Dr. Jill Biden returned to the virtual campaign trail on Tuesday to champion her husband’s proposal to make community colleges a central component of his education, workforce and economic plans, if he is elected president.
Joe Biden’s plan for postsecondary education, which his campaign released almost a year ago, includes tuition-free community college for two years, help with wraparound services for two-year college students and $50 billion for high-quality training programs.
“Joe and I both know the transformational power of community colleges to help our economy recover,” Jill Biden said Tuesday at a virtual Democratic rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, which in July approved the state’s first new community college in 28 years.
She noted that community colleges previously played a key role in the Obama administration’s plan for economic recovery during the 2008 recession. The longtime community college English professor said her husband wants to again make community colleges central to the current economic slump by offering two years of community college at no cost to students. He also would provide “other high-quality training programs without debt,” she said.