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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBernie Sanders Wants to Make College Tuition Free. Here’s Why We Should Take Him Seriously.
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A couple of years ago, I wrote an article joking that the United States would never eliminate tuition at our public colleges unless Bernie Sanders "somehow leads a Latin American-style coup down Pennsylvania Avenue." Today, I feel the tiniest bit prescient. The socialist senator from Vermont and long-shot Democratic candidate for president just announced that he would introduce a bill designed to make state schools tuition-free for all, in part by passing a tax on financial transactions, including stock, bond, and derivatives trades. So, if he ever does get around to that government overthrow, we now know where the future of higher education lies.
Taxing Wall Street to give students a free ride through school is an idea that, like most of what Sanders does, will play well on Facebook and poorly in Washington. But setting political reality aside, the senator is offering a very rational framework for how we theoretically could make higher ed more affordable, even if we chose a different way to pay for it. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public colleges take in a bit under $70 billion worth of tuition and fees annually. Under the Sanders proposal, those schools would be required to stop charging students, and Washington would provide two-thirds of the lost revenue directly, bringing the federal tab to $47 billion at first. The rest would come from states, which would be obligated to maintain a certain level of funding for their higher-ed systems. As enrollment grew over time, the cost would too.
In some ways, this looks much like President Obama's own plan to make community colleges tuition-free, which also called on the federal government and states to cooperate to cover the cost of educating students. It's an extremely sensible approach that tries to deal with the root problems that have driven up the cost of an education over the decades. Public college tuition has risen because of a mix of state budget cuts and uncontrolled spending by the school administrations. The federal government has tried to compensate by offering tax breaks, grants, and low-interest loans to students. But that has simply allowed states to cut more and institutions to raise their prices without worrying that enrollment might crash. Instead of trying to play catch-up by handing more and more money to undergrads, Obama and now Sanders would try to force the federal government and states to work in concert, imposing some order on this unwieldy system we've created.
A couple of years ago, I wrote an article joking that the United States would never eliminate tuition at our public colleges unless Bernie Sanders "somehow leads a Latin American-style coup down Pennsylvania Avenue." Today, I feel the tiniest bit prescient. The socialist senator from Vermont and long-shot Democratic candidate for president just announced that he would introduce a bill designed to make state schools tuition-free for all, in part by passing a tax on financial transactions, including stock, bond, and derivatives trades. So, if he ever does get around to that government overthrow, we now know where the future of higher education lies.
Taxing Wall Street to give students a free ride through school is an idea that, like most of what Sanders does, will play well on Facebook and poorly in Washington. But setting political reality aside, the senator is offering a very rational framework for how we theoretically could make higher ed more affordable, even if we chose a different way to pay for it. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public colleges take in a bit under $70 billion worth of tuition and fees annually. Under the Sanders proposal, those schools would be required to stop charging students, and Washington would provide two-thirds of the lost revenue directly, bringing the federal tab to $47 billion at first. The rest would come from states, which would be obligated to maintain a certain level of funding for their higher-ed systems. As enrollment grew over time, the cost would too.
In some ways, this looks much like President Obama's own plan to make community colleges tuition-free, which also called on the federal government and states to cooperate to cover the cost of educating students. It's an extremely sensible approach that tries to deal with the root problems that have driven up the cost of an education over the decades. Public college tuition has risen because of a mix of state budget cuts and uncontrolled spending by the school administrations. The federal government has tried to compensate by offering tax breaks, grants, and low-interest loans to students. But that has simply allowed states to cut more and institutions to raise their prices without worrying that enrollment might crash. Instead of trying to play catch-up by handing more and more money to undergrads, Obama and now Sanders would try to force the federal government and states to work in concert, imposing some order on this unwieldy system we've created.
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Bernie Sanders Wants to Make College Tuition Free. Here’s Why We Should Take Him Seriously. (Original Post)
Agschmid
May 2015
OP
Number23
(24,544 posts)1. "In some ways, this looks much like President Obama's own plan"
I like it. K&R
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)2. It would be great to see it across the board, and public universities as well.
WillyT
(72,631 posts)3. K & R !!!
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)4. Thanks WillyT!
marym625
(17,997 posts)5. K&R!
madokie
(51,076 posts)6. After all Education is the key
that unlocks all our problems and makes them go away.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)7. Good article, except for the "uncontrolled spending by the school administrations" part.
Haven't seen that.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)8. I don't see how states are going to pay for the missing 1/3 of tuition.
They are already way down in base funding.