Without getting at all political, is free college education for all really a good idea?
One argument says having an educated population will lead to higher productivity and a growing economy. This will result in lower poverty and growth in the middle class.
The other side says a college degree will just become the equivalent of a HS degree. So to get ahead, one will need a graduate degree. This will result in pushing the earnings and saving for retirement years further out. So people will be retiring in their late sixties or seventies or later. And who will pay for the graduate degree?
Based on history and contemporary examples, yes, it really is a good idea if you do it in the way that the rest of the world has done it- free college for those who qualify (and other free options for those who need it- trade school, AA/AS degrees, etc).
It’s absolutely ridiculous that we’re starting out with an average student debtload of ~30k. That is a huge burden on young people and leads to decreased options for young people.
Well the reality is, it isn’t really free. Somebody pays, and “free” stuff has a tendency to cost a whole lot more than when people have to consider the price. It could easily end up that poor people who decide not to go to college get to subsidize wealthy kids who do.
Somebody has to pay for a massive entitlement, and it might be people who will never get the benefit. Not everybody wants or should go to college.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that we’re starting out with an average student debtload of ~30k. That is a huge burden on young people and leads to decreased options for young people.”
I agree, that is absolute insanity. The inflated cost of college has gotten out of control. Student loan interest rates should be absolutely minimal. The massive spending that colleges are doing to attract students and make their campuses look gorgeous, at the students expense, is ridiculous. When I went to college (waaay back when), you could work your way through college and end up with zero debt (if you lived at home, or in a very cheap apartment with friends). It is very difficult to do that now.
However, I don’t think the taxpayer picking up the cost for everyone is the answer. When the taxpayers pay for all, I can’t even imagine what the colleges would get away with charging.
Even in European countries where it’s “free”, not everybody goes. It gets rationed to higher-achieving HS students who demonstrate they’re worth the investment.
A lot of late bloomers get streamed early on on a non-college track that they cannot escape.
The problem is that we’ve been sold the idea that everyone needs to go to college even though many may not be cut out for it. This wastes both time and money for students who feel forced into attending by societal pressure when perhaps their efforts would be better spent going to a trade school and learning a skill like plumbing, carpentry or locksmithing which are considered lesser, low status pursuits even though the money may be quite good and the work steady, which is a pity.
I don’t think college necessarily needs to be “free”, but it should be affordable for everyone. For example, if someone’s parents make 500k a year, it makes perfect sense to charge them tuition. If a student whose parents make 30k a year wants to go to college, however, it’s really not fair to expect them to come up with full tuition
You could argue that community college is an option, but community college students often fall behind their counterparts in the first two years since the classes are often much easier(not saying it’s always this way, but sometimes it is).
Also, I know FAFSA can help with paying for college, but it is pretty flawed and a lot of lower income kids still can’t pay for college with FAFSA’s help.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be free but it should certainly be more affordable. The price of college in the U.S. is ridiculous compared to the much of the rest of the world. My understanding that the discussion of ‘free’ college in the U.S. is referring to public schools, and there should be no reason that it cannot be done. In Canada, all universities are public and affordable. They aren’t free but the cost is a fraction of what is paid in the U.S. and it is affordable for all through generous provincial financial aid which automatically includes a substantial portion in bursaries that does not have to be paid back. I really would love to know what it is that U.S. colleges, large and small, do with all those $$.
Does anyone know how much government funding public colleges now get in the U.S.?
@alwaysamom It is also a matter of perception. In Canada Quebec students feel that they are paying an outrageously high tuition of $4000/year despite bursaries for low income students that often result in free tuition for low income students.
@TomSrOfBoston I don’t disagree that everyone feels that they are paying too much. The reality, though, is that Quebecers who are paying $4000 a year are in a far better position when they graduate than Americans who are paying $30,000/40,000/50,000 a year. There really isn’t the difference in quality of education that one might expect with the disparity in cost, between the two countries.
Instead of sinking our economy with free college for all, we should add more merit scholarships for good students and add free trade training for others. Not every kid is college material so wasting resources wouldn’t serve any one.
If you aren’t a good student but still want to go to college than sign bond for military or some other public service for 4 years after college to get free education.
We should take out parent’s wealth or poverty, race and entitlements out of the equation. Make it about our students and our country.
I would worry that if it is free, the quality of the education will suffer and there will be an even bigger disparity between the offerings at private and public schools. Quality of teaching may suffer as teaching at a private may be preferable and more lucrative. Research opportunities may suffer as fund used for that may have to be redirected to make up for lack of tuition. I think tuition has gotten out of control, but not sure ‘fee’ is going to solve the issue. Would like to see reforms to student loans with very low/no interest for starters.
The C$4,000-4,500 per year is just tuition and mandatory fees. There are not any state universities in the US where undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees is US$30,000 or more for state residents, so the comparison is inaccurate.
However, C$4,000-4,500 per year is still substantially lower than typical US state university tuition and mandatory fees for state residents.
https://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-term-tuition-and-fees/undergraduate-fees indicates that, of the C$4,000-4,500 per year at McGill University, only C$2,293.50 is “tuition”, while the rest is various mandatory fees (society fees, student services / athletics and recreation, registration / transcripts / diploma, copyright, information technology) and the optional medical / dental insurance top-up plan.
The difference in cost to the student is probably due to both more government funding and fewer extra services besides education.
i realize this is dependent on where a person lives, but in our area a high achieving student can (living at home with parents) go to college nearly for free, at our good, under-funded state universities. Top merit scholarships cover all but about $500 of tuition and fees. Add in books and a summer job will cover it. Two of our state U’s guarantee level tuition for four years. That same high achieving student can pick up full tuition or full ride scholarships at schools listed on popular threads here on cc. These kids often choose other options, but they could stay home and get nearly free college. It’s the kids with good but not amazing test scores and GPA who lack inexpensive options, and those who don’t live in commuting distance of a university. Or kids in states that don’t offer merit aid. Or kids who don’t have supportive parents.
We like our choices here in the US. It’s just not cool to head to local state U while living at home. And it won’t be cool if it’s free either. DH and I went to college in California, where community college was nearly free and there was a guaranteed transfer path to the universities. He took that route, I went straight to university. Both of us lived at home and commuted (30-45 min each way). We totally missed out on the dorm experience and a lot of the on campus life, but we got our educations, debt free. He went on to a graduate degree. My kids could do the same thing today,non merit scholarships, and our out of pocket cost would be about the same actual dollar amount as our education cost way back then.
What exactly are we thinking of providing, when we talk about free education? The experience we talk about on most cc threads, or the bare bones basics?