General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Democrats need a bold agenda. Here's what they should do in the first 100 days of Congress. [View all]JHan
(10,173 posts)I wish the pitfalls were addressed.
Scotland's experience is worth noting: https://www.brookings.edu/research/lessons-from-the-end-of-free-college-in-england/
They did not see the class gap close, and "lower class" students had a high drop out rate. In essence, their taxes were paying for middle and upper class kids to go to college while the rate of drop out among their group was high. In a country like Germany, you're seeing privileged kids staying in college for almost a decade, bolstering themselves with multiple degrees and everyone has to pay for that. You can't very well stop them because there could be any number of reasons why their college attendance is staggered over time..
For me, the key is bolstering public education, which is why I prefer to focus on k-12, nutrition and infrastructure development - things like housing, and MOST IMPORTANTLY childcare subsidies. There is no easy fix in all this because improving these things take time but I would prefer the conversation to focus on foundational problems which produce poor literacy and numeracy rates and addressing the issues which put students from low-income households at a disadvantage when competing against their peers from high-income households.
We also could talk about alternative paths like free trade schools and free community colleges ( dems have already done this anyway)
And while higher education is important, if you are pursuing a degree which is in demand in the marketplace, you will make money throughout your career, and it is appropriate that you should bear some burden for that.
Another thing lost in the discourse is how costs contribute to bloat w.r.t sports programs, investment in buildings and general behavior by some universities to behave like businesses with less priority on investment in teachers, and departments which can serve the most vulnerable and a broader selection of students.