President Barack Obama recently proposed a plan to allow responsible students up to two years of free community college.

While high school graduation rates are at an all time high, college attendance rates are still far lower than what they should be.

Many students don’t go on to college and their main excuse is not being able to afford it, with the average cost of in state college costing at least $8,893.

Even with financial aid, college is a huge investment sometimes costing up to the same as a house mortgage.

The cost of the classes, textbooks, and supplies students need for the classes, adds up quickly.

Such large expenses make it understandable that many teens after high school don’t find a lot of motivation to continue their education.

This trend will continue to stress our society as employers struggle to find adequately trained employees and employees struggle to obtain jobs requiring the attainment of higher education or a specialized certification.

“Obama would need both sides to pass the law,” Government and economics teacher Cullen Haskins said.

“In congress both houses are now republican, so what we expect to see is for republicans to say this is a new government program, it’s going to cost the government a lot of money, we would need to raise taxes if we wanted

to make community college free, and we’re not going to raise taxes.”

Some states have started programs to cover all tuition costs for students including Copper Union, Berea College, and Deep Springs does not charge tuition, within meeting the standards.

It’s time for the rest of states, including Texas, to make that change, as well, even if it means raising taxes. Although the likelihood of this proposal following through is slim, the issue has been brought up and now is a topic to consider.

Countries such as Brazil, Norway, Sweden, France, Finland and Germany already offer free college tuition.

These countries obviously want their young adults to be successful so what is the United States’ deal with being so stubborn about raising taxes for free community college if in the end it’s going to benefit the future of our country?