Say No to Charter Community Colleges

 
CHICAGO, IL — Do you want your daughters and sons or other young adults to succeed in college? Do you want them to be shackled with debt when they are done getting their degrees? No one wants that indebtedness for our young people. Yet, the Instituto Progresso Latino College, despite its amazing promises, will definitely not help young people succeed.
The Instituto Progresso Latino “College”, which is not endorsed by the faculty of the City Colleges of Chicago, promises to help immigrant children with limited English skills succeed. According to City College Chancellor Juan Salgado, the college would offer opportunities to students who would not make it in our Chicago City College system.
That is a patently absurd claim. The City Colleges offers English as a Second Language support for students at all levels and adult education for students who have not completed high school. Our fine academic institutions at the City Colleges are all independently accredited academically and our degrees mean something. Their college is not accredited, and it won’t be for the next two years.
Despite its promises and over $40 million-dollar contributions­—supposedly no strings attached money—from Chase Bank, students would not pay cheaper tuition. Although students would supposedly not pay tuition the first year, the following years, they would be heavily burdened. After the first year, each credit would be $240. At 12 credits a semester that would be $5,760 for tuition alone.
For residents, the City Colleges charge $3,504 year for the year or 24 credit hours. You think that is too high? The tuition for the supposed Instituto College would go up every year. After the fifth year, tuition would be a whopping $450 per credit or $10,800. Who in their right mind would pay such a large sum to attend essentially a charter college? The tuition at the City Colleges is way more affordable, and offers ample wraparound services for students to succeed. Why, then, this ruse? What does Chase Bank get from such a generous donation?
After exhausting their financial aid, if any, students would have to take out loans to complete their degrees. These $40 million dollars are not a gift. Nor is the Instituto’s supposed first free year of Instituto Progresso Latino College. Students deserve better than empty promises, especially those immigrant youth who are trying to make something of their lives.
If students want a future, they deserve to get a degree at an established institution with real credentials at an affordable price. Chicago’s Malcolm X College is a state-of-the-art college with various health degrees. Students should be going to colleges like these.
The doors of City Colleges are open, and we welcome these students. We will make sure they succeed and, whether they get a higher degree or a job, our tuition won’t make debt slaves out of them.
The only thing private colleges like Institute Progresso Latino do is steadily threaten the viability of public community colleges. We must take a clear principled stance, and say ‘No to Charter Community Colleges.’