College Promise Campaign
Dr. Martha J. Kanter, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Higher Education and Senior Fellow at New York University.
In the 21st century, a high school diploma is no longer enough to lead Americans to a good job and decent quality of life. The College Promise Campaign (CPC or the Campaign) is a national, nonpartisan, local and state-led higher education initiative – beginning in America’s community colleges. The Campaign will build widespread support for a free community college education for all responsible students and broad public understanding that a free community college education is an investment in America’s future and a necessary continuation of K-12 education. The College Promise Campaign was inspired by Governor Haslam’s Tennessee Promise proposal and President Obama’s America’s College Promise plan, but the Campaign is not designed to promote any single approach. It will focus on building a movement around the broader vision of making the first two years of higher education free for all students who enter community college, work hard, and earn their certificates and degrees.?
In 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Kanter to serve as the U.S. Under Secretary of Education, with oversight responsibility for all federal postsecondary statutory, regulatory and administrative policies and programs for the U.S. Department of Education, including the $175B annual federal student aid programs, higher education, adult education, career-technical education, international education and 6 White House Initiatives. Through the first term of the Obama Administration, Kanter and her team focused on increasing college access, affordability, quality and completion to implement President Obama's goal to have the best educated, most competitive workforce in the world by 2020.
