<p>GGD: I’m not sure what you’re asking for. I think your kid should go to his perfectly fine college, and be grateful for his full ride at an expensive private. I think that’s great. Private schools offer excellent opportunities in this country, and if you can pay for it, or be paid for, that’s fine too. My point has to do with state schools, which were founded in order that students from all backgrounds should be able to attend, to get an education that would fit them to become more profitable citizens. Every kid who attends college, private or not, benefits from someone else’s money: someone started it, someone built it, someone paid for it. A bunch of alumni have donated money to it. Even if you pay full price, you are being in some sense subsidized by someone. </p>
<p>State schools were especially designed to make it possible for kids of all backgrounds to attend. The mission statement of SUNY, the state university of New York, for example, is this: “The mission of the state university system shall be to provide to the people of New York educational services of the highest quality, with the broadest possible access, fully representative of all segments of the population in a complete range of academic, professional and vocational postsecondary programs including such additional activities in pursuit of these objectives as are necessary or customary.” The people of New York, as of every state, decided that it was worth it to them to educate its citizens, although it would cost the state money: they would subsidize college education, because they recognized that it was of value to them, collectively. It is meaningless to offer an education to people without pricing it within their means. What I have in mind is that we, as a society, should subsidize education so that “all segments of the population” can afford to attend the state schools we have established for that purpose. I repeat, I am not advocating college for free. I am recommending that state colleges be affordable for students of all backgrounds. A year at SUNY, again, costs $15,000. (It doesn’t matter if you have already attended two years of Community College or not; eventually, you will have to pay for two years at SUNY if you transfer.) Right now, a person can qualify for $5,500/year of Pell grants, and each student can qualify for about $5,000 in student loans; that leaves $4,500. A student might be able to get a work-study job, and earn $2000; he might be able to earn another thousand, maybe two, over the summer (although he still has to cover the cost of living). He’s still a thousand or two shy of the amount he needs. Why is it so crazy, so “socialist,” to think that it shouldn’t be impossible to offer taxpayer assistance to fill that gap? Why does it offend your sense of all that is reasonable to subsidize state schools enough that a student can afford to go?</p>