Video: Spreitler: President ‘Behind the Eight Ball’ in Community College Decision

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MISSISSIPPI (WCBI) — Many students in north Mississippi already benefit from tuition free education at community colleges.

For more than a decade, several well-known foundations have been leading the way to make higher education at institutions like East Mississippi Community College and Itawamba Community College affordable.

According to Gilmore Foundation Executive Director Danny Spreitler, it’s a public-private partnership dedicated to making sure Mississippi high school students have every opportunity to move forward.

“The president is a little bit behind the eight ball in Mississippi,” Spreitler said. “Governor Phil Bryant announced several months ago his plan that our young people graduating from our vocational programs and our high schools would then have the opportunity to go to our community colleges and further that vocational education. Seventeen counties in north Mississippi led by the Gilmore Foundation and partnership with the Create Foundation young people up here already have this, and, obviously, most young people who go to our community college qualify for pell grants. So, the federal government is paying alot.”

To apply for tuition assistance, contact the financial aid office at your local community college.