Someone will pay in the end, of course. Nothing is free.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

Pushing for Free

Since President Obama proposed a national free community college initiative, many have wondered if the idea has a chance of becoming reality. Few ideas seems to go anywhere in Washington, where political dysfunction runs rampant. At this month’s American Association of Community Colleges meeting, enthusiasm remained high for the proposal, even as some community college presidents expressed skepticism over the feasibility of the plan.

Yet there are efforts to advance the free community college idea. A coalition — not yet formally announced — of business leaders, academics, mayors and foundations is looking to continue promoting the benefits and importance of the proposal.

“There are a lot of people thinking about this and organizing the way to go…. We all are working on a plan to say, ‘Could we join together and first do the analysis of what we want to accomplish? What are the challenges of getting the first two years of community college funded in a federal-state partnership?’” said Martha Kanter, a professor of higher education at New York University and former U.S. under secretary of education, who is involved in these efforts. “The president has put a stake in the ground to say education after high school should be a given just as K-12 education is a civil right. It’s always been called a ‘promise’ but for too many people the promise was not delivered.”