In his book The Price of Civilization, Jeffrey Sachs argues that the cost of making all public higher education free in America would be between fifteen and thirty billion dollars. While this may sound like a large sum, it could actually save money. First of all, the government is currently spending billions of dollars on for-profit schools and other colleges and universities that have very low graduation rates. In fact, what is going on in the state of California is that as students get priced out of the University of California, they either drop out or go to community colleges. Meanwhile as community colleges are defunded, they are forced to cut their enrollments and raise their fees, and the result is that students end up going to high-cost for-profit schools that have a very low graduate rate. In other words, in the current system, everyone pays more, and we produce fewer graduates.
Currently, only 30% of Americans who start college or university end up graduating, and this represents a huge waste of time and money. If students did not have to work while in school, the graduation rate would improve drastically, and students at universities could graduate in four years instead of six or more years. In fact, the biggest reason why students drop out of higher education is that they cannot afford the high cost of tuition.
Not only is higher education seen as a key to economic advancement, but if all 18-24 year olds were in college, we would reduce the unemployment rate by 2 million people, and fewer people would be in need of governmental assistance. Moreover, a federal program to fund higher education would relieve states of having to fund these institutions, which would free up money for other needed services.
While the US has a free K-12 public education, its failure to fund higher education means that America's economy is unable to compete with other developed nations that have free universities. Furthermore, by removing the need for students to go into debt, the government would allow graduates to be more productive, and they would have more money to spend, which in turn would act as a stimulus for the economy.
Of course, there are reasons beyond economics to provide free higher education. Not only do we need a more educated workforce, but we also need more educated citizens. It is also important to point out that people with higher education degrees report a higher level of health and happiness. In fact, societies with a high rate of degree attainment have lower crime rates and higher rates of social welfare.
While President Obama has endorsed the need for the U.S. to increase the number of citizens with higher education degrees, he has done very little to support this process. Not only do we need to push our politicians to support free universal higher education, but we have to show the voting populace that a federal program would help to alleviate the incredible expense that postsecondary education now costs middle-class families.
Along with funding higher education, the federal government could also rein in costs by setting realistic caps on tuition increases. Moreover, by improving access and affordability, the government could improve the quality of instruction by forcing schools to concentrate their spending on research and instruction. The federal government could also take on the task of rating and ranking colleges so that we are no longer dependent on US News & World Report, which has a corrosive influence on institutions of higher education. Instead of schools spending money on lavish amenities, universities and colleges could be motivated to concentrate their resources on reducing class size and hiring more full-time faculty.
While few people would now reject the idea of compulsory K-12 education, it is now time to make college universal and free.
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Plus, it's just a plug for a university education, the halcyon days of which are gone in the United States.
The article fails to mention that what is needed is a complete overhaul of our system so that by our equivelent of the 10th grade, a student has the choice of pursuing a traditional vocation instead of college. If this "recession" has proven anything, it's shown how badly such schools have been overlooked, under untilized, and yet whose training is badly needed by the country.
Most jobs today - regardless of what the media and all the plugs for colleges say - do not require a college eduation.
Don't think so? Just spend time in any classifieds of any city you like - and it's trend that begun years ago and will just continue to grow. Srengthen our educational system for children so they have a strong grip of the basics, then when they reach 15 or 16, give them an option to pursue instead of making them believe college is a better choice.
Your avocation should be your vocation, whether it's college or other professional training.
Honestly, I've been saying this for the past 15 years.
It's not ideology. It's math.
Another HuffPo article covers this problem from the perspective of India:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mariappan-jawaharlal/unfair-education-for-amer_b_1105548.html
The last lines are chillingly true:
"Welcome to America where we make our own students cough up money for basic, undergraduate education and pay others for higher education. Good luck, America!"
One can only imagine the implications for some of America's strategic rivals.
Unfortunately, with massive student debt, the US is already behind the pack. That's one reason that these debts need to be cancelled immediately and all public higher education needs to be fully funded.
Besides, it's a helluva lot cheaper than handing over annual government subsidies to the speculating banks and private universities, which is what the current system does. Here's more of what financiers think, courtesy of the WSJ and Business Week.
Warning! It isn't a pretty picture, especially when you realize that the official government default rate for these debts is supposedly 8%.:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204224604577030562170562088.html
http://www.businessweek.com/finance/occupy-wall-street/archives/2011/11/when_will_the_student_loan.html
Has our public education system fallen off? Yes, our model of education is outdated and misaligned with the needs of our current society. It needs a total overhaul. Anybody can see that. Other countries have already accomplished this. Our educational system is not beyond repair, and its shortcomings don't signify that the DoEd is useless...it just lacks vision, leadership and balls. I fully believe that the US could provide top-notch higher education that is already paid for by tax dollars if we'd just get our act together politically by evicting greed & corruption (and the associated $) out of gov't.
