One of the more popular ideas emerging from some of the more left-leaning candidates is the notion of a free college education.
To be clear, it appears that public four-year and community colleges are included in the proposal. Faith-based and private schools would not be included.
The idea is very popular among young people who struggle with the cost of college and crushing debt when they graduate. Simply stated, the concept garners votes.
Given the political appeal, is it a good idea? At great risk of offending my younger readers and their parents, the answer is not yet; there are too many questions that remain unresolved.
That is the stuff of debate and campaign speeches. Toss out an idea that garners votes, hope it helps you win the office to which you aspire, try to keep your promise by proposing legislation, compromise to get it passed and then hope the bureaucracy makes it happen.
A classic example is the mortgage refinance program that was designed to help people in danger of foreclosure during the Great Recession restructure their loans to stay in their homes. More than 50 percent of those loans are now in their second or third restructuring and the banks will have to make some tough decisions soon.
The first issue to think about regarding free public college education is how to pay for it. Taxing the ultra-rich or corporations is appealing. The reality is that there might be some better uses for that revenue, like solving the health care issue or making our communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
A second issue is whether everyone who wants to go to college needs to go. If you remove the financial burden from the equation, many additional applicants will apply to colleges and universities that are already full and limit their enrollments.
How will the decisions be made as to who gets in? The recent scandals regarding rich parents cheating to help their children be admitted ought to raise your eyebrows on the admission decision concern.
A third question should always be “Is there a better approach?” Look to Berea College in Kentucky. This wonderful institution has no tuition or room and board. Every student has to work in some productive way that contributes to the needs of the college and, indirectly, to the sense of worth for the student. It would
cost a lot less to subsidize these work for degree programs than to fund free tuition.
Finally, do we value something that is free? Will students work hard for two or four years if they aren’t paying for it? Many will and some won’t.
So, let’s give the notion of free public universities a place in the warehouse of ideas to be debated at a later date but let’s not make it the sole reason we support a candidate.
Roger Carlton is a columnist for The Graham Star.