Officials: College plan would create opportunities

CLOVIS — Paying for college prevents many from pursuing higher education, but for those who did manage to close in on a degree, such as two local nursing students Karla Beachum and Sydney Romero, the experience would have been far less of a struggle if tuition were not a factor.

As part of a federal plan slated to cost around $1.8 trillion, the Biden administration's proposed American Families Plan would invest taxpayer dollars to fund two years of tuition free community college, partially eliminating one of the greatest obstacles preventing students from graduating college.

The plan would also include funds allocated towards increased training and support for teachers.

Beachum and Romero are both about to go into their final semesters in the nursing program at Clovis Community College, and both have high hopes for their futures in a field they are passionate about.

Beachum, a mother of three, expects to graduate in December from her two-year program, then work as a registered nurse.

As far as the Biden plan goes, Beachum said she would have definitely benefited from not having to pay tuition.

“It would have made a huge difference because I would have been able to finish a lot faster instead of taking breaks,” Beachum said.

Beachum said that while her nursing program is two to three years long when you factor in prerequisites, she has been chipping away at her degree for five or six years. Beachum began her studies in the Spring of 2014, and has been studying on and off due to having to work to afford tuition as well as provide for her family. She first started under DACA status prior to becoming a legal resident, and said that was a roadblock to most federal aid.

“If I didn’t work I wouldn’t have had any financial support for myself,” Beachum said. “So, I had to take breaks, or stop going for a semester, or sometimes cut my semester to part-time from full-time, so it just kind of expanded more than it should have overall.”

Robin Kuykendall, CCC’s vice president for enrollment management, said that two years of tuition free community college would eliminate the financial obstacle, and that the college supports any program that helps students access higher education.

“Any time there is an opportunity to eliminate an obstacle for students, we are all for it,” Kuykendall said. “Financial obstacles are a reality for students, so being able to eliminate that obstacle or reduce that is a huge win. That is our biggest stance on it.”

Romero is also going into her final semester in the nursing program at Clovis Community College, and will graduate with Beachum in December.

“As a nursing student, it is hard to work because the program is so intense and it requires a lot of time,” Romero said. “And those who do work, I have a lot of respect for them, because it is a very vigorous program, and sometimes you are taking five exams a week. So, there’s not really that time to have a full time job and do the program at the same time.”

Romero, who holds a chemistry degree from Eastern New Mexico University, said that she fell in love with nursing after working as a medical assistant in the pediatric clinic at Plains Regional Medical Center. Romero said the nursing program is vigorous, and justifiably so; “you have people’s lives in your hands, so it’s meant to be difficult.”

Charles Nwankwo, CCC president, said he discussed the federal college plan with U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández over Zoom last Wednesday.

“This will create opportunities for our students and help rural, minority-serving institutions with their important work,” Fernández said according to the release.

Kuykendall said that the college works closely with the community to determine what local industries need, ensuring students have a strong job outlook upon graduation. She said that if the Biden plan were to come to pass, CCC would experience an unknown amount of growth.

“We are very committed to student success initiatives, so as we gain enrollment from an initiative like this we’ll build our student success initiatives so that we can ensure students can persist and complete their programs,” Kuykendall said.

Kuykendall said that under the Biden plan, she’d expect that in addition to increased interest in the school’s nursing program, other programs like the automotive, industrial technology, wind energy, welding programs would see growth.