Weekly Address: Tuition-Free Community College 每周电视讲话：免除社区大学学费

WASHINGTON, DC — In this week’s address, the Vice President laid out his and the President’s plan to make two years of community college free for responsible students. Access to higher education has a tangible impact on a student’s success: Those with an associate’s degree earn 25% more than folks who graduated high school, and those with a four-year degree make 70% more. Not only that, but a better educated citizenry is necessary to ensure that the United States continues to out-compete the rest of the world. Making two years of community college free is good for workers, good for companies, and good for our economy. And this proposal is part of the President’s broader vision for middle-class economics: that everybody who works hard deserves their fair shot and the chance to get ahead. 华盛顿：在本周的讲话中，拜登副总统公布了他和总统提出的针对优秀学员的两年社区大学免费就读计划。接受高等教育对于一个学生的成功而言具有实际的影响，一般而言，拥有大专学历的人比只有高中学历的人薪资高25%，而拥有四年本科毕业证的人则要高出70%。不仅如此，高学历的公民群体是美国保持在全球竞争力的必要因素。免除两年社区大学的学费对工人、企业以及我的整个经济而言都是有好处的。这一提案也是总统先生宏大的中产阶级经济政策的一部分：让每个辛勤付出的人都能得到公平的机遇，并让他们有机会获得成功。

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Joe Biden and I’m here filling in for President Obama, who is traveling abroad. 女士们，先生们，我是乔·拜登，由于奥巴马总统在海外出访，今天由我来代替他发表演讲。

And I’m here with a simple message: middle-class economics works. 我今天要传达的就是一个消息：中产阶级经济政策取得明显成效。

Our economy has gone from crisis to recovery to now to resurgence—with the longest streak of consecutive job growth ever recorded in the history of this country and more than all other advanced countries combined. 我国经济经历了危机之后的复苏，现在已经全面振兴。我们创造了有史以来最长的就业连续增长记录，总的就业增长人数超过了所有发达国家的总和。

But to make sure everyone is part of this resurgence, we need to build on what we know widens the path to the middle class—and you all know what it is, access to education. 但为了让经济复苏的成果惠及每一个人，我们需要打造通向中产阶级的通道，众所周知，那就是获得良好教育。

Folks, the source of our economic power and middle class strength in the 20th Century was the fact that we were among the first major nations in the world to provide twelve years of free education for our citizens. 大家知道，20世纪我们经济发展的动力和中产阶级繁荣的源泉，就是我们是全世界少有的为公民提供12年免费教育的国家之一。

But in the 21st Century, other countries have already caught up and twelve years is simply no longer enough—a minimum of fourteen years is necessary for families to have a surer path to the middle class and for the United States to be able to out-compete the rest of the world. 但到了21世纪，其它国家已经迎头赶上，12年的免费教育已经不够了，要保证一个家庭能够顺利跻身中产阶级，保证美国能在全球竞争中占据优势，至少需要14年的免费教育。

Consider that by the end of the decade, two out of three of all jobs will require an education beyond high school, from an 18-week certificate to a two-year associate’s degree to a four-year bachelor’s, or a PhD. 十年之后，三分之二以上的工作将需要高中以上的学历，包括18周的职业认证培训到两年的大专学历，再到四年的本科乃至博士学历。

And consider that folks with an associate’s degree earn 25% more than someone who graduated just from high school. And folks who graduate with a four-year degree make 70% more. 要知道拥有大专学历的人要比仅仅拥有高中学历的人多挣25%，而拥有四年大学本科学历的能多挣70%。

But today, the cost of higher education is too high for too many Americans. Too many folks are priced out of a piece of the middle-class dream. 时至今日，对很多美国人而言高等教育的学费太过昂贵。很多人的美国梦被高企的学费撕得粉碎。

And that’s why the President and I have a straightforward plan to remove that barrier and expand the pathway to the middle class—by bringing the cost of community colleges down—down to zero. 因此，总统和我提出了一项计划，消除这些障碍，打通通向中产阶级的道路，降低社区大学的学费，低到零。

Zero—for anyone willing to work for it and for the institutions that meet certain basic requirements. 零，对任何一个希望努力获得这个资格的人和满足基本要求的学校都是如此。

