Time to subsidize 100% college educations for public universities. ...

[aggiesal]

Most 1st world countries do it, why can't we?

[brooklynite]

1. Most 1st World countries don't send as many people to college as we do.

[greenjar_01]

2. Fewer students (percentage) go to college in most of those countries

You are tracked into college or trades fairly early, and that tracking sticks. Relatively few are tracked for college, which is probably as it should be. I would agree with you if you considered college or trades both eligible for subsidies, and we had a well-established system to do the tracking. It's really an ideological problem, though, because we have misrepresented what college is and decided that anybody should be able to succeed in college. The result has been a disaster: a general dumbing down of college curriculum along with clownish infantilization of students, which we somehow combine with ceding of trades (to conservatives).

[Redleg]

5. Indeed, and so to some extent, online programs are making it worse

For example, our online courses are shorter and less rigorous (having roughly 2/3 to 3/4 of the content of a regular semester long face-to-face course. As much as I have thought about paring my courses down, and I have done some paring over the years, I can't imagine how I would remove between 1/4 and 1/3 of the content from the course. I have already reduced some of the content to make way for more experiential learning activities, which are important for learning.

Over the last decade we have bent over backwards to find ways to better engage students so as to retain them and see them to graduation. We have hired more administrators to "lead" these initiatives and to bring in more private funding, since the state is too republican and too cheap to kick in more money. And yet, enrollment continues to decline overall as enrollment for online classes is increasing, fewer students want the traditional face-to-face college experience because the online option is quicker and easier. I wonder how long we will survive.

[TuskMoar]

3. How do you decide who gets to go and who doesn't?

[aggiesal]

7. Before Ronnie Reagan was governor here in California ...

we had free college for anyone that got accepted into a public university.
This included the UC system and the Cal State system, along with any public Community College (Jr. College). This did not apply to any private school like Stanford or Southern Cal.

Ronnie Reagan said, why should we pay for everyone's college education, when all they're going to do when they graduate is protest eveything I'm for?
So he got rid of free college system.

[MichMan]

11. Why haven't any succeeding governors reinstated it?

That was nearly 50 years ago.

[iemanja]

10. Strict entrance exams

like in Europe. The result will be a considerably smaller portion of people receiving higher education. And then it has to be paid for, which means raising taxes on everyone, not just the rich. That's the part politicians never talk about.

[Redleg]

4. I support partial subsidies

I think that I would rather have the states more fully fund their universities and technical schools so that they could charge lower tuition.

I also believe in more needs-based grants to students and broader use of merit scholarships. I think the increasing cost of tuition and the decreasing utility of college are reaching the point where a lot of prospective students will decide that they will be better off going straight to work rather than going to college.

As a college professor, I am quite concerned about the future of our state colleges. I have another 8-10 years before retirement but I sometimes wonder if I will be able to make it that long. We have overall declining enrollments and a shift in enrollment toward online courses, which tend to be shorter in length and less rigorous than regular semester-long face-to-face courses. I don't really want to be part of that. While I believe that state colleges should find ways to serve our population, I don't believe that online programs are really the best answer, especially when our regular students opt for the online version of the course because it's shorter and easier and doesn't require them to actually actively participate in a class.

[MerryBlooms]

6. That will never sell on this site.

[aggiesal]

8. I don't know why not, most of us went through public schools through 18 years old ...

why does free education have to stop, once we graduate from high school?
See my #7 response.
And we paid all the way through doctorate as long as it was a public school.

One of our best investments was the GI Bill after WWII, that included free college education.
That Bill is considered one of the best investment ever, where each $1 spent.yielded $2.50.

I believe the Interstate highway system is considered the best.

Paying for college is one of our best investments.

[obamanut2012]

12. Agreed

[iemanja]

9. Most first world countries do not do it

Not for a majority of the population. In the US, anyone who can manage tuition costs or get a loan can seek higher education. In most European countries, higher ed is restricted to far fewer. There are very strict entrance exams and only a minority get to have publicly paid for higher education. Citizens in those countries also pay 50% income tax (which goes toward other social programs as well, like national healthcare). It's a decision they make to pool resources for the betterment of society, but everyone has to pay, not just the rich. So if you want free college for the smartest young people, are you willing to pay for it? Are you willing to pay half your income in taxes knowing that your children and family members may not make the cut?

Politicians make empty promises without leveling with voters about what the costs and downsides are. They shouldn't get away with it, but voters can't bother to inform themselves, so they continue to mislead. And voters wonder why they can't have everything without consequence.

BTW, some public institutions charge quite high tuition. In my state it's about 12k a semester.

[obamanut2012]

13. And many do

At most, they may just charge a small student fee. And, in most of those countries, Americas who are accepted can also go for free. I know someone who recently got a graduate degree in Germany, and another whose daughter had a basically free undergrad degree in France. Both Americans.

[iemanja]

16. Do you also know

All the millions who don’t get to go to college? Did you ask your friend what Germany’s average tax rate is? Society can be structured in anyway the people want, but you can’t do it paying a 15-20% effective tax rate.

I have no problem changing to a European type system. What I don’t like is when people pretend it can be done without any cost to themselves.

[MissMillie]

14. vocational training too

plumbers, electricians, etc.

[MichMan]

15. How are costs reduced, or do colleges get to charge whatever they want?

Dad- "Did you hear that Gouge State University is raising their tuition to $3000 per credit next semester?

Mom- "Wow, that means each class is now going to cost $10k ! Good thing the government is paying for it."

[BlueCheeseAgain]

17. Giving tax breaks to billionaires is wrong.

But giving $1.7 trillion to a group of 45M Americans while giving the other 280M or so Americans nothing doesn't seem so great either.