A Free College Education, Reality Or Empty Sales Pitch..

[Playinghardball]

Americans currently owe $1.2 trillion in student debt, with nearly 8 million people in default. This suggests something is seriously wrong with our education system. People don’t go to college with the intention of defaulting on their loans. The promise, the expectation, is that their college education will provide them with a good paying job, in turn letting them pay off their debt. More and more, this isn’t happening. Senator Bernie Sanders and Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton have differing opinions and plans on how to solve this problem.

Hillary Clinton’s plan is much smaller in scope, and her model seems to be based on her own college experiences, from the late 1960’s and early 70s. Her plan requires a family contribution to cover “some” of the tuition. If the family is not wealthy, the student will have to take out a loan. Additionally, she wants students to work while in school. She stated,

“I am not going to give free college to wealthy kids. I’m not going to give free college to kids who don’t work some hours to try to put their own effort into their education.”

Sadly, Ms. Clinton’s views on college are on archaic side, and not terribly realistic. Most college students do not come from wealthy families. Her own college experience took place several decades ago, and is no longer applicable. College homework now takes up 3-5 hours per school day, making a part-time job a threat to the students grades, and/or their health. Speaking bluntly, expecting someone to attend a college or university, and work a part-time job is a set up for failure. There are only so many hours in a day.

In the 1980s, universities and colleges began using corporate models as a way to maximize profits. Ms. Clinton seems unaware of this philosophical change in colleges and universities. They no longer charge a “fair” rate, but have embraced a philosophy of charging what the market will bear.

More here: http://thebernreport.com/a-free-college-education-reality-or-empty-sales-pitch/

[n2doc]

1. In a town with a university of 20,000 students, how many jobs are there?

How about Austin Texas, with a University of 50,000? Think there are 50k part time positions there, the kind that only happen in the evenings or weekends?

Maybe she wants to copy Newt's idea of having the kids do janitorial and other cleaning work?

She sounds like one of those 'get off my lawn, you dirty lazy hippies' kind of people.

[newfie11]

2. It worked in the 60s in California, I was there.

Now my grandson completed 1 year of college at a state college in South Dakota and owes $14,000. He had planed on being a teacher.
He now is in a tech school for wind power and solar.
Much cheaper, 2 years to graduate, and jobs waiting.

BTW South Dakota has the lowest teacher salaries, yes lower than the Deep South.

[Live and Learn]

3. If we get Bernie, I think it is a reality.

This is the number one issue for many people I talk too. It is not my number one priority but I love it. It really does seem to have a sway factor for a lot of people.

[Rebkeh]

4. With Bernie,

a reality - if WE have his back. He can't do it alone.

[Enthusiast]

5. Kicked and recommended!

Ms. Clinton is out of touch.

[TBF]

6. Even for those of us who did everything right -

it is a challenge. Unless you get a full ride scholarship you'll have some debt unless your parents are wealthy. We came out of undergrad with