A free tuition program at New River Community College is getting a promotional boost from something called Race for ACCE, but the details on who foots the bill and what students will actually be taught remain almost entirely opaque.
The Roanoke Times reported that Race for ACCE supports free NRCC tuition, but the outlet buried the substance — offering readers a headline and virtually nothing else on the funding mechanism, curriculum oversight, or accountability measures that would tell working Virginians whether this is a sound investment or another pipeline funneling tax dollars into the higher education establishment.
What we know: ACCE — likely the Access to Community College Education program — covers tuition for eligible students at NRCC. The "Race for ACCE" appears to be a fundraising or awareness effort backing that initiative. Beyond that, the Roanoke Times provided no reporting on the program's price tag, its funding sources, or what classroom instruction students will receive once enrolled.
That matters. Free tuition sounds great in a campaign speech. But every dollar that goes toward waiving tuition comes from somewhere — either state appropriations, local tax revenue, or private donors expecting something in return. Community colleges across the country have increasingly become vectors for DEI programming, identity-based coursework, and administrative bloat. Without transparency on what NRCC is actually teaching and who is paying for it, "free" is just another word for subsidized.
The second source provided, AL.com, offered coverage of an entirely different story — the passing of Donna Peavy-Epps, a Chapman Middle School principal in Huntsville, Alabama. That outlet's reporting was straightforward obituary coverage of a longtime educator and carried no connection to the Virginia tuition program.
The absence of detail in the Roanoke Times coverage is itself the story. When the press promotes a "free" education initiative without interrogating the cost structure or the curriculum, it's doing the work of a public relations shop, not a newsroom. Taxpayers in the New River Valley deserve to know: What does ACCE cost annually? What share comes from public coffers versus private donors? And what, exactly, are students learning once they walk through those doors?
The founders didn't fight for subsidized schooling that operates in the dark. They fought for an educated citizenry that could hold its government to account. The question isn't whether community college should be accessible — it's whether the public is being sold a blank check.
ACCE's supporters owe Virginians a full accounting. So far, neither the program's boosters nor the local paper assigned to cover them have delivered one.
