How Biden’s infrastructure plan may fracture the nation’s colleges

Politico

BIANCA QUILANTAN
April 19, 2021
Where community colleges love seeing the administration push for free education, some four-year schools see an “existential threat.”
Free community college, a big hit on the campaign trail, is a key piece of President Joe Biden’s plan to rebuild the economy, and projects a blue-collar message that dovetails with his public persona and his wife’s teaching career. It has also splintered the nation’s colleges and universities.
So far, Biden has stayed faithful to his community college pitch by including $12 billion for updating physical and technological infrastructure at community colleges in his $2 trillion infrastructure plan unveiled earlier this month. But what community colleges see as a boon after years of financial struggles, some four-year colleges see as a potential threat to their sagging enrollment.

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