Free College

[Sean Hayden]

Should college be free? If it's not free then should it be a lot more affordable? I think it should be. In fact, the only class that I don't mind having paid for this semester is maths. The rest should either be free or a whole lot cheaper.

Now, all universities are not created equal. But how many truly deserve what they're charging? Is anyone even looking into this?

[laklak]

I blame Obama. And Bush.

[Sean Hayden]

Dude -- you bastid! It's all Trump's fault!

[laklak]

It wuz the Rushinz! They're after our precious bodily fluids!

[Sean Hayden]

Well, the math professor is Ukrainian. That's close enough to be considered Russian in 'merica, eh? --what's that tip line again?

[Sean Hayden]

For the 2014–15 academic year, average annual current dollar prices for undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board were estimated to be $16,188 at public institutions, $41,970 at private nonprofit institutions, and $23,372 at private for-profit institutions. Between 2004–05 and 2014–15, prices for undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board at public institutions rose 33 percent, and prices at private nonprofit institutions rose 26 percent, after adjustment for inflation. The price for undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board at private for-profit institutions decreased 18 percent between 2004–05 and 2014–15, after adjustment for inflation.

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76

I attend a public university that offers what I think is a good education, so perhaps I shouldn't be complaining. But I do question the sanity of spending so much money. I justify it by expecting to be able to move into a career --somewhat late I know-- and by telling myself that if I'm going to spend a lot of money it's hard to beat spending it on an education. But still...

[Rum]

Here University used to be free - plus you got a grant to help you survive. Nowadays fees cost students 9K or more a year and they end up with a degree and often a debt of 40K or more on top of that. They don't start to pay it back until their earnings reach a higher level, but there is evidence that it is putting people off going. Given that people with degrees still earn more than those who don't I would have thought cheaper or free higher education would bring in more tax. A virtuous circle in fact.

There is also the matter of equality. People from poorer backgrounds were beginning to make inroads into the proportion of young people going to Uni. That has reversed and is dropping again. No links - I know this stuff cos of my past career.

[Tero]

All part of Al Foster's plan:
http://karireport.blogspot.com/2018/02/ ... anned.html

[cronus]

System used to work when oil money was good in the UK. Rum forgets what makes things easier.

[Rum]

System used to work when oil money was good in the UK. Rum forgets what makes things easier.

You don't seem able to post a single coherent response here. You should try thinking before you start tapping away.

Oil revenues started to flow (sic) in around 1975, peaking around 85. I went to Uni in 1970.

Edit: There's a good history of the issue in the UK at this link if anyone is interested. It is fair I think to say that the gradual reduction in the state supporting students wishing to go to University was ideologically driven and became a political football.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... olved.html

[PsychoSerenity]

The Labour party in the UK have made some mention of wanting to create a national education service modeled some what on the NHS to provide free education and retraining opportunities to everyone throughout their lives. It's seems like a bloody good idea to me.

The price of education theoretically ought to have been absolutely plummeting over the last couple of decades due to the massive technology improvements for information exchange i.e. the internet. And indeed you can download entire semesters of lectures and reading materials from some of the best universities in the world right to a device in your pocket, basically for free, and if you need to ask questions there are thousands of people at the tips of your fingers waiting to answer them.

So far though the government hasn't caught on to this fact and want to make sure that all education is run like a business. And since there are still some bottlenecks in education, - certainly anything that requires lab work, but mainly the handing out of official qualifications, - they've allowed extortionate fees to be charged by sometimes quite unscrupulous distance learning colleges that provide shoddy rehashed materials and next to no support. As a result paying to go to university still doesn't seem too bad of a deal. But really, it should be paid for by central government because it's a benefit for the whole of society.

[JimC]

Here University used to be free - plus you got a grant to help you survive. Nowadays fees cost students 9K or more a year and they end up with a degree and often a debt of 40K or more on top of that. They don't start to pay it back until their earnings reach a higher level, but there is evidence that it is putting people off going. Given that people with degrees still earn more than those who don't I would have thought cheaper or free higher education would bring in more tax. A virtuous circle in fact.

There is also the matter of equality. People from poorer backgrounds were beginning to make inroads into the proportion of young people going to Uni. That has reversed and is dropping again. No links - I know this stuff cos of my past career.

Very similar story in Oz...

[Seabass]

K-12 is free. Why not college? If more Americans were college educated, Trump would not be president.

[Tero]

Then who would drive our trucks? Unload them?

[Seabass]

Elon Musk?