Please, stop drinking the anti-gov't/anti-tax kool-aid.
I agree that our current system is a mess and that it needs an overhaul, but the Department of Education has yet to demonstrate that it has any idea whatsoever about how to improve our public education system. It's only solution for the last 31 years has been to throw money at problems, and that has gotten us nowhere; we spend more money per capita on public school students today than an any point in American history, and things just get worse and worse. You admit that the Department of Education lacks "vision, leadership and balls" but you want to give it MORE responsibility? That is foolish, wasteful thinking. The Department of Education needs to prove they can correct the problems they already have on their plate before we even consider letting them get more involved in our higher education.
College students can save a lot of money:
Load up on AP/IB courses and test out of introductory college classes.
Go to community college and take the appropriate courses for your intended major - bust your butt.
Transfer to your target institution and complete your major. You have cut your college costs in half.
I remember last year or two years ago, President Obama was calling for an increased investment into community colleges. He wanted things like:
• Community college challenge grants, to help underfunded colleges that are dealing with limited capacity and to build partnerships with schools and businesses.
• The Access and Completion Fund, to provide performance-based scholarships and give colleges the tools to design more programs around work schedules.
• Modernization of community-college facilities, with $2.5 billion to help renovate facilities and keep up with maintenance costs. The renovations will create jobs, Obama said.
• Open online courses, to create options online as a tool that some think can be more effective than classroom instruction alone.
I'm pretty sure his community college initiative got fought tooth and nail, and I haven't heard about it since. I hope he gets another 4 years, and maybe a lot of his ideas (like his green jobs initiative) will come to fruition. Maybe he will feel free to be more "radical" and push for "free" community college education. Maybe we'll also get "free" public health care, finally....(wishful thinking.)
Well nominally free it's paid usually by local property taxes.........and in Ca. at least post prop. 13 that funding stream is unreliable and volatile......sadly, chronic undefunding and associated problems with that affect that.
Hmm sounds like our healthcare system.
Sorry the private capitalist free market approach DOES NOT WORK IN ALL CASES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The U.S. Taxpayer, currently provides FREE K-12 Education to over 850,000 children of the 11.2 million illegals in the USA. At an annual cost of over $8 billion USD
When the annual estimated 65,000 illegal H.S. Class graduates ~ they are unemployable, as they are unauthorized to work in the USA. What good this that to contributing to the USA?
Where's the common sense in providing FREE post-secondary education to illegals, when, upon College Graduation, these illegals are "unemployable" by virtue they are unauthorized to work in the USA AND can not pass the background checks of Professional Career Licensing requirements of SSNs & Fingerprinting
What good is their contributions to the USA as "cash-under-the-table" illegal-unauthorized" workers?
Especially when, the U.S. Economy can not sustain the existing U.S. Workforce? Evidenced by 14 million U.S. Citizens are already out of work in the USA?
These 11.2 million illegals need to become 11.2 million Naturalized U.S. Citizens ~ first, before seeking FREE post-secondary education.
Tell me, how does this contribute to the U.S. Economy ~ other than a waste of $8 billion annually of U.S. Taxpayer monies?
850,000 illegal children, of 11.2 million illegal parents, whom are unauthorized to work in the USA.
National average for each & every illegal K-12 child is $8,800 USD per year.
Does the average illegal family pay $8,800 USD per year in property taxes for each & every one of their illegal children in the K-12 school system?
Didn't think so
While ~ 11.2 million illegals in the USA, are annually sending $30 billion USD, out of the U.S. Economy to the homelands of their citizenship allegiances
Asinine
Free for a B- high school student to go to college to major in Art History for 2 years before dropping out, after attending 3 different colleges. Nope. He/she might actually be intelligent enough to make something of himself/herself but in the meantime is just a waste of time and money.
Agreed it is a waste of money. A significant part of the cause is that kids are unprepared for college because they blew off high school or haven't grown up. Free college isn't going to help that.
College is becoming the new high school.
Education pays, and the more people with a college EDUCATION, the better for their success, and overall the country, but it's important to really think clearly about the data to understand what it is saying, AND also what it may not be saying.
Then there are the student loans which are defaulted. Two sides of the same coin.
It would save money and be more productive just to take the student loan money and put it toward free public universities
Of course then you've got the educorporation complex losing their government subsidies just like the military industrial complex *should* be losing its through the super congress budget cuts (that aren't going to happen.)