can someone explain to me free public universities

[wilt the stilt]

since each public university is a state university system how would Bernie implement a system to fund free universities.

[leftofcool]

1. By asking the states to pay for it. That will work real well with Republican Governors.

[cali]

2. It's tuition free, not everything free

[wilt the stilt]

6. so explain to me how that works

one state such as Georgia charges around $12,000 a year for tuition and Pennsylvania ad Illinois charge around $20,000. how would you implement that.

[uponit7771]

21. They'd raise books, labs, room and board and then tack on a breathing fee to make up for lost

...revunues in tuition

[H2O Man]

43. You might check

on the history of tuition-free university systems in the US.

[litlbilly]

9. these right wing hit people try to fool us. Not happening:)

[wilt the stilt]

19. right wing?

let's see I voted for Mcgovern in '72. I was the last of the people who had to be 21 to vote. i marched on washington in'69 against the war. The first time I actually voted for a president that won was Clinton in '92. It I have been a bigger supporter of left wing causes than you.

[Autumn]

53. Interesting. I went to college in '72. Tuition free.

[Trajan]

54. College used to be free in this country

What happened?

[CentralMass]

3. From his campaign website.

https://berniesanders.com/issues/its-time-to-make-college-tuition-free-and-debt-free/

[brooklynite]

33. Point to the explanation of how the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT accomplishes this

This is not Germany, Chile, Finland, Norway or Sweden. We have a separate State-level of Government which retains all powers not specifically vested in the Federal Government by the Constitution (see: 10th Amendment).

[NobodyHere]

35. What's the 10th amendment

Does anyone pay attention to it?

/sarcasm

[litlbilly]

4. paid for by wall street specualation and it would cover all tuition for state colleges. In the

past, not that long ago, state institutions used to be very cheap. Not any more. California used to be free or very cheap tuition before Regan took that away, he didn't want hippie college kids voting against him, why should he give them free education if they weren't gonna vote for him? Would be funny if it weren't true,

[wilt the stilt]

7. states charges are different

so how is it implemented?

[litlbilly]

10. sorry wilt, youre not fooling anyone, ignore...

[procon]

30. Tax supported universities.

I remember when the costs of my textbooks and supplies were much more than the tiny pittance I paid in tuition and class fees. The main thing is that almost everyone could afford to get a good education in an excellent state university system. My little part time job was enough to cover living and school expenses so I had no debt to worry about either.

[TBF]

50. Federal grants -

tax money comes in & we give it to the states. Next question?

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Same way you and I went to school grades K-12 in our states.

He needs to quit using word free, and use more apt word "public" schools.
His rational is that because of grade inflation, "some" college is now required for jobs that used to take HS grads.
Whether he means AA or BA degrees, is not clear.

Oh, and let me add......
All the millions and millions that Gov. is giving to schools already is in form of those loans that students cannot pay back.
What would happen if college was funded like any other school?
First, the cost would drop, since colleges would not be competing to get the most loans, but would operate on a stable budget.

2nd, students would be using their money not to pay back high interest debts, but to feed the general economy.

[wilt the stilt]

8. it is not the same

states provide different amounts per school district based on taxation. how would it be implemented?

[TBF]

51. Yes it is K-12 is by local taxes as well

try to keep up.

[safeinOhio]

11. The same way

Germany does it.

We found the $ for the wars in Iraq, .15 of that amount would pay for it.

[Live and Learn]

12. Maybe the same way they do it with grade school and high school?

Doesn't seem impossible,

[Travis_0004]

13. Extortion

Im only halfway kidding.

Basically raise a federal tax, and the feds agree to pay for most of the cost, and if the states dont make it totally free they pull federal funding.

[wilt the stilt]

17. that sounds like a plan

kind of how medicare was expanded with the federal government paying 95%. how did that work out?

[Travis_0004]

38. 90%

And although it sounds nice, the federal goverment picked up extra tax revenue for their part. New taxes, and other changes in the tax code (such as only being able to deduct medical expenses after 10% under the new law).

The states 'only' pay 10%, but they get no new tax revenue, so the burden on them is much larger than it looks on paper.

[seaglass]

14. Here's his bill. The Fed pays a percentage and the State pays a percentage. Sounds like it

is a voluntary program.

College for All Act - bill submitted by Sanders May 2015 - read it.

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1373/text

The federal government would cover 67% of this cost, while the states would
be responsible for the remaining 33% of the cost.

[wilt the stilt]

15. yes nd what happens when one state charges 20,000 and another state charges 12,000

so it will all work out. pipe dream

[seaglass]

22. I have no idea what the incentive is for states to agree to paying 33% of all public univ/college

tuition and fees and where that money comes from.

