Editorial: Garcetti’s ‘Promise’ will help, but not necessarily the students who need it most

Now that more details have emerged about Mayor Eric Garcetti’s free-tuition promise for local high-school graduates, most of the plan appears smart and well considered. The mayor is offering one year of free community college to all graduates of L.A. Unified schools as well as charter schools within the district, and hopes to help students with textbook costs and perhaps free passes for mass transit.

It’s by and large a helpful idea. But it’s hardly a revolution in providing no-cost higher education.

The reality is that 60% to 70% of the students within the Los Angeles Community College District already have their tuition covered, thanks to California’s generous tuition waivers, grants and scholarships for lower-income families. Many more of them qualify for free tuition, college officials say, but either don’t know that they should apply or have been scared away by the intimidating application process.

The bigger trick, then, is to help students through that process. If Garcetti provides experts to shepherd families through the system, that’s great — but it’s not exactly a free tuition revolution. Besides, the offer is for just one year’s tuition; it typically takes two or more to finish community college.

Of course, since the state will cover the neediest students, the money Garcetti has raised for his proposal will likely go to the students who least need it. But there is magic in the word “free”: By guaranteeing a free first year, Garcetti’s program will encourage students who worry about costs to go to college — where many will find out that they were already qualified for a tuition waiver. That could be worth the cost of subsidizing the relative handful of students who could well afford the fees.

Garcetti’s “Promise” program will also take advantage of a new service the college district developed for its participants (but will offer to all incoming full-time students). Those who enter college under the mayor’s free-tuition pledge will go through a program of counseling and preparation meant to put them on track to graduate or transfer in two to four years. They’ll also have preferred enrollment in the courses they need, ahead of students who don’t complete the counseling and preparation program.

That makes the financial aid a smarter investment, maximizing the chances that students will complete their studies. All of California’s community colleges should be doing the same.

Of course, it’s a long way from one year of free tuition (even if it comes with help for textbook and transportation costs) to successfully completing community college. The biggest financial hurdle faced by students isn’t any of these costs; rather, it’s basic living expenses. That’s why it’s a shame that part-time students who make up half the district’s enrollment, and who can’t afford not to work, aren’t eligible for any of this assistance — not the tuition aid or first dibs on needed courses.

The program that Garcetti has worked out with the college district will almost certainly help thousands of local students. But it will be hard to call it a real success in educational access until it reaches out to the students who need it most.

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