President Joe Biden's American Families Plan proposes an extraordinary investment in college students. If passed by Congress, the plan would provide two years of free community college tuition, among other benefits. 

In this commentary, Gelsey Mehl of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program argues that while free community college should get more students on campuses, it won't automatically lead to those students earning bachelor's degrees. To make higher education truly more affordable and equitable, lawmakers and educators need to pair a focus on free community college with effective transfer pathways. 

Photo: Julia Rendleman

Two flagship public universities—one in Idaho, the other in Virginia—illustrate a wide gulf in approaches to the pandemic as higher education heads into another gut-check moment. Both want a normal school year despite the summer surge of the dangerous delta variant that is leading campuses across the country to ask students once again to wear masks indoors.

One is avoiding vaccination metrics and mandates. The other is keeping close tabs on vaccinations.

Even though many colleges aren't wrapped up with admissions for fall 2021, they are starting in on those who will apply this fall and winter to enroll in the fall of 2022.

And one big question college leaders have is this: Will students stay away from colleges in states in the South or Midwest that have been doing a poor job of handling coronavirus, and in particular the Delta variant? Or more specifically, will parents urge their children to stay away?