Could Free College work in America?

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Lily_Bernans said:
I agree with you, and to elaborate, I don’t think free college would be “money well spent” for the majority.
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My problem is that many paying students aren’t capable of doing well in college, they need too much remedial work as it is. So if we make it free, we are likely to have even more under-prepared kids in college. The other problem is that if we make college free the biggest beneficiaries might be Apple and car dealers. My students work too many hours right now. Not because they need money for tuition but because they need the latest iphone and an expensive car. Making college free will just give them more money to spend.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
My problem is that many paying students aren’t capable of doing well in college, they need too much remedial work as it is. So if we make it free, we are likely to have even more under-prepared kids in college. The other problem is that if we make college free the biggest beneficiaries might be Apple and car dealers. My students work too many hours right now. Not because they need money for tuition but because they need the latest iphone and an expensive car. Making college free will just give them more money to spend.
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I teach college, too, and I encounter the same problems in my students. Add in the latest tablets and laptops, etc.

A lot of my students are taking remedial English, and their papers are a real chore to figure out.
 
Lily_Bernans said:
I teach college, too, and I encounter the same problems in my students. Add in the latest tablets and laptops, etc.

A lot of my students are taking remedial English, and their papers are a real chore to figure out.
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To many students, loans are free money. They pay for a good spring break not books and tuition. Students max out their loans because they can, not because they need to.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
My problem is that many paying students aren’t capable of doing well in college, they need too much remedial work as it is. So if we make it free, we are likely to have even more under-prepared kids in college. The other problem is that if we make college free the biggest beneficiaries might be Apple and car dealers. My students work too many hours right now. Not because they need money for tuition but because they need the latest iphone and an expensive car. Making college free will just give them more money to spend.
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In Russia, college is not free for all, but it can be free for the top 50% or so of the students.
 
shockerfan said:
Tax doctors to cover cost of med school? Hmm…lets think about this:
  1. In order to get into med school, one must first sacrifice and get very good grades in college. College isn’t free, and many students entering med school have debt.
  2. In order to get into college one merely needs to apply to several schools of their choice, write a few essays, and pay some fees. If a person is smart about it, they might apply to one or two stretch schools, two or three schools they have a good chance at, and maybe one or two “fall backs”. Colleges accept any where from 1000 students to 15,000 students for each class (on average, depending on size of school). For med school, they only average 100 - 200 students per class, give or take. So in order to have a chance at med school, one must apply to many schools, and fly to them for interviews. This costs money…more debt!
  3. When one is in med school, you’re talking $30K per year on the low side (like Baylor in Houston) to the high side of $70-80K per year on the high side)…more debt
  4. In order to get into a particular residency…one has to apply to multiple hospitals…more interviews, more plane tickets, more money, and more debt (I know someone who spent $25K on this process)
  5. Residents are doctors, but don’t make much
  6. Finally, when done with residency, doctors start making money…like when they are 30!
  7. Then, they have to pay outrageous medical malpractice insurance rates
With all that, you want to tax them??? Why make the profession, especially after Obamacare, any less appealing?

People need doctors…tax the people who need them!

(sorry for the diatribe…my son is in medical school!)
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Understandably the system in Canada is possibly quite different…much of the student loan debt may be forgiven after placement…doctors receive adequate salary to dispense with what remains relatively easily…further, many communities seeking doctors will offer incentives such as house allowances, etc. In this locale it seems a rare situation to discover a doctor who is lacking in means…

Therefore the suggestion stands as made: one industry should not be expected to subsidize another, but each must needs fund its own future graduates. Any increased costs would then be passed along as increased fees…as the system might require…
 
I would suggest that if the governments were to fund education they would discuss with industries as to which jobs might require filling. Government could then fund those programs, tax industries those costs, and then offer only those as free to the top percentile who might apply.
 
shockerfan said:
no.
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If what you claim is true, then a whole lot of Americans are not telling the truth because you hear them sing all the time that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. How can anyone trust America and the Americans if it is not true that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Here is proof that you are wrong and the America is the
 
Theo520 said:
To many students, loans are free money. They pay for a good spring break not books and tuition. Students max out their loans because they can, not because they need to.
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Every school does it differently. At the school where I teach, we only take what is needed to cover their school expenses, so they really can’t use student loan money for things like spring break, but I know at many schools they can and do.
 
Tomdstone said:
In Russia, college is not free for all, but it can be free for the top 50% or so of the students.
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Are you arguing for free education solely based on intelligence, or test taking ability?

I prefer giving access to scholarships even though someone wasn’t in National Honor Society, plus needs based support already in place at schools.
 
Lily_Bernans said:
Every school does it differently. At the school where I teach, we only take what is needed to cover their school expenses, so they really can’t use student loan money for things like spring break, but I know at many schools they can and do.
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I believe all schools limit the max loan amount not to exceed their education bill, but that doesn’t prevent what I said.

With Direct Unsubsidized Loans there is no requirement to demonstrate financial need. If your fees are set at $10k/yr, I can borrow $10k/yr even though my parents also gave me $10k/yr for those costs. Kids borrow the max for lifestyle needs, or even to invest in the stock market, not essential expenses.

To a student mind, a low interest loan without need for supporting collateral is like free money, and that’s how they spend it.
 
I’d like to see more technical schools. And I think they should be paid for by a combination of industry, government, and student, as all three benefit.

Also, I think that employers who require a 4 year degree for receptionist should be required to pay 25% of any outstanding student loans that person has. (sort of serious, sort of joking)
 
sallybutler said:
I’d like to see more technical schools. And I think they should be paid for by a combination of industry, government, and student, as all three benefit.

Also, I think that employers who require a 4 year degree for receptionist should be required to pay 25% of any outstanding student loans that person has. (sort of serious, sort of joking)
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I agree with the need for more technical schools and equally consider some merit in apportioning some of the costs back onto industry that might require a given level of education. Naturally my industry would not be affected so it is easy for me to offer such solutions. 😉
 
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