By David Thomas / For The Herald
As a history professor at Pierce College, I see first-hand how higher education instills confidence and launches careers. Whether students are 18 and uncertain of the next step or in midlife and switching jobs, they find opportunities and empowerment in the classrooms of Washington’s community and technical colleges. These opportunities should be available to everyone in the state regardless of income.
Numerous states across the country, both red and blue, already offer free community college, and their students and economies are reaping the benefits. When our state legislature returns for its next session, it should make Washington the next state to enact the policy.
Free community college tuition programs help lessen inequities in higher education — and society — by increasing college enrollment, lowering dependence on student loan debt, and improving school completion rates, especially among students of color and lower-income students.
I see the positive effects of free community college every day because many of my students are high schoolers enrolled in Washington’s Running Start program. Some of them wouldn’t be able to attend college at all without Running Start. It’s a program that helps young people, some who are the first in their families to attend college, find hope in their futures.
If we expand that hope by bringing cost-free community college to every student in our state, we will also energize our economy. Opponents of free community college often insist we can’t afford it. But free community college is an investment that rewards all of us.
When students graduate from college with workforce skills and without mountains of debt, they can contribute more to our state’s economy. Additionally, students who are able to get a college degree often earn more. This means a bigger tax base to help fund the needs of everyone in the state.
As a historian, I view this policy debate through the lens of America’s past. In colonial New England, towns funded schools to make sure all children could read. Americans in the early 19th century established publicly-funded “common schools.” More recently, the GI Bill sent millions of young men to college after World War II. Those programs helped make education more accessible by treating it as a priority and communal responsibility.
President Biden’s decision to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt is another chapter in that story. But even if the plan survives legal challenges, it doesn’t help Washingtonians who now face increasing tuition costs alongside life’s other expenses.
Tuition should not be a barrier to college for anyone in Washington. Our community and technical colleges already serve half the state’s higher education students and contribute an estimated $20 billion a year to the state’s economy. The training and opportunities these schools provide are foundational to our workforce and communities.
Gov. Jay Inslee knew this in his 2020 campaign for governor when he called for free community college. As he completes his final term, he can and should make certain this will be part of his legacy.
David Thomas is an associate professor of history at Pierce College. Pierce College has campuses and programs in Lakewood, Puyallup, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Graham and Sapanaway.
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