Student debt relief is good. But there is still more we need to do

As a former Executive Diversity Officer at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, I know the transformational power of a higher education degree. I have seen lives changed, opportunities created and careers made by the opportunity to attend a community college. It is an opportunity every student in the state should have.

Nineteen states across the country currently offer free community college. It is a proven policy with proven results. Free community college will not only give more students across the state access to a higher education, it will help the state economically.

Washington should become the 20th state to enact the policy.

In states that already have free college tuition programs, the programs have proved effective in helping mitigate the current inequities in higher education — and society — by increasing college enrollment, lowering dependence on student loan debt, and improving school completion rates, especially among students of color and lower-income students, who are often the first in their family to attend college.

Paired with wrap-around services, this policy would increase graduation rates and help open the door to numerous career opportunities and be an economic boom for our state.

And let’s be clear: Free community college is not only good for students, it is also good for our economy. If students are able to graduate from college without mountains of debt, they will have more money to put back into our state’s economy. Additionally, students who are able to get a college degree often earn more than those who are not able to attend college. So more college graduates will mean a bigger tax base.

And given the existing economic disparities between ethnic and racial groups within our communities, free community college would be an effective way to transform the economic realities of communities of color.

It is a win-win. Gov. Inslee and legislators in Olympia should advance legislation in the next regular session to have Washington be the 20th state.

Many will say that we can’t afford to do this. But they are mistaken. The reality is that we can’t afford not to do this. And the money is available.

According to the latest budget projections, total state revenues are expected to grow 4.5% between 2021-23 and 2023-25. With total state revenue expected to increase by $1.55 billion between 2021-23 and $1.11 billion between 2023-25, that is more than enough money to cover this needed change to this broken system.

The decision by President Biden to cancel between $10,000 and $20,000 in student debt is a gamechanger for many. It was a historic and much-needed action that will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, particularly people who are low income, here in Washington.

But it will not fix the underlying problem in our higher education system – the increasing cost of tuition. While the debt cancellation is a big deal, the skyrocketing cost of tuition remains a barrier for far too many in our state.

Because here is the plain truth: Even after President Biden’s student loan debt relief and pause in payments, a higher education, a key stepping stone to the workforce for many, is barely within reach. This is particularly true for low-income communities throughout our state.

While Congress also passed, and the president signed into law, the Inflation Reduction Act this summer, which contains many good things, from prescription drug reform to the largest-ever investment in fighting climate change, one proposal that fell out of the plan was the plan for tuition-free community college.

With federal action now stalled on the issue of college affordability, it is vital that our leaders here at the state level step up and advance solutions to the skyrocketing cost of college.

In this moment of great economic uncertainty, and with the price of college going up every year, students — and our state’s economy — cannot afford another year of inaction.

It is time for Olympia to finally act and deliver on this much needed change to our higher education system.

Parfait Bassalé is a Social Justice and Equity Commissioner for the City of Olympia, and sits on the Olympia School District Education Foundation Board of Trustees as well as the Washington State Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.