The Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District has unanimously passed a resolution supporting President Obama’s proposal to make community college tuition free for a student’s first two years.
“The president’s initiative will help defray costs so that our community college students can achieve their dreams of a better life and a brighter future,” LACCD Board President Scott Svonkin said. “As president of the board of the largest community college district in the country, I am proud to stand with President Obama in support of community college students throughout our nation.”
The resolution, sponsored by trustees Svonkin, Mike Eng and Mona Field, points out that, “nearly a century ago, a movement to make high school free drove decades of economic growth and prosperity in the 20th century.”
Under the president’s proposal, nine million students would be affected, saving a full-time student an average of $3,800 a year in tuition.
“Funding college access as a federal priority is welcome news for our nation’s community colleges,” LACCD Chancellor Dr. Francisco Rodriguez said. “President Obama fully understands the significant role that community colleges play as economic engines for the vitality and democratization of this country. His visionary proposal for free college tuition is bold and ambitious, and our district will do all it can to gather support for it.”
The resolution also backs a proposal by the president to establish a new American Technical Training fund to expand technical training programs that meet employer needs.
“The Board of Trustees,” states the resolution, “will work hand in hand with its business partners, local Chambers of Commerce, economic and workforce development organizations, and elected officials to ensure that President Obama’s vision for a trained workforce becomes a reality for the students of the Los Angeles Community College District.”
The Los Angeles Community College District, the nation’s largest community college district, serves one-quarter million students a year in more than 36 cities in Los Angeles County at its nine colleges. The District covers nearly 900 square miles and has educated and trained the region’s diverse workforce since 1969.