Earlier this year, President Barack Obama proposed offering two free years of community college to students.

There is still heavy debate going on about whether or not Obama has thoroughly thought out his proposal.

According to U.S. News and World Report, Obama said that his goal is to increase the number of people who have degrees.

While some experts believe Obama’s proposal is workable, others are not so certain.

Some people argue that making community college free for the first two years will make students flock to already crowded community colleges, where resources are scarce.

Mr. Matthew Chingos, research director at the Brown Center on Education Policy who was also mentioned in the U.S. News and World Reports article, has concerns about the plan.

In the article, Chingos said it will encourage students to attend “lower-quality institutions.”

While there is opposition to Obama’s proposal, it could open doors for many students.

College has and continues to be instilled in high school students.  But while everyone is busy telling high school students to go to college, many people do not really think about the cost of college and the amount of debt students incur.

Of course teachers and parents will tell students that they can take out loans and apply for scholarships, but that proposal is not a complete solution either.

Mr. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fast Web and FinAid, pointed out that not all students are athletes.

Kantrowitz said only 1 to 2 percent of students receive athletic scholarships.

Not every student will score an ACT composite of 33, resulting in a full-ride scholarship, which are difficult to come by.

Kantrowitz said that less than 20,000 students a year receive a full-ride scholarship.

Most students’ parents cannot afford to pay out-of-pocket for them to attend college for four or more years, especially with the ever-increasing cost.

Though student loans are always an option, who wants to be stuck paying thousands of dollars back until their death?

The Economist reported in June 2014 that U.S student loan debt was more than $1.2 trillion, with seven million debtors being in default.

Does anyone consider the students who do not want to go to college because they know it will be impossible for them to pay their loans back?

It is important for students with that mindset to recall the number of open jobs there were in America a few years ago due to the lack of skilled people.

In 2013, PolitiFact, a project of Tampa Bay Times, reported that Florida’s U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio said, “There are three million jobs available in America that are not filled because too many of our people don’t have the skills for those jobs.”

According to a study done by Georgetown University, 65 percent of jobs by 2020 will require some post-secondary or training beyond high school.

This means people will not be able to rely just on a high school diploma.

The possibility of two years of free community college will open up doors for many people.

Obama’s community college proposal may not be perfect, but it does give some students the slightest bit of hope and opportunity to obtain an education beyond high school.