What would it take for a state to provide free public higher education?

[Blue3]

How expensive would it be for a state to provide free public higher education?

In relative terms, since it would obviously be different in absolute terms for each state. How much of the state's budget would have to go to it?






IF you want an example, for some perspective of what's already in a state budget:

* Rhode Island has an $8.2 billion state budget

* 28.4% of the state budget is already spent on education
==>And the state's budget isn't even the main source of revenue for education...
==>primary/secondary schools are almost all funded by the cities and towns... the state just invented an education formula to give cities help with this a couple years ago, and it's not much help
==>the public university gets about 8% of its $706.1 million budget from the state... the public college and the community college system gets a lot more, not sure how much, but the state's total higher education budget for all three public higher education institutions is about $1.4 billion (so 17% of the total state budget) ... in-state tuition per semester is about $12.5 thousand, out-of-state tuition per semester is $28 thousand, at the public university (about 10,000 students)

* 40.1% of the state budget goes to human services, 17.5% for general government, 6.4% for public safety, 5.7% for transportation, 1.4% for natural resources and environmental management, and about 2% for debt interest

* Revenue for state budget:
==>41.5% from general funds... about a third of general funds comes from income taxes [3.75% for under $55k/year, 4.75% for $55k-125k, 5.99% for $125k and above]... a little less than a third comes from sales tax [7% with many exemptions]... and the rest is a mix
==>32.4% from federal funds (71.8% goes to human services, primarily Medicaid)
==>20.2% from other funds (casino revenue, lottery transfers, etc.)



I'd guess the proportions are similar to most other states.




So, is it feasible for a state to provide free public higher education?

How would a state pay for it, without overburdening its people and businesses?

Would it be worth it to abandon some state social service programs and cut the state police budget to pay for higher education?

Overall, what would it take for a state to provide free public higher education?

[DC Al Fine]

The way universities operate currently, it would be extremely expensive. There's a lot of stuff that universities do that isn't related to education. If you were starting from scratch you could build institutions that were focused on teaching, not research/football. Picture a really big version of a liberal arts college. A huge portion of the growth in university costs is in administration and expensive student centres. A working BA program is still relatively cheap.

If I were starting a new university and trying to make tuition free, here's what I'd look at.
1) Build in the suburbs for cheap land
2) Don't try to make the place a universityee, old office parks work fine
3) Hire professors solely to teach. Pay them more than those poor adjuncts but less than superstar profs. A modest salary with job security and pension should ensure plenty of applicants
4) Try to avoid random administrative groups that serve no purpose/very few people
5) No sports, no gym, no kickass student centre etc.

That ought to lower the cost per student significantly, hopefully enough to make free tuition affordable.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If South Carolina were to make attending one of our sixteen technical colleges free, we're talking roughly $800 million for the existing students at roughly $5,000 per student, assuming they are all full time students, which they are not. However, enrollment would go up if tuition were free, so figure $1 billion or roughly a little over $200 per person per year.  Without cuts elsewhere that would require an increase of roughly 20% in General Fund spending assuming the extra enrollment didn't pry loose some addition Federal funding for the system.

Obviously a scheme in which the four-year public schools were also free would be more expensive, but even this scheme to make the two-year schools (the technical colleges provide both vocational training and freshman and sophomore level college courses) would be a difficult sell politically here.

[Del Tachi]

The way universities operate currently, it would be extremely expensive. There's a lot of stuff that universities do that isn't related to education. If you were starting from scratch you could build institutions that were focused on teaching, not research/football. Picture a really big version of a liberal arts college. A huge portion of the growth in university costs is in administration and expensive student centres. A working BA program is still relatively cheap.

If I were starting a new university and trying to make tuition free, here's what I'd look at.
1) Build in the suburbs for cheap land
2) Don't try to make the place a universityee, old office parks work fine
3) Hire professors solely to teach. Pay them more than those poor adjuncts but less than superstar profs. A modest salary with job security and pension should ensure plenty of applicants
4) Try to avoid random administrative groups that serve no purpose/very few people
5) No sports, no gym, no kickass student centre etc.

