dollar deficits for each of the next two fiscal years. Normally, we'd chide any special interest group seeking to protect all of their state aid during a budget crisis, but any funding cuts to cities and towns likely serves as a stealth tax increase on businesses and individuals. We oppose that. Municipalities, of course, derive most of their revenue from property taxes, which is the business community's least favorite tax. In 2011, towns and cities raked in $9.5 billion from levies on residential and commercial properties as well as automobiles, according to the state Department of Revenue Services. That was almost double the $5.8 billion generated by the state income tax. The state corporation tax only brought in $436 million that year. Lawmakers have long called for reforms to Connecticut's property tax system, which was rated as the most burdensome in the country in 2012 by the conservative- leaning Tax Foundation. Not much has changed since then. Malloy wants this legislative session to focus on transportation, but we also need a comprehensive discussion, and legislative action, on the role of municipal governments. This will require a hard look out at how we fund city and town budgets, the impact of the property tax on Connecticut's economic competitiveness, and services and programs provided by municipalities. We aren't advocating for increased funding to cities or towns. We aren't saying they should be completely shielded from budget cuts either, but with limited options to raise new revenue, slashing state aid to municipalities will likely result in property tax increases in many communities. At the same time, municipalities have been their own worst enemy. For too long, cities and towns have been allowed to operate as individual fiefdoms, driving up costs to local taxpayers. A hesitancy to share more resources and services has led to slow progress in the state's efforts to regionalize local governments, which could derive real long-term cost savings to Connecticut. House Speaker Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden) deserves some credit for his efforts to tackle the issue. He's taken a leadership role in the Municipal Opportunities & Regional Efficiencies (MORE) Commission to develop recommendations for local districts to save money on services and develop economies of scale. There is also a panel taking a comprehensive look at Connecticut's tax structure including its overreliance on the property tax. Efforts like these are commendable, but we need to move beyond reports by panels and commissions to real legislative actions that require municipalities to change the way they operate. It certainly won't be an easy task, as many cities and towns will repel efforts to cede full control over their communities. But Malloy, a former mayor himself, has shown a willingness to tackle tough policy issues. He must lead the way on these efforts. And if municipalities fail to come to the regionalism table in any meaningful way, their pleas for state funding should fall on deaf ears. n HartfordBuSIneSS.Com Poll Should CT taxpayers prop up financially ailing hospitals? ● Yes ● No To vote, go online to HartfordBusiness.com. Last week's poll results: Should the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority be made independent from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection? 78.9% Yes 21.1% No Michael B. Horn ▶ ▶ We need a better strategy for skills training overall before we go further down the track of subsidizing students to attend community college only to emerge with little to show for it.