James Donohue
Professor Hochfelder
AHIS 201
3/7/20

Title: Bill would require colleges to outline course-related fees
Date:3/4/20
URL:https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bill-would-require-colleges-to-outline-course-related-fees/2020/03/04/6cb5dcae-5e67-11ea-ac50-18701e14e06d_story.html
Brief Description: A bill being proposed in the Maryland State Legislature would force universities and colleges in the Maryland state college system to inform college students about the associated costs of textbooks and other materials that are associated with the course in their course catalogs. This idea was proposed by the University of Maryland Student Government Association and proposed to House of Delegates Sponsor Vaughn Stewart. The bill would force colleges to list which courses have free digital materials on printed materials for students and provide low cost printed options for students as an alternative.
Keywords: College, Fees
Future Implications: This bill would have a small but meaningful impact on college students in the Maryland college system. The costs associated with college courses are plentiful racking up nearly $1000 for some of the students in the article. Over time these costs will add up and make college unaffordable for some students. As good of an idea as this bill is, I rate it with a low impact because it only affects one state. As with other education bills, it would have a greater impact if other states adopted this legislation and way of thinking.
Impact(0-5):2
Plausibility(0-5):3
Novelty:5
Timeliness(0-5):5

Title: Where College is Already Free
Date: 3/6/20
URL:https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2020/03/06/where-college-is-already-free/#7d2e500f15cd
Brief Description: Some colleges have started to try their best to make college free if they can. One of these colleges is Allan Hancock College in California. A school of 12,000, AHC now offers a year of free college to anyone local high school graduate. Using a combination of funds from its bookstore and assistance from nonprofits the college was able to promise a year of free college. Students must attend orientation, take math and english at AHC and fill out a financial aid form but after all that the first year is guaranteed free. The program seems to be working well so far as the college had a retention rate of 66% in 2019 compared to 52% in colleges in areas near the college. 
Keywords: Student
Future Implications: The idea of having college free for a year certainly isn't a bad one. People need to see that college is within reach and affordable before they can even consider it. This is another instance of a low impact proposal/plan because it only affects one college. But there seems to be a trend of colleges and states on their own taking initiative. Perhaps its high time the federal government started supporting these individual states and colleges as laboratories for education policy.
Impact(0-5):2
Plausibility(0-5):5
Novelty(0-5):3
Timeliness(0-5):5

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