Neg Case

I negate the resolution. Resolved: In the United States,

student should be guaranteed two years of free tuition to
a community or technical college.
Observation 1: Negation is defined as, something
considered the opposite of something [else] regarded as
positive, by Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/negation

As long as the Con side is opposing the Pro side, we are

fulfilling our burden of proof. Therefore, if we prove that
any of the alternatives we present are better than the
affirmative world, you vote con.

Contention 1: Solvency
Helping with tuition isnt that useful
David Brooks, 1-25, 2015, The Bismarck Tribune, Free Tuition Isnt Eough
for College
Success,http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/bismarcktribune.com/
content/tncms/assets/v3/eedition/5/a8/5a8833aa-ad02-58e1-b7f0a00a87064535/54c46f2c227a0.pdf.pdf DOA: 1-31-15
The smart thing to do would be to scrap the Obama tuition plan. Students
who go to community college free now have tragically high dropout rates.
The $60 billion could then be spent on things that are mentioned in Obama's
proposal -- but not prioritized or fleshed out -- which would actually increase
graduation rates. First, you'd focus on living expenses. Tuition represents only
a fifth of the costs of community college life. The bulk is textbooks, housing,
transportation and so on. Students often have to take on full-time or near-fulltime jobs to cover the costs, and, once they do that, they're much more likely
to lose touch with college. You'd subsidize guidance counselors and mentors.
Community colleges are not sticky places. Many students don't have intimate
relationships with anyone who can guide them through the maze of
registration, who might help bond them to campus. You'd figure out the
remedial education mess. Half of all community college students arrive
unprepared for college work. Remedial courses are supposed to bring them
up to speed, but it's not clear they work, so some states are dropping
remediation, which could leave even more students at sea. You'd focus on
child care. A quarter of college students nationwide have dependent children.
Even more students at community colleges do. Less than half of community
colleges now have any day care facilities. Many students drop out because
something happens at home and there's no one to take care of the kids. In
short, you wouldn't write government checks for tuition. You'd strengthen
structures around the schools. You'd focus on the lived environment of actual
students and create relationships and cushions to help them thrive.

Few students graduate, few transfer to a four year college

or universities
Michael Horn, CNN.com 1-20, 2015 Obama, free community college may
not work, http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/20/opinion/horn-community-college/
DOA: 2-1-15
Offering only a lukewarm pathway to the job market, community colleges are
incapable of fulfilling the President's lofty ambitions. Although there are some
high-performing community colleges and stellar 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% of students graduate within three
years, and 28% graduate within four. More telling, 80% of students say they
want a bachelor's degree or higher, and yet only 20% of these students
transfer to a four-year institution within five years.

Contention 2: Certificate Programs

Certificate programs make more sense than do community
college programs for many people
Richard Veddar, Director, Center for College Affordability and Productivity,
FORBES, 11115, www.forbes.com/sites/ccap/2015/01/11/six-reasonswhy-obamas-free-community-college-is-a-poor-investment/, accessed 2-1- 15.
Third, the recent post-graduation job experience is not very good for
community college graduates, perhaps one reason why the popularity of
these schools is in decline, with enrollments down significantly in the past
four years. For many high school graduates, one year training in a certificated
jobs program at a private career college, or perhaps at a community college,
makes more sense than getting a two year associate degree .

Contention 3: Coding Bootcamp

Coding bootcamps are more effective at meeting
workforce needs
Michelle R. Weise, senior research fellow, Clayton Christensen Institute,
Obamas Dead-End Community College Plan, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1
1215, www.wsj.com/articles/michelle-r-weise-obamas-dead-endcommunity-college-plan- 1421106892, accessed 2-7-15.
Ask Facebook , Google and AT&T why theyre partnering with Udacity to build
programs in Big Data and Data Science and Computer Science. Ask Infosys
why it partnered with Wayne County Community College District in 2012 to
build a Software Engineering Boot Camp in Detroit through which plumbers,
unemployed auto workers and a casino waitress were able to get the skills to
take advantage of opportunities at companies like Compuware,
GalaxE.Solutions and Kimberly Group. Ask Dev Bootcamp and other coding
bootcamps why a company like Adobe is recruiting talent directly from them .
The students emerging from these programs arent necessarily earning
degrees, but theyre getting jobs. As reported in this newspaper, coding
bootcamps, for instance, boast anywhere from 63% to 99% job attainment
ratesstronger than the 57% placement rate of law-school graduates,
according to the American Bar Association.

Contention 4: For-Profit Schools

Free community college is a bad ideastudents do better
at for-profit colleges
Neal McCluskey, Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom, Cato
Institute, Even for-Profit Universities Are Better than Americas Terrible
Community Colleges, WASHINGTON POST, 11315,
www.cato.org/publications/commentary/even-profit-universities-are-betteramericas-terrible-community-colleges, accessed 2- 9-15.
President Obama announced a plan Friday to provide free community college
to any responsible student who wanted it. Thats a bad idea. Community
colleges perform poorly, and any additional government subsidy of these
already heavily subsidized, weak performers would likely be a waste of
money. For proof, compare them to much derided for-profit institutions. While
these schools have their own flaws, their students do better on a variety of
measures. Take completion rates. According to the federal Digest of
Education Statistics, only 19.5 percent of first-time, full-time students at twoyear public schools finish their programs within 150 percent of the time they
are slated to take. So less than 20 percent finish a two-year degree within
three years, or, say, a 10-month certificate program within 15 months. And
that rate has fallen even since 2000, when 23.6 percent of students
completed. That statistic doesnt change much when you account for student
transfers. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center,
only 20 percent of community college students transfer to four-year
institutions. Four years later, 72 percent of those have completed their
degree or remain enrolled. That inches the success rate to roughly 34
percent. Meanwhile, the for-profit sector that has been so heavily demonized
by the administration has an almost 63 percent completion rate at two-year
institutions, and that has been rising steadily since the 2000 cohort.