[alcibiades_mystery]

61. That's over and above current state expenditures, which MUST remain at Year 1 levels or above!

[TBF]

52. Just like public schools K-12.

You are very transparent you know.

[alcibiades_mystery]

62. The bill deals with this by requiring all costs be brought in line with a national median by Year 10

Never mind how.

That's not the point!

Groundswell!!!!

[unc70]

16. Lots of ways to structure. Remember the Bill

Quit being deliberatively obtuse.

[wilt the stilt]

18. not being obtuse

trying to actually nail down a plan and make it realistic.

[liberal_at_heart]

24. sorry I don't see you trying to nail down a plan and make it realistic for Hillary's plan.

You clearly are only posting to make it seem like Bernie's plan is impossible. You are going on my ignore list. I will forever fight for living wages, SS, tuition free college, and single payer healthcare. I really don't give a crap how realistic some Democrats think it is or isn't. Some might have said what the Labor Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Women's Rights Movement were fighting for was not possible either, but they fought and they fought and they fought and eventually they won.

[merrily]

27. Canvassing DU is the way to nail down a federal plan?

[gyroscope]

20. For one, stop building prisons

Secondly stop pouring vast amounts of taxpayer money into the useless war on drugs.

Use the savings to fund college education.

[angstlessk]

25. Not just War on drugs...how bout WAR in general

Hell 1/16 of war spending would probably send every high school graduate to the school of their choice, be it of higher learning or some sort of trade school

[nichomachus]

23. So that's the new Hillary campaign slogan

"It's too hard. We can't do it. Live with things the way the are." -- "Please clap."

[merrily]

26. Answered before I read the thread and realized answers were not being sought.

Deleting my original reply and replacing it with an expression of my gratitude to the OP for his or her concern.

Thanks!

[wilt the stilt]

28. No one here has a way to answer

To a realistic plan. Everyone here always lambasts anyone who asks a legitimite question. This is a realistic question. A way better plan and one with realistic amd long lasting consequences is to subsidizes industry to rebuild our manufaturing. Get real people and stop drinking the kool aid

[DrDan]

29. no - no answers - just insults to anyone who dare ask a question related to the details

[gyroscope]

31. We have given you plenty of very realistic answers

you choose to ignore them and remain steeped in your ignorance.

[wilt the stilt]

32. Not one person addresses the different

Tuition at different states and the fact that states didn't even take medicare. At 95%.just call someone ignorant is how you deal with it.

[gyroscope]

39. Look to how others do it

don't try to reinvent the wheel. Other countries have been doing it successfully for decades.

In Germany where the first university in the world was born average college education costs $32,000 total for all four years, and it is paid for by the government. Many US colleges charge that much for just one year. There is no reason for such absurdly high college tuition, other than the desire of college admins for lining their own pockets. They will not be allowed to do that anymore.



How German higher education controls costs

The next time you pull out your checkbook to pay that hefty tuition bill or pay down your student loan, consider this: there are countries where students pay nothing to attend university. Denmark, Sweden and Germany for example all have tuition-free college.

Since tuition is free here, German students don’t really worry about student loan debt. Instead, they worry about their exams or learning a trade. Seventy percent of the students at the University of Cologne work part-time jobs. Students, parents, administrators and business leaders of all political stripes say the same thing: higher education in Germany is seen as a public good.

http://www.marketplace.org/2015/03/31/education/learning-curve/how-german-higher-education-controls-costs

[Skid Rogue]

34. Could the Federal Government...

force State Universities to participate? That may seem like a weird question, but I'm from one of those ass-backwards States that wouldn't allow the Medicaid expansion for ACA.

[NobodyHere]

36. I don't think they can force state governments to spend money.

The Federal government can only highly suggest and give incentives for state governments to spend money.

[Skid Rogue]

40. That sounds right...

Do you think that the Federal Government could legally suspend other forms of financial support until a state complied?

[gyroscope]

42. Obama has done just that.

"We are putting colleges on notice," Obama told an arena packed with cheering students. "You can't assume that you'll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down." - President Obama


http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveodland/2012/03/24/college-costs-are-soaring/#34b84855641b

[Skid Rogue]

45. Nice :)

Could the Obama administration do that own their own, or would it need Congressional approval?

[gyroscope]

46. The Dept of Education decides that

it can pull federal funds to any college anytime it wants.

[Skid Rogue]

47. Thank you,

At least there's some kind of leverage there. It's troubling, because often the states that need the most help refuse it. I'm sure Alabama will be pulled into the 21st century kicking and screaming.

[LWolf]

37. Perhaps the same way

federal funds stream to state systems every day.

[lumberjack_jeff]

41. Expand Pell grants. QED. n/t

[99Forever]

44. First, you explain free elementary schools to me.

It's all so terribly confusing and almost impossible to imagine any way it could EVER possibly work.