Our plan is no give-away. Students must keep up their grades and stay on track to graduate. States must contribute funding and hold community colleges accountable for the results. And community colleges must maintain high graduation and job placement rates. 但我们的计划不是简单的施舍。学生必须跟上学习进度，按时毕业。各州政府也需要提供资金支持，并督促社区大学为教学质量负责。社区大学则必须保证高毕业率和就业安置率。

And here’s a key point—community colleges will have to offer courses that are directly transferrable to a four-year degree. 关键就在于，社区大学课程设置必须可以直接与四年大学的课程对接。

If two years of community college are free—and credits can transfer to a four-year university—that means the cost of a four-year degree will be cut in half for a lot of working families struggling to send their children to college, qualified children. 如果两年的社区大学免费了，这里的学分可以直接转为四年大学的学分，那就意味着，对于大量好不容易将孩子送进大学的家庭而言，这些孩子四年大学的学习成本可以下降一半。

And under our plan, students from low-income families will be able to keep the benefits that flow from other financial aid, like Pell grants, to cover childcare, housing, transportation—costs that often keep them from attending class and completing a degree in the first place. 按照我们的计划，来自低收入家庭的学生可以通过其它资金援助获得保障，例如用佩尔助学金，来承担儿童保育、住房和交通费用，这些支出经常是妨碍他们上课完成学业的首要成本因素。

But here’s another key point. Not every good-paying job will require a two-year or four-year degree. Some of these jobs will require just a training certificate that can be earned in just a few months. 但还有一个问题也很关键。并不是每一个高薪的岗位都需要两年或四年的大学学位。有些工作只需要通过几个月的职业培训并取得相应认证就可以。

For example, you can go to an 18-week coding bootcamp—with no previous experience in computers—and become a computer programmer making up to $70,000 a year. 例如，你可以参加一个18周的编程训练营，即便你以前没有任何编程经验也可以，然后你就可以成为一名程序员，每年可挣到7万美元。

There are other jobs in fields like advanced manufacturing and energy that pay $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 a year—jobs you can raise a family on. 在高级制造业、能源领域还有很多这样的工作，每年可以挣到4万、5万乃至6万美元，这足够养家了。

It’s a simple fact that community colleges are the most flexible educational institutions we have. I’ve traveled all over this country, from New York to Iowa to California, to see how community colleges create partnerships with Fortune 500 companies and local businesses to generate jobs; support apprenticeships with organized labor, and prepare hardworking students for good-paying jobs in the areas in which they live. 事实很简单，社区大学是最具可塑性的教育机构。我视察过全国各个地方，从纽约到爱荷华，再到加利福利亚，我看到社区大学与财富500强企业和地方企业建立伙伴关系，创造了就业；支持工会提供学徒培训，让勤奋的学子在当地找到高薪的好工作。

Making community colleges free is good for workers, it’s good for companies, and it’s good for our economy. 社区大学免费对工人、对企业、对我们国家的经济都有好处。

Here’s what we propose: Close loopholes for the wealthiest investors and levy a .07% fee on the biggest banks to discourage the kind of risky behavior that crashed our economy just a few years ago. 我们提出的目标是：消除有利于最富有的投资者的税收漏洞，向大型银行征收0.07%的费用，阻止他们的冒险行为，几年前正是因为他们的这种行为导致我们的经济崩溃。

Doing just that would pay for free community college—and provide a leg up for working families through tax credits to cover necessities like childcare. 这样就可以覆盖社区大学免费的支出，并为工薪家庭的税收优惠提供支持，让他们可以承担儿童保育的支出。

That’s what middle-class economics is all about—giving folks a fair chance to get ahead. A fair tax code. No guarantees. Just a fair chance. 这就是中产阶级经济政策的意义所在，给人们公平的机会去取得成功。公平的税法，不是保障而是公平的机会。

It’s simple folks, two years of community college should become as free and as universal as high school is today if we’re to make this economic resurgence permanent and well into the 21st Century. 道理很简单，如果我们希望这个国家的经济持续繁荣，在21世纪更美好，我们就应该让两年的社区大学与现在的高中一样免费。

So I want to thank you all for listening. I hope you have a great weekend and God bless you all and may God protect our troops. 谢谢聆听。祝大家周末愉快！愿上帝保佑你们，愿上帝保佑我们的军队。