Rhode Island becomes fourth state to offer free tuition for community college.

Lawmakers in the Ocean State have passed a measure (with many stipulations) allowing free tuition at its community college through a program they label "The Promise Scholarship." There is only one community college in Rhode Island, but we are talking about a state the size of any backyard in Texas after all.

To qualify for the free tuition, students must have graduated from high school the previous spring, live in Rhode Island, be enrolled full time, and maintain a 2.5 GPA. Furthermore, after the two years, the student must continue living and working in the state for some unspecified amount of time. Might you be held prisoner for life in Rhode Island? Potentially, but I hear east Providence is lovely.

These sorts of stipulations fall in line with what the three other states that allow free tuition require. New York, Oregon, and Tennessee each allow various forms of free tuition, usually based on income and other variables. New York, for instance, limits free tuition at state schools to families who earn less than $125,000.

In case you're wondering, the median household income in New York is $60,850, although New York lawmakers say the $125,000 is still roughly the middle class.

In case you're still wondering, the IRS says that $133,000 places people in the top 10% of American income, meaning nearly 90% of New York qualifies for free tuition. If income is divided equally into upper class, middle class, and lower* class--with 1/3 each--somehow 90% just became 2/3 (middle and lower) in the state of New York.

Math is hard. Maybe a free algebra class at a community college might help.



*The euphemism of "working class" needs to end. There is no sense in allowing the term "upper class" without the equal contrast of "lower class," or to assume those in the other income brackets are somehow not "working." Tender sensibilities won't be offended by a simple fact. Lower class is simply a lower level of income, end of story.

Florida student receives a C and D on his report card, is placed on honor roll. Mom is not pleased.

It's smooth sailing at the Pasco Middle School in Dade City, FL, where everyone's a winner!

Douglas Tillack, a student at Pasco, received a large number of As, but also a C and D on his latest report card. Those last two grades might cause a moderate rebuke from the school, but his report card said "good job" with a smiley face.

Because everyone wins!

This wasn't enough to please his mother, Beth Tillack, who didn't take kindly to her son being praised for such varied grading. In Beth Tillack's world, a C and D don't cut it for the honor roll. Mom wanted some educational frontier justice for little Dougie, so she complained to the principal at Pasco.

But everyone wins!

Kim Anderson, the principal at Pasco, tells ABC News that, technically, a student can receive an F in a class and still make the honor roll, because a student only need a cumulative GPA of 3.15. A boat load of As and one F equals a 3.15. Moreover, according to Anderson, 45-to-50 percent of all students make the honor roll at the school.

Because everyone wins!

It's a numbers game, says the principal--teachers have no say in what constitutes an honor student. Even better, says Anderson, "I'm not sure if we'll change it, but we're looking into it."

But everyone wins!





photo: ABC Action News

Go to a private college? You're a genius. True story!

Back in 1950, the average GPA of a college student in the United States was 2.52. That's right, your grandparents weren't too bright. You always knew there had to be a reason why they lied about walking seven miles uphill in a raging snowstorm to school. Now we know it was all probably a cover story to explain their shaky GPA.

GPAs at both public and private colleges generally rose in tandem until 1950. But, starting in 1950, something magical and wonderful started happening at private colleges: their GPAs started skyrocketing while public college kids' GPAs only rose marginally. Thank God, too, because you'd hate to see a private school student not get an advantage in life at some point.

According to a study by two researchers, Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy, GPAs at private colleges kept running wild until they finally reached the current average of 3.3. Public colleges tried to keep up--but fell short, at only 3.0. In short, public college professors padded grades--they just didn't pad them as much as a private college professor did. Or, put another way, there's nothing to say we're not all still 2.52 GPA students as a whole--but damned if all sides aren't going to lie enough to make us all seem brighter.

Private school people can't claim they're of a higher caliber. The researchers used only students of nearly identical makeup (SATs, backgrounds, income, etc.) from both public and private schools to help create the average.

The nifty little part of this all is that by having higher GPAs private school students are led to have a greater chance at being placed in medical schools, law schools, and PhD programs--just from admissions officers smitten by bigger GPA numbers. Likewise, such advanced degrees often lead to better employment prospects upon graduating (at least on the medical and law school front), with higher income and greater advancement. All, possibly, from a professor padding your grade. If professors held any more power, they might start levitating. 

Just don't tell your grandma all this. She might claim that with inflation her GPA was really a 10.97 all along.