That ought to lower the cost per student significantly, hopefully enough to make free tuition affordable.

The success of the American university system is that American universities are so much more than just universities.  The research that American public universities produced in 2011 was valued at over 1 percent of GDP; that's right, that number doesn't inclue the Harvard's and Princeton's out there!

The United States would not be the economic juggernaut that it is today without our research universities, especially our land-grants like Purdue, UC-Davis, Texas A&M, etc.

[Indy Texas]

If I were starting a new university and trying to make tuition free, here's what I'd look at.
1) Build in the suburbs for cheap land
2) Don't try to make the place a universityee, old office parks work fine
3) Hire professors solely to teach. Pay them more than those poor adjuncts but less than superstar profs. A modest salary with job security and pension should ensure plenty of applicants
4) Try to avoid random administrative groups that serve no purpose/very few people
5) No sports, no gym, no kickass student centre etc.

You just described the typical community college in the United States.

[barfbag]

If every single tax dollar were used towards education, it still wouldn't be free. It would take quite a fantasy actually. What this country needs is a policy where students after graduating are reimbursed up to the point of only owing $15,000 for each academic school year completed. Students who graduate in 4 years would owe no more than $60,000 minus whatever has been paid towards tuition. Or, if it takes 5 years, then $75,000 minus what has been paid towards tuition. Nothing in this world is ever free. It's always paid for in some way whether it's a rich guy, the tax payers, lives, trading, or investments. Never let someone convince you that anything is free.

[barfbag]

If South Carolina were to make attending one of our sixteen technical colleges free, we're talking roughly $800 million for the existing students at roughly $5,000 per student, assuming they are all full time students, which they are not. However, enrollment would go up if tuition were free, so figure $1 billion or roughly a little over $200 per person per year.  Without cuts elsewhere that would require an increase of roughly 20% in General Fund spending assuming the extra enrollment didn't pry loose some addition Federal funding for the system.

Obviously a scheme in which the four-year public schools were also free would be more expensive, but even this scheme to make the two-year schools (the technical colleges provide both vocational training and freshman and sophomore level college courses) would be a difficult sell politically here.

Very true. If you think education is expensive now, then just wait until it's free.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Ignorance would be even more expensive.  I think it would be a good idea for there to be free tuition for vocational/junior college education.  Even with tuition free, there would still be other expenses not covered by this, but more than tuition would provide too much incentive towards being an eternal student.

[ag]

Depends on what you mean by higher education. Giving everyone 4 years of community-college-style courses could be realistic. Of course, those with means and/or brains would choose to stay out of the system, so, on one hand it would be cheaper, and, on the other hand, useless, since the job market would be punishing those 4 years wasted in low quality colleges. Hence, the drop-out rates would be staggering.

The only way to make the system work, would be to create some very selective public schools, which would accept students based on academic achievements and exams. That, of course, would favor those with means to hire tutors, etc., and would be a huge subsidy to the rich. But it would attract smart kids into the system. Of course, for those who could only get into regular non-selective colleges, those extra 4 years would still be a waste.

Finally, you could try to prohibit both private and  selective public schools. The result would be, that the very rich would decamp abroad, and the rest would be forced to waste 4 years on poor-quality education with little market value.

The key function of higher education is signaling. You cannot get away from it. At best, you will subsidize the rich. At worst you will kill the quality education. It is your choice.

[King]

We could have states take over community colleges completely as state institutions which are 100% free to enter and utilize.  That competition would drive down university costs, or at least give the poor a free alternative.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I want free college over cheap.  Part of the quality of college education I enjoyed was that people who were there wanted to be there.  Making university like public school would probably damper the affect some.

We should make trade schools and associates degrees free, but you'd still have to pay some money to get into bachelors programs.