A proposed bill could offer two year of free community college to all students in the country.

It would provide young people with an education they need to get a good job and older people the training they need to compete, said President Barack Obama in a speech at Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, Tennessee.

“Community colleges should be free for those willing to work for it — because in America, a quality education cannot be a privilege that is reserved for a few,” said Obama.

During his State of the Union Address, Obama explained his America’s College Promise Proposal. It lays forth a plan for two years of free community college tuition. It would be offered to students who maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher and those making steady progress on their degree, according to a statement released by the White House. The proposal would only pay for the first two years of community college, with the federal government paying for 75 percent of the cost, leaving the remainder of the costs to the state government, said the statement. Now the white house is pushing the proposal forward and working with congress to get it passed, said the statement.

“I hope that Congress will come together to support it, because opening the doors of higher education shouldn’t be a Democratic issue or a Republican issue,” said Obama. “This is an American issue.”

It’s not going to be as broad as it sounds at first. There will most likely be a criteria said Moorpark College Interim President Bernard Luskin. They’ll put restrictions on it and it might apply to those who take programs to transfer, such as Moorpark’s Asscociate Degrees to Transfer, he said. This program will prepares students to transfer to any Cal State. There are also 60 A.D.T.s available in the state and Moorpark offers 30 of them.

The free tuition might also apply to the technical programs and career programs, said Luskin, such as Moorpark’s Nursing Program or the Biotechnology program.

“I think it’s going to be a boost for the whole county,” said Luskin. “It’ll boost the country and put America back to work. “

If students don’t have to pay for school anymore, they might not be as motivated to work and pass their classes, said Associate Student President Farshid Orak. If students don’t study, they’d have to stay longer and pay more, but if students don’t have to pay for college, they might not be as motivated.

Orak speaks from experience having grown up in Iran. School is free over there, he said, and the students and staff wouldn’t be encouraged to try hard. Teachers wouldn’t be giving it their all due to low salaries and students wouldn’t study because they weren’t paying for school, he said.

“They didn’t have an incentive to study,” said Orak.

Instead, the government should give more funding to schools to offer a better education to students, said Oark. Schools could hire more staff and more counselors to help and check in with students, he said.

According to Orak, Moorpark College currently has 700 students per counselor.

“Instead of free, make it a higher quality education,” said Orak.

Nursing major Rachel Kozak,18, thinks some people would slack off, she said, but a majority of students wouldn’t act any differently. She said most people in college are motivated and are working towards a goal. If the government provided two years of free community college tuition, students wouldn’t have to worry about money.

“It will be really great, because obviously college isn’t free,” said Kozak. “It will give students the opportunity to work and save money.”