Pat McCrory opposes making community college free.
During the Democratic gubernatorial primary, state Treasurer Richard Moore proposed offering North Carolina's high-school graduates two years of community college free.
His rival, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, later announced a plan to expand existing grants for community college students to essentially provide free tuition.
Immediately after the primary, McCrory countered Perdue, saying he would not offer free community college tuition, according to a May 8 article in the Charlotte Observer:
"Nothing is free. The teachers aren't going to work for free. The building's not free. The textbook's aren't free. I'm going to tell the truth. What I'm going to do is put together an education program that tries to get people jobs."
McCrory again criticized the plan while touring a Charlotte business.
A recent ad by a Democratic group attacked McCrory for not supporting the proposal, citing the Charlotte article.
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Re: McCrory opposes free comm. college
We're already there with high school "early college" programs at community colleges (except that high school students are discovering that third level textbooks cost an arm and a leg). The free tuition for community college has usually been discussed in the context of motivating high school students to graduate, especially those that may not be attracted to or have aptitude for universities. To my knowledge McCrory wants higher graduation rates and more community college education. Saying no to free tuition is saying no to that for some students. He is premature in slamming that door shut.