More Republicans now support free college than oppose it

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Looks like the Country as a whole is more liberal then atlas. Shocking.

That's because Atlas is overwhelmingly middle and upper-class White people.

which makes their views invalid got it thanks

for the record I voted No (D). There are already a lot of people going to college who don't need to be there who are watering down requirements for people who actually stand to benefit from it. Sending people who want to go and benefit (of whom there are many) from it is a good thing but simply making four year college free for everybody is a lazy solution.

Giving every American student a chance of getting higher education regardless of their economic background is not a lazy idea. Although I can understand why some  upper middle class and rich people don't like it. Elite people don't usually like when huge numberes of people from working class backgtound can compete with them for white collar jobs.

Lol? I literally said sending people who want to go and benefit from college is a good thing. Can you read? Also why are you assuming that I am talking about upper class people when I talk about who benefits from college? I went to a four year public university and saw a lot of entitled upper class kids who wasted their time drinking and taking garbage classes who would have been better off going to a trade school or going straight into the workforce. Those people didn't need to spend that type of money considering how little work they put in. I also had a friends who were first generation college students who busted major ass, learned a lot, and set themselves up with good jobs after they graduated.

I didn't say wanting people to go to college is lazy. I said making it free for everybody is lazy when there are other good policy options available. I'm not an education policy expert but we need a system that simultaneously provides increased funding for college those in need and working with universities to help retain students until graduation while also providing support for non-college post-secondary training, e.g. trade or vocational schools or apprenticeships.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Has there even been talk about a graduate tax to fund tuition?

[Dr. Arch]

Has there even been talk about a graduate tax to fund tuition?

Explain

[pbrower2a]

Has there even been talk about a graduate tax to fund tuition?

Explain

The argument is that those who get the most financial reward out of their lives after graduating from college pay the most. Thus those who go into low-paying professions (like clergy, social work,  and K-12 teaching) would pay less than those who become investment bankers and make millions. People who get a degree and decide to become letter-carriers or auto mechanics (which could be rational choices) will not have to pay what physicians would pay.

That in practice happens in those countries that have education as far as one can use it.

[Dr. Arch]

Has there even been talk about a graduate tax to fund tuition?

Explain

The argument is that those who get the most financial reward out of their lives after graduating from college pay the most. Thus those who go into low-paying professions (like clergy, social work,  and K-12 teaching) would pay less than those who become investment bankers and make millions. People who get a degree and decide to become letter-carriers or auto mechanics (which could be rational choices) will not have to pay what physicians would pay.

That in practice happens in those countries that have education as far as one can use it.

Ah, I don't think it's legal to tax a subgroup of people.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

My theory is that the vast amount of government assistance involved in attending college has (a) helped to balloon administration departments of schools [though by no means need it be the only cause], and (b) artificially increased demand for colleges. I'm not saying all tuition assistance ought to be withdrawn from colleges, but whatever way we do try to address ballooning cost, it should be in a way that does not unintentionally feed into expenses.

I do favor Badger's general goal, as "free college" would not need to be a political issue if it were actually affordable to attend. Moreover, it seems like a noble goal to emphasize the paths to middle-class membership that can skirt more expensive/less directly applicable educational institutions (and not in the Zuckerbergy way, mind you).

[publicunofficial]

No, but I wouldn't necessarily oppose it being 90% covered for, say, a 3.0+ GPA and a 27+ ACT score. My main problem is whether or not this will increase the tuition and drive up student loans more.

Means-testing is the cornerstone of bad policy.

[Tartarus Sauce]

Looks like the Country as a whole is more liberal then atlas. Shocking.

That's because Atlas is overwhelmingly middle and upper-class White people.

which makes their views invalid got it thanks

for the record I voted No (D). There are already a lot of people going to college who don't need to be there who are watering down requirements for people who actually stand to benefit from it. Sending people who want to go and benefit (of whom there are many) from it is a good thing but simply making four year college free for everybody is a lazy solution.

Giving every American student a chance of getting higher education regardless of their economic background is not a lazy idea. Although I can understand why some  upper middle class and rich people don't like it. Elite people don't usually like when huge numberes of people from working class backgtound can compete with them for white collar jobs.

Lol? I literally said sending people who want to go and benefit from college is a good thing. Can you read? Also why are you assuming that I am talking about upper class people when I talk about who benefits from college? I went to a four year public university and saw a lot of entitled upper class kids who wasted their time drinking and taking garbage classes who would have been better off going to a trade school or going straight into the workforce. Those people didn't need to spend that type of money considering how little work they put in. I also had a friends who were first generation college students who busted major ass, learned a lot, and set themselves up with good jobs after they graduated.

I didn't say wanting people to go to college is lazy. I said making it free for everybody is lazy when there are other good policy options available. I'm not an education policy expert but we need a system that simultaneously provides increased funding for college those in need and working with universities to help retain students until graduation while also providing support for non-college post-secondary training, e.g. trade or vocational schools or apprenticeships.

This is the correct answer. Free college has become a mantra for progressives, but making college free across the board will have the exact opposite effect its proponents think. It won't make it more accessible for the lower class for a multitude of reasons, but it will make it free of cost for those who could already afford it.

It's a lazy solution to a complex problem that doesn't address the underlying root causes and will have unintended consequences antithetical to the values of its proponents, which is unfortunately becoming a common trend with most of the big progressive ideas that are getting buzz lately.

[💥💥 brandon bro (he/him/his)]

Free college has become a mantra for progressives, but making college free across the board will have the exact opposite effect its proponents think. It won't make it more accessible for the lower class for a multitude of reasons, but it will make it free of cost for those who could already afford it.

This. My family was able to pay for all four years of undergrad (using inheritance from selling an old family farm). My girlfriend's family wasn't, but was subsidized by aid from the school. Where did her aid come from? In part from students like me who had the means to pay full tuition. This is the same model that a lot of private schools use also -- attract a lot of students who can pay the full (appallingly high) sticker price to subsidize aid for those who can't pay for all of it.

Yeah yeah, you can raise my taxes to subsidize her education as well. But there will always be anti-tax crusaders who will campaign on (and execute) tax cuts and tax money to pay for full tuition of poor people would be such an easy thing to campaign against (especially in these days of grievance politics). Especially in a country with such a fervent anti-intellectual and anti-higher education streak. You can enact that policy for a year or two but don't expect it to have staying power.

[Badger]

Has there even been talk about a graduate tax to fund tuition?

Explain

The argument is that those who get the most financial reward out of their lives after graduating from college pay the most. Thus those who go into low-paying professions (like clergy, social work,  and K-12 teaching) would pay less than those who become investment bankers and make millions. People who get a degree and decide to become letter-carriers or auto mechanics (which could be rational choices) will not have to pay what physicians would pay.

That in practice happens in those countries that have education as far as one can use it.

We already have that in the form of a progressive income tax. This merely earmarks it both in terms of being collected only from college graduates, and earmarked solely for education. How about just a nice robust progressive income tax?

[Koharu]

I would much prefer a free technical school/tradesman apprenticeship/associate degree program with guaranteed transfer-ability of credits to any 4 year institution. We have plenty of college educated students. We need skilled labor and tradesmen. Unfortunately, our culture currently looks down on those types of jobs and the people who do them, so even with the incentive of free education for those roles, there will be a divide in the types of students who are willing to do those thing.

But, IMO, free college won't fix anything. I'd currently much rather focus on healthcare and social services to low income adults, as both those help low-income and struggling parents to be more present with their children, which helps both crime and high school graduation rates.