Saw someone arguing on X – all college education should be free, even if it is a negative return on investment. In fact, about half of college grads work in jobs not requiring a degree. Almost half of Masters grads end up with a negative return on investment.
The value, he argued, is the benefit of an informed citizenry for keeping democracy healthy.
Except that is why we have free K-12 public education. K-12 was supposed to create an informed citizenry. K-12 isn’t working?
Additionally, the argument that a college education is of value – even if it loses everyone money – needs to be put into priority sequence for our other spending demands.
How do we pay for all this considering:
- Free college education for all
- Pay off all education loan debts (about $1.6 Trillion today)
- Social Security trust fund is out of money within 10 years
- Medicare trust fund is out of money within 10 years
- Establish national Medicare for All
- Provide Universal Basic Income
- Provide free school breakfast and lunch for all students (my local district is now doing this)
- Replace all electrical grid fossil fuel energy sources ($4.5 trillion just for the US electrical grid)
- Replace all other fossil fuel usage (many trillions more)
- Add additional electrical generation for EVs, electric heating (replacing oil and gas), electric stoves (replacing gas ranges), the costs of new home heating and stoves
- Reparations for slavery 150 years ago
- The U.S. budget deficit is growing by over $200 Billion every month. This year, the interest on the national debt will be equal to the nation’s GDP.
Sure, lets have free college for everyone. It’s just a drop in an ocean of debt.
How would this work?
- Would it be free to attend the local 4-year public college and also free to attend the elite public research university? The cost structures of the campuses are very different, salaries are also very different.
- Would we end up with a Medicare-like negotiated common payment to all education providers?
- What would happen to private colleges? (About 1/3d of all college students go to private schools).
- How will we handle international students? The Univ of California and the University of Washington both increased the % of international students they have on campus – because they pay full tuition (typically) making international students a more attractive student (financially) for colleges.
