Perhaps I am missing something. Why does free college equate to running off to a top rated state school? Wouldn't we all love a free ride at UT? Yeah, that will never happen. If there are going to be free rides, it should be done at the community college level. I am all for college reform and getting costs under control, but I am not supportive of free college for all. It will turn into a 4 year extension of high school with meaningless degree.
How is that? Correct me if i'm wrong but why is the curriculum supposed to change? Are you implying that it unintelligent people are going to be able to pass calculus and physics because the class will be paid for? Or even a liberal arts class will then become easy for them? It's very obvious that you will have to make the grade and keep your class completion percentage at a certain level to continue taking classes. Or are you partially implying that there would just be too many (poor) people that would have degrees and the totality of all these degrees would in turn make them worthless?
we have less debates about trillion dollar wars than educating and taking care of americans, what a joke. we deserve what we have and it's a shame.
I don't know if we can call it a myth when I personally know a lot of people who abused it. Yes, it maybe be minor nor all our problems can be attributed to it but it does and will happen if there are no restrictions. Imagine how easy it is for anybody to abuse it if there are no qualifications required?
It's true, but keep in mind a more educated populace with better education standards are less likely to accept wars and are less likely to be clueless about the people who are managing their money. You have to consider that it's stressful to have to work and study and pay debt which can never be forgiven so you can go on and be sort of a corporate slave in a autocratic corporate structure. The political representatives in charge of education are still talking about creationism being put in science books, about making it more difficult to enter good schools. Education is one thing that affects everything. Can't hurt. That's why education should be treated as a public good. Whether you're on the left or right, if you believe in any kind of justice, then more education will serve that goal. There's nothing to lose but money and there's PLENTY of stolen money which needs to be repaid to American citizens which can cover the costs. The return on that investment is greater than the financial returns. Civilization can't be quantified the way free market worshippers believe.
The vast majority of degrees don't involve calculus or physics. College is easy (not every class, but way too many of them). It isn't hard to expect that an increase in number of people receiving a degree will de-value it. I'm very fearful of that. There is already an increase in the need for a masters degree to separate yourself from Bachelor recipients (at least in the business world).
Who is talking about "no restrictions?" Of course there will be qualifications required. What we should be doing is discussing what those restrictions and qualifications should be, but instead we're talking about whether we should do it at all.
We probably have a different view on the restrictions thingy. My proposal was free education and books where the only qualifications are just keep up a certain GPA - no restriction or I probably meant qualifications. Lodging and basic needs should be covered by the students themselves.
Cost aside, the curriculum aspect of education needs a major overhaul. We spend way too much time learning pointless ****.
One of the caveats I would put into such legislation is that people who want a "free" degree should get them in a STEM field or some kind of vocational training (plumbing, electrician, etc.) that will prepare them for a lucrative career. If you want a degree in language arts (unless preparing for a career in primary or secondary education) or women's studies, get it on mom and dad's dime.
No I mean like in school, all the humanities, classic literature, way too much history, theatre, art, music, PE, etc. All this worthless crap you simply do not need to know to be a functioning member of society, specifically when it is jammed into completely unrelated degree plans. The ROI on that has got to be extremely poor.
You need historians, you need language experts, you need writers, etc. The only thing is the society only need so many of humanity, art type graduates. That's why it is harder to find job in one of those fields. If you look at your stems programs, especially at the grad school level, half of them are foreign students, those are the type of degrees people in this country should be studying more of.
Probably shouldn't be considered as a trade school (end to monetary means), but it kind of has to be when you consider the immense expense associated with it.