[Motown_Johnny]

48. Do you understand public high schools? n/t

[wilt the stilt]

55. This is state level

And exprndtures are different per district by property tsxes.

[Motown_Johnny]

68. And you think Public colleges and universities are federal?

We are just talking about funding.

[Fearless]

49. FFS the federal government gives the states money allocated for higher education. It's very simple

AND CURRENTLY DONE for NCLB and RTTT

[wilt the stilt]

56. Would that be block grants

We alllnow how well that works. Rebuillding the manfacturing base is a muchbetter and realistic plan for long term economic gains and a way better use of iur tsx dollar.

[Fearless]

69. You do understand the word "like" right... as in it is "like" something else?

Or are you intentionally trying to be ridiculous?

[TheProgressive]

57. By passing laws... that's how everything in gov gets implemented...

It's that simple...

[alcibiades_mystery]

58. Sanders filed a bill called Free College for All that provides the details

They are at times interesting, at time bordering on silly, at times seemingly ignorant of basic features of higher education.

In terms of your question, Sanders asks states to foot 1/3 of the initial bill (that's over and above their current expenditures). So, if a state's total revenue for tuition and fees is $1 billion on the year the law goes into effect, a state can apply for a federal allotment of $667 million to provide free tuition, but has to put up $333 million of its own money, without reducing its current expenditures at all! In other words, if state institutions (which are non-profits, mind you!) receive $1 billion in revenue from tuition and fees and the state actually supplements that with, say, $150 million in support (of all kinds), then the state will increase its support to $480 million while receiving $667 million from the federal government.

Oh, and there are other conditions the state must meet in order to receive the allotment.

Oh, and here's another interesting feature: after four years of this, the federal government will have five years to bring tuition and fees costs down to the Year 4 Plan nation-wide median per student. So, if you are in a state where tuition and fees are above the national median(!!!), your state institutions will have to find cost-cutting ways to reduce tuition and fees to the national median. But don't worry: it won't be faculty salaries: the bill demands that tenure and tenure-track faculty constitute 70%-75% of instructional credit hours by Plan Year 5.

It's fascinating reading, Bernie's bill.

[wilt the stilt]

59. This is in all actuality

Just a unrealistic plan and doesn't in any way deal with the underlying reason for wage stagflation. We don't build anything. A way better use of tax fillars us too rebuild our manfscturing base. These are kong term high paying jobs. This is just a BS feel good plan.

[alcibiades_mystery]

60. I don't know the reason Sanders doesn't link to the bill he filed from his website

It's pretty detailed.

I don't disagree with you. As I read the bill, some parts had me laughing. I mean, they're really silly.

[napi21]

63. The easy answer is the Country & the States WANT their population educated.

Please check my posts:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027613661
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7613832


Basically, the Federal & State Governments pay the tuition. There re some other MAJOR differences between EU colleges and US ones. Public colleges only have a few sports, but the heaviest concentration is on GETTING AN GOOD EDUCATION. All students must maintain a 3.0 avg. much like we have ere in Ga. with the HOPE scholarship. They still have sports but the studies come FIRST.

I've checked several web sites today after I heard of Free College even for International students. My granddaughter is a freshman in a Ga. State College now and her brother is a HS senior now.

The biggest difference between education in the US & the EU that I see is that the Gov't & the people in the EU really want their citizens to be well educated, and the Gov't & the People in the US want SPORTS to watch. I realize that pretty crass, but I know from people in my own family who got sports scholarships to get to college, and shall we say, had a lot of help getting the grades to stay on the team. I know for sure because I met several guys who attended the same schools and told me how they got test answers for my several cousins.

The only Country I really checked was Germany, and I read that the Germans pay an avg. of 39% in Fed. State & payroll taxes and they're pleased with the benefits they get in return. I haven't checked to see how much the avg. combined Fed State & PR taxes ARE IN THE US. Honestly though, if you think that you nor employers would no longer have the expense of healthcare, college & even low Graduate degree costs (my granddaughter in Germany paid $1,000 per semester go het her MD) it sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

[wilt the stilt]

64. I live in Ga

And I am perfectly familiar with the hope scholarship. The problem eith this whole idea is every state is different. This idea is nice but not practical.

[napi21]

65. Don't you think a lot depends on who's on the SCOTUS?

If you remember, Obamacare requirement to expand medicare was supposed to be mandatory until the SCOTUS said "That's too harsh". I think it's entirely doable if we can change the makeup of the SCIOTUS and just force the States to go along.

[Recursion]

66. As announced, the USG would cover 50% of tuition if states covered the other 50%

No, it's not a workable plan. Sure does excite voters, though.

[Skid Rogue]

67. Hmmm...

I've also been wondering about the influx of students into a free state system. Do you guys think we would eventually need some sort of lottery for admittance?