At a moment when public education is under attack and the cost of college continues to put higher education out of reach for too many families, Communities for Our Colleges believes we need to do more than defend what we have. We need to organize for the higher education system our communities deserve.
On July 28, Communities for Our Colleges partnered with New Voters for a national College for All Strategy Session, bringing together students, educators, organizers, and community members from Washington and states across the country. We were joined by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, lead House sponsor of the College for All Act, for a conversation about the future of public higher education and the organizing needed to make college accessible to everyone.
Higher Education as a Public Good
The College for All Act would make community college tuition-free for everyone, eliminate tuition and required fees at public colleges and universities for working- and middle-class families, expand Pell Grants, and invest in supports that help students succeed.
Participants connected that vision to their own experiences. One person recalled paying just $250 in college tuition in 1970, saying that access “allowed me to move upward economically, make a real contribution to the economy, raise a family.” Another participant captured the connection between education and political participation simply: “Democracies thrive under an educated populace.”
Those reflections get at something central to our work: higher education is not simply about preparing people for jobs. Public education is a public good that expands opportunity, strengthens communities, and helps more people participate fully in our democracy.
From Conversation to Organizing
C4C student leader Sanika Kabbur and New Voters student leader Jessica Xie helped ground the conversation in the experiences of young people and why affordable higher education matters for their futures, families, and communities.
But we didn’t want the gathering to end with a conversation.
Participants moved into small groups to identify people they could bring into the campaign, potential student and community storytellers, and members of Congress they could engage. We also shared our College for All Organizing & Advocacy Toolkit, which helps people build teams, prepare their stories, organize congressional meetings, and advocate for the College for All Act.
As one participant wrote at the end of the gathering, “This was an amazing and empowering meeting!! … I look forward to this campaign!”
College for All is a national vision, but winning it requires organizing locally. From Washington to communities across the country, we are building the relationships, student leadership, and grassroots power needed to make that vision possible.