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In an ideal world, should the government pay for all of higher learning? My daughter is in college and she has a large debt on a degree and even assuming she manages to land a good job it seems absurd she'll be required to spend about $400 a month to pay it back for the next 10-20 years. I have heard it's free in many European countries, why not the U.S the world's only super power? They can afford hundreds of billions to kill innocent people yet can't afford to at the very least make college free? How backwards is that?
I don't think it should be free but it should not be ridiculously expensive.
The required reading should be provided and if someone can study the books and pass the tests without going to any classes then that should be acceptable for the credit hours.
I don't think it should be free but it should not be ridiculously expensive.
The required reading should be provided and if someone can study the books and pass the tests without going to any classes then that should be acceptable for the credit hours.
psik
Books only contain textbook material. What about all the other learning that goes into a college education? The tacit knowledge from working with top experts in the field, the learning from debates, research, and writing... these are things that cannot be self-taught and require a significant amount of guidance.
Fortunately, while the tuition looks high, it is greatly reduced by merit-based rewards.
In an ideal world, should the government pay for all of higher learning? My daughter is in college and she has a large debt on a degree and even assuming she manages to land a good job it seems absurd she'll be required to spend about $400 a month to pay it back for the next 10-20 years. I have heard it's free in many European countries, why not the U.S the world's only super power? They can afford hundreds of billions to kill innocent people yet can't afford to at the very least make college free? How backwards is that?
The one thing that the government can do is provide better funding for students with the greatest potential to produce unique academic research and innovation. Statistically, these are students that graduate at the top of their classes (pretty much a decent GPA - 3.8+, and other top criteria). This can be accomplished by stopping funding for students that, statistically, fall in the group of least potential.
When you look at the numbers, it's better for everyone if more taxpayer dollars went towards the funding of biotech students at JHU while less taxpayer dollars went to propping up low tier public institutions.
The reason this question is being asked is not that people think college should be free. It shouldn't. Its because its become ridiculously expensive for the 90% of students who don't have a scholarship. Anyone interested in preserving the idea of college for deserving young people should go to the college board of regents and strenuously resist all tuition increases that are greater than the rate of inflation. The Board of Regents is a public agency. Ultimately, it answers to the voters. Make it clear to politicians of both parties that you will no longer stand idly by while thousands/millions of competent students are priced out of a college education.
As maciesmom said, nothing is free. The government isn't a money-making business. It can't pay for anything without taking money from its citizens or selling debt or creating debt from thin air. So what you're really asking is whether your neighbors should pay for your daughter's higher learning, or whether your government should enslave future generations to pay for it.
In an ideal world, everyone would pay his own way, no one would be subjected to theft, and charity would never be coerced.
The reason this question is being asked is not that people think college should be free. It shouldn't. Its because its become ridiculously expensive for the 90% of students who don't have a scholarship. Anyone interested in preserving the idea of college for deserving young people should go to the college board of regents and strenuously resist all tuition increases that are greater than the rate of inflation. The Board of Regents is a public agency. Ultimately, it answers to the voters. Make it clear to politicians of both parties that you will no longer stand idly by while thousands/millions of competent students are priced out of a college education.
Its the only thing that will stop it.
People only think that tuition is "ridiculously expensive" because it's been subsidized by the federal government between the 1900's and today. If you look at tuition rates between 1100 and 1800s, you'll see that today's rates are just the norm (a little cheaper than the norm). So rising tuition rates only makes up for artificially low rates of recent decades and is not really a problem.
The 10% who receive scholarships do so because they are the most proven to not drop out of college before completing, statistically. Of the remaining 90%, the overwhelming majority will drop out after completing their bachelor's degree, and without making any contribution to research and innovation. Which begs whether they should even go to college. Why not just train for work?
Society has built this false expectation that one needs to go to college to get a good job. That's the real problem that's holding people back. Attack that expectation.
No, because, personally, I do not believe everyone has the motivation to attend college and do well; those people should not have the same right to a college education as the people who do have the motivation. Unless you want to start admitting people based on their exam scores, like some European countries, and make all colleges difficult to get into, don't offer free college to everyone. What I think should be done instead, though, is the colleges should stop curving and teach what they need to teach. The government should also stop subsidizing four-year education. Poor college students should learn an in-demand trade, go to work, and save money toward obtaining a four-year degree or higher. The high schools should also offer apprenticeships and encourage students to obtain jobs or become entrepreneurs. Gainful employment is possible, but our government has taken the wrong route by subsidizing education and not investing in job creation programs and simply not giving the people the power to change their own destiny.
This may sound a bit hypocritical, considering I used financial aid to pursue my degrees, but I have very little to show for it. I work a part-time job that someone with a high school diploma could do, and, although I get paid a little more because I have a degree, the gains I receive from this are minimal. To make matters more complicated, I'm still in college, because I have not been able to find a position in my field. If I had this to do over again, I think I would have pursued dual enrollment in a trade school program for an in-demand field while I was in high school, if possible. I would have then perhaps transferred to a trade school to finish my training, and I would have worked and saved while taking university classes part time. It would have saved me lots of heartache and a mountain of debt.
The government needs to start using common sense and investing in programs that can actually promote employment. A free college education for everyone is a nice dream, but it does not promote the economic growth we need to see in this country. I agree that Americans need to become better educated, but it simply may not be possible to let the government foot the bill. My suggestion is that we should all pick up a book. Education is already free to those who are motivated.
Stats show that about 50% that enter a 4 year college actually graduate and about 30% that enter a 2 year CC graduate.
Free college for all wouldn't work with the current setup we have.
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