How Some Would Level the Playing Field: Free Harvard Degrees

[What Would Jesus Do?]

Then what standards to the Universities go by? Who do they let in? I've noticed generally that people who actually want education, usually go and get it.

Take the GI Bill for instance. Only about 30% of veterans actually use any of it at all. Not just including retirees have access to it.

Sure - just because it's free doesn't mean you have to go.

I assume entrance standards wouldn't change much. Personally, I think if you have graduated from HS and want to go, you should be able to go. It's possible we wouldn't have the infrastructure in place to handle everyone who wants to go, but we can adjust if that's the case.

 

[What Would Jesus Do?]

...99% of the time, if you haven't worked hard enough growing up to be able to afford furthering your education in some manner, you aren't going to make good use of that education if someone wants to hand it to you either.

That seems absurd. How do you arrive at that opinion?

 

[Huey Grey]

I really want to believe you already know this, but it would never really be "free". You know that, right? Someone ultimately has to pay for these "free" things that everyone wants.

I'm not sure why some think this is a reason why not to do it? Is it free for the taxpayer, no. But neither is the interstate system. Yet it's generally considered a boon to our economy that we have a way to efficiently move goods from state to state. Same for education. Sure the taxpayer will have to pay for it, namely the rich taxpayer, but just like the interstate, it would be a boon to our economy by allowing the efficient creation and movement of ideas.

 

[BondHawk]

That seems absurd. How do you arrive at that opinion?

It's science, look it up.

I don't know, I just made up a number for arguments sake. But how many people do you know under the age of 50 that never furthered their education past high school for the sole reason that they couldn't afford it? I know there are some out there, but I personally don't know any. Earn a scholarship. Apply for a grant. Take out a loan. Get a part-time job. I just don't get the argument that there is this huge mass of young adults out there that is trying as hard as they can and doing things the right way, but are held back because college costs too much.

 

[naturalmwa]

It's science, look it up.

I don't know, I just made up a number for arguments sake. But how many people do you know under the age of 50 that never furthered their education past high school for the sole reason that they couldn't afford it? I know there are some out there, but I personally don't know any. Earn a scholarship. Apply for a grant. Take out a loan. Get a part-time job. I just don't get the argument that there is this huge mass of young adults out there that is trying as hard as they can and doing things the right way, but are held back because college costs too much.

I imagine you are correct that most people who make it their raison d'etre to get an education do indeed get one. But that's not the point. We want more people to get training so they are productive and boost the economy. Lowering the barriers to getting education will mean more people find the option appealing and graduate, or so the theory goes.

 

[BondHawk]

I imagine you are correct that most people who make it their raison d'etre to get an education do indeed get one. But that's not the point. We want more people to get training so they are productive and boost the economy. Lowering the barriers to getting education will mean more people find the option appealing and graduate, or so the theory goes.

The biggest barrier to education is parents who don't parent. Free college won't fix that. Sterilization might.

 

[naturalmwa]

The biggest barrier to education is parents who don't parent. Free college won't fix that. Sterilization might.

In a way free college does fix that. To the extent people get support from their parents for college, making it free removes the need for supportive parents.

 

[BubsFinn]

In a way free college does fix that. To the extent people get support from their parents for college, making it free removes the need for supportive parents.

I’m pretty sure Bond was saying the biggest barrier isn’t financial. It is parents not participating in their child’s education.

 

[naturalmwa]

I’m pretty sure Bond was saying the biggest barrier isn’t financial. It is parents not participating in their child’s education.

That's how I understood it too. But beyond financial how involved are parents in any college kid's education? I assume we all agree removing the financial barrier is a fairly big deal if our goal is increased degrees.

 

[NoleSoup4U]

Exactly.

You'd think folks like 86 would learn that whining this silly point every time someone says "free" makes them look like they belong in daycare.

That's because it isn't free, and to call it "free" is a lame attempt at obfuscation.

 

[KitingHigh]

Not everyone should go to college. Not everyone needs it either. Contrary to popular belief one can be extremely succesful without a college degree, and one can be a failure with one.

 

[naturalmwa]

Not everyone should go to college. Not everyone needs it either. Contrary to popular belief one can be extremely succesful without a college degree, and one can be a failure with one.

All these programs also include other types of job training. Much like use of the term "free" "college" is just shorthand for post secondary schooling.

 

[dbq hawk 32]

All these programs also include other types of job training. Much like use of the term "free" "college" is just shorthand for post secondary schooling.

Under your model, will just tuition be free, or also food an housing?

 

[NoleSoup4U]

Not everyone should go to college. Not everyone needs it either. Contrary to popular belief one can be extremely succesful without a college degree, and one can be a failure with one.

The most successful people I know didn't go to college. At this point in time, college is essentially a sham of Biblical proportions, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and deal with it.

Companies should be hiring hard working people and training them itself, not passing the buck to a completely corrupt institution.

 

[CeMar_Clone]

If pressed, I'd actually go in the opposite direction - if Harvard wants to raise enough money from its alumni and endowment to offer free education to the best and brightest, then by all means, go for it. But the citizens of this state shouldn't have to foot the bill for every kid that wants to go to Iowa. And certainly not that hellhole posing as a university in Ames.

Considering that Iowa kids choose ISU over Iowa by huge margins, because ISU grads make more than Iowa grads, who is the poser?

 

[naturalmwa]

Under your model, will just tuition be free, or also food an housing?

I don't know what the current plans cover. But as I said, if I was king, I would aim for affordable subsidized tuition that wasn't free. Affordable being about 4k/year for tuition only as that is what a student could reasonably expected to make at a summer job. Iowa right now clocks in at about twice that.

 

[dbq hawk 32]

I don't know what the current plans cover. But as I said, if I was king, I would aim for affordable subsidized tuition that wasn't free. Affordable being about 4k/year for tuition only as that is what a student could reasonably expected to make at a summer job. Iowa right now clocks in at about twice that.

I could go along with something like that, as long as admission requirements were tightened up, and there was some way to reduce the actually price of higher education. Without that, it just incentivizes more price gouging.

 

[BondHawk]

Considering that Iowa kids choose ISU over Iowa by huge margins, because ISU grads make more than Iowa grads, who is the poser?

Link?