Jill Biden Reiterates Support for Free Community College
Kery Murakami
November 17, 2020
Illustrating how she is expected to be a voice in the White House for making community colleges free when she becomes first lady next year, Jill Biden pledged support to the effort Monday.
Speaking at a symposium sponsored by College Promise Career Institute, a nonprofit promoting economic mobility, Biden said of her husband, President-elect Joe Biden, “Joe and I will stand by you in those efforts because we know just how crucial this work is, because we know how our economy depends on it, because we know our students deserve nothing less.”
The institute is a new initiative under College Promise, a national nonprofit, which promotes making two-year colleges free. Jill Biden has long been associated with the broader organization, serving as co-chair of its advisory board when her husband was vice president.
“College Promise means so much to me,” she said. “Every hardworking student should have the chance to go to community college,” she said, noting that those without college degrees have been the most likely to lose work and have been “hit hardest” during the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
President-elect Biden, discussing his vision on Monday for an economic recovery plan when he takes office, reiterated his pledge to make community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities free for all students, as well as eliminating tuition at public institutions for students whose families earn $125,000 or less.
