Should College Be Free?
One of the challenges facing most college students is that of debt incurred to get a degree. Many times the debt is a “mortgage” on their earnings for many years. You have to ask the hard question and that is was the degree worth it. Were there any alternative ways to gain the knowledge without incurring the debt? Well, you do not have to go to school full time. You could work and pay as you go. This would take longer but would be a much better option in terms of debt. You could also go in the military, get a skill, and then have most of your college expenses paid for.
I am in favor of some options free or at a greatly reduced cost. Community college is one. A student could get the first two years of a college education at a cost they could pay for via work/study or even free.
The area I would propose a large federal subsidy would be in the STEM fields. A student could have any loans paid off if they graduated with a certain GPA (at least 3.5 or above) and pass a nationally accredited test (not just pass but master, at least 90%). I would also be very specific in the STEM designations. No “fluff” degree areas. Sorry, sociology is not a science. Psychology is also questionable. It is no coincidence that psychology is the major for people who can’t decide on what to major in. The national test is to avoid grade inflation at schools. I could see professors giving out grades just enough to get the debt paid for.
I would make the biggest investment in STEM at the graduate school level. Students would have “full rides” if they maintain a very high GPA level. Again, there would need to be some oversight to see if a school had a statistically higher level of students who made the GPA cut.
The argument will always be over how you pay for this. It takes tough choices but investment in education is one of the best uses of tax money.
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