Should college tuition be free or nearly free in America?

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:01:13 -0500

Many nations in Europe and South America offer free or nearly free degree programs--and advanced degree programs-- that are taught in English. Germany, Finland, France, Sweden, Norway, Solvenia, and Brazil are current examples. Americans can attend and earn degrees there without speaking host nation languages for many degrees or courses. Even without tuition, costs of living can be high, but still may be a better bargain for some degree seekers....maybe universal service is the way to help pay for education--give your country a few years of service not necessarily in the military, you get most of your tuition paid....

Response by SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2014 10:10 AM

SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:10:19 -0500

I don't necessarily think that college should be free, but I do not think that it should be as expensive as it is for no reason. I think that people need to work for it, and at the end you will appreciate it much more. In our Country people already have this sense of entitlement that is out of control, let them now all have a degree and they will without a doubt think that they are owed the World.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Nov 2 at 2014 10:17 AM

Capt Richard I P. — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:17:02 -0500

SGM Private RallyPoint Member Nothing is free. The question is who pays. In the cited European nations the payer is the populace at large with hefty taxes. SSgt Alexander Ingram the price of education is indeed increasing, the reasons behind it can be complex but the biggest drivers are simple: more people than ever want more education, demand up, supply same, cost up.

Response by PO1 James Maynard made Nov 2 at 2014 10:25 AM

PO1 James Maynard — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:25:38 -0500

I don't think it should be free. I understand that some programs should cost more than others due to some of the technical programs, to be able to keep the programs funded and new technologies out there to replace some of the older ones. I also don't think that college should be so expensive that it is hard to get in due to funding. I think if it was cheaper that there would be more college graduates in the US.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2014 10:41 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:41:57 -0500

Maybe not free, but how about we at least allow students to refinance their loans - or provide all loans through the public sector at, say, 1-3% interest. The banks get to borrow at near 0%, so why shouldn't we subsidize students the same way? I'm fine with having to pay for college, I'm not fine with students getting stuck with 6-9% interest rates that make it near impossible to pay off those loans unless you immediately walk out into a great job.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Nov 2 at 2014 10:43 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:43:45 -0500

State schools yes, but you need to give something back for it though. Many states offer NG members free tuition to state colleges/universities and that is a huge win-win! Taking a state job after graduation or other such trade-off programs could be an incentive.

Private schools could never afford it though they appear to be free if you can put a ball in a hoop or between 2 uprights.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2014 11:04 AM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 11:04:34 -0500

I believe that College or University education should be available to all...but not necessarily "free" for all. In Europe, students are tested several times for the aptitude and ability to succeed in college or if they might be more suited to a trade profession. I would completely support the same style of education here. Not everyone is cut out for higher education and some, and just don't want to go to college. I also support "free" college education through service. Not just military service, but service to any federal program. It would be great to see people go to the Job Corp or a restart of the Civilian Conservation Corp, etc. We already have enough govt supported programs that throw away money without any system in place to ensure against waste. Id want to make sure that we sent people to school, on our dime, who would succeed.

Response by 1LT David Moeglein made Nov 2 at 2014 5:14 PM

1LT David Moeglein — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 17:14:44 -0500

When I was going to school, I would have liked tuition to have been free or nearly free. Now that I am at a point in my life where I will not attend any further degree programs, my thinking has changed.

First, there is no such thing as free or nearly free college tuition. Someone pays for it.

Second, formal education is highly overrated, and is often times a monopoly of various educational institutions that do not necessarily invest in the education of students. Many institutions have huge endowments, yet strap young college graduates with enormous debt burdens. You wonder why our docs have such terrible bedside manner? They're too worried about how they're going to pay their student loan debt back.

Third, if I had it to do all over again, I would have sought out someone who had what I wanted, asked them how they got it, and gone after the prize in the manner they suggested. I would have invested in a classical education by reading books about entrepreneurship, philosophy, history, and the lives of our founding fathers.

Response by Cpl Christopher Allen-Shinn made Nov 2 at 2014 6:05 PM

Cpl Christopher Allen-Shinn — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 18:05:51 -0500

I'm not sure about free, although I do find the experiments in some states with free community college to be interesting. I do know that we have to do something to bring college costs under control, because tuition rates have been skyrocketing since I graduated from HS in 1997.

I think that one element of this is public funding of higher education; even public colleges and universities receive very little state funding. The average state school receives less that 2% of its annual budget monies from the state, and even the most generous states tend to contribute only about 9% of their universities budget. So, the schools are forced to seek money elsewhere, and these sources (research grants, tuition increases, student loan kickbacks, alumni donations, etc.) are frequently unfriendly to students (e.g., professors doing research increases university prestige at the expense of devoting time to serving students). If we return to a model of better public funding for our public institutions of higher education, I believe that would help to control tuition costs.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2014 6:11 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 18:11:00 -0500

I don't think tuition should be free, simply because I don't believe in forcing taxpayers to pay for what is essentially a personal choice to attend college. Up through high school, as is currently the case for public schools, I totally am on board with no tuition; this provides for the basic level of education needed for every citizen.

College, however, is not for everyone. There are still many jobs that absolutely do not require a college education. Those who want more possibilities in the job market can go to college, but that is a choice, one which I believe should necessitate some "skin in the game." While not true of everyone, for most people that which is acquired cheaply is poorly appreciated.

As others have stated, service members "pay" for their TA or GI Bill benefits through their service. In my experience, service members often end up taking college more seriously because of this than a silver spoon type whose parents pay for it all without a second thought.

Response by PO1 Omar Alvarez made Nov 3 at 2014 12:52 PM

PO1 Omar Alvarez — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 12:52:27 -0500

Veterans should get free or low tuition for their college of choice.

Response by PV2 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2015 8:20 PM

PV2 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 20:20:19 -0500

My son is very smart and my ex and I lucked out with him. He had a full-ride scholarship for his community college and then when he transferred to the four-year he took out student loans. He worked throughout school at Starbucks and he graduated last May, on-time with his degree. He now works for Sears Corporate in Chicago. I am still paying college loans off from my degree due to the high interest. I wish I could refi my student loans. I think there should be allowances for that. I don't think tuition should be totally free, but there also needs to be a cap on what universities and colleges are charging too. It's ridiculous.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made May 31 at 2016 3:04 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 31 May 2016 15:04:30 -0400

you get what you pay for. One of the biggest problems with "free" college for everybody is you will, in short order, have millions of people with virtually useless college degrees because there aren't enough jobs. And yet many companies are struggling to find enough skilled tradesmen to fill their positions. Back in the day, if you had a BS degree you could pretty much write your own ticket because not many people had them. Then more and more people started getting degrees and a BS became the equivalent of a HS diploma. It's basic supply and demand.