Kaskaskia College President George Evans says he definitely is not opposed to free community college, but is waiting for further details before taking a position. The idea surfaced again during Governor JB Pritzker’s acceptance speech for his second term as Governor.
“Is it possible, we haven’t seen a model of it yet. I think if they are going to do it then its going to have to follow the MAP and PELL funding formulas because it would be very hard to put on a template how you offer free community college…does that mean we only charge tuition for those who can afford it? Then that opens an entire Pandora’s box which could totally negate the overall purpose of the community college system which was specifically put in place for that affordable option across the board.”
Evans says he could possibly embrace a change in the funding formula to that similar to grade and high schools, but if it’s an unfunded mandate that they would waive tuition for a certain group of students that would be catastrophic to the college as an institution.
Governor Pritzker had indicated in his acceptance speech he was looking at free community college for low and middle income families. The idea has also been floated on a national level by President Joe Biden.
