Image by The White House.

If you’ve been following the news, you may have heard of President Obama’s new proposal. Called America’s College Promise, this new law would make community college free for the first two years. This has huge ramifications for pre-meds and for folks who are thinking of changing careers into medicine.

Who Qualifies?

Good question. The details as of right now are kind of murky since its still not finalized (not to mention, it also has to be approved by Congress and the states). What we DO know however is that:

• It is for students who attend school at least half-time.
• Maintain a 2.5 GPA minimum in community college
• You must be “making steady progress toward completing [your] program” which could involve a two-year degree (which would be fully covered) or a four-year program of which half would be paid for.

Other than that, there seem to be no other qualifications and everyone is eligible.

The Implications of this Proposal for Pre-Meds

The way I see it, aside from the obvious benefits of saving money, this proposal will influence pre-med programs in two particular ways. (1) It will allow students to re-do their pre-med requirements by enrolling into a community college program for free and (2) do-it-yourself postbacc options will become more popular.

Overall, this is good news for pre-meds and I’m sure more info on this is soon to come as the plan gets fleshed out.

If you’re interesting in pursuing a DIY postbacc option at a community college, I suggest you check out my article on the topic here.