Contention 5: Financial Aid Reform

Improving the financial aid system will be more effective
than making community college tuition-free
Susan Svrluga, journalist, interviewing Sandy Baum, Professor, George
Washington University, Economist: Send Obamas Free Community-College
Idea Back to the Drawing Board, WASHINGTON POST, 2315,
www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/02/03/economist-sendobamas-free-community-college-idea-back-to- the-drawing-board/, accessed
2-9-15.
The details are not clear, but the indication is that the threshold for
participation in the free tuition program would be higher for both students
and institutions than it is for federal financial aid programs. Higher standards
are needed, but they should apply to all federal funding, and to all students
and institutions receiving that funding. Addressing the college affordability
challenge requires thinking big, and the conversation generated by the
Obama proposal is valuable. But other less dramatic- sounding ideas may be
more constructive. Simplifying the financial system and the application
process, making it easy for all borrowers to repay their students loans in
manageable proportion to their incomes, and strengthening the Pell grant
program to better support student success would go farther at lower cost
than eliminating community college tuition.

Contention 6: Reforms
Free tuition is not enoughwe need comprehensive
reforms
Community College Research Center, Columbia University, Statement from
CCRC on President Obamas Plan for Free Community College, 2015,
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/press-releases/statement-obama-free-communitycollege.html, accessed 2-7-15. Unfortunately, cost is not the only obstacle to
college success. While the plan recognizes this in principleby limiting
eligibility to programs that lead to good jobs or transferquestions remain
about how programs would be judged, and whether colleges will have the
resources they need to improve. Here are four key issues to consider:
Broader reforms that help community college students complete high quality
programs are necessary to improve educational outcomes. The Tennessee
and Chicago free tuition plans cited by President Obama, for example, are
only one part of comprehensive reforms designed to boost student success
by [provide] close monitoring of student progress, careful alignment of
courses to transfer and job requirements, clearer and more coherent
programs of study, and help for students to make better choices about what
to study.

Community colleges not serving many of their students

Catherine Dunn, journalist, Will White House Free Community College Plan
Put Students to Work? INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES, 11015,
www.ibtimes.com/will-white-house-free-community-college-plan-put-studentswork- 1779002, accessed 2-6-15. At the same time, Schneider says:
Community colleges have to improve their game. And they know it. That
means improving student services, such as career services, as well as
remedial education offerings -- the basic math and English courses that
students have to pass to advance. According to a 2012 report by Complete
College America, about 50 percent of students entering two-year colleges
have to take remedial courses, yet only four in 10 of those students actually
complete the classes.

Focus our resources on increasing graduation rates

Adrienne Lu, journalist, Community Colleges Could Soon Be Free in These
States, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3 1214, lexis.
While some postsecondary education might be better than none, GoldrickRab said that those who take on debt to attend college but never receive a
degree are at high risk of defaulting on their debt. Similarly, Paul Attewell, a
professor at the City University of New York Graduate Center who studies the
sociology of education, said state lawmakers should focus on where to spend
state dollars to increase the number of students who actually graduate from
college. "It's not obvious that in all circumstances, using public dollars to
reduce tuition to zero is the best use of (public) funds," Attewell said. "It may

work out that if you reduce tuition, you're essentially saving the Pell system
money." Attewell said that in some cases, states might be better served by
steering public dollars toward the cost of public transportation for students or
increasing the number of counselors and advisors to help students make it
through community college.

Contention 7: Life-Long Learning

Adopting life-long learning policies more effective in
modern society
Joseph E. Aoun, President, Northeastern University, To Rebuild the Middle
Class, Dont Stop with Free Community College, WBUR, 12715,
http://cognoscenti.wbur.org/2015/01/27/state-of-the-union-education-josephe-aoun, accessed 2-1-15.
In the past few years, advances in learning methods and technologies have
extended the reach of college far beyond the campus quad. Online and
hybrid platforms have freed students from the strictures of geography and
timetable. Modular courses can now teach them the skills they need for
immediate tasks and goals. Weve entered an era in which the highest-caliber
education can be accessed on demand, around the clock. These changes
have the potential to help all Americans throughout their lives. If you want to
keep your body in prime shape, you dont exercise for four years and then
stop. Like physical conditioning, higher education can now be incorporated
into peoples ongoing efforts at self-betterment. Indeed, by incenting the
development of lifelong learning programs, lawmakers could change
Americans economic futures. Just as President Obama is now redefining what
the baseline level of education should be, policymakers would do well to
begin shifting their view of higher education as something that is an ongoing
process, rather than something that happens at one point in time and shift
the laws accordingly. There are immediate ways to do this. As Congress takes
up the once-in-a decade renewal of the Higher Education Act, it should focus
on helping colleges and universities build a true system of lifelong learning ,
rather than simply validating higher education as we know it. Flexible policies
that allow students to use financial aid across new types of academic
programs, pilot programs to spur even more advances in online and hybrid
education, and once and for all, jettisoning anachronistic policies that
measure learning via seat time and credit hours all of these would help
colleges and universities build a system designed for lifelong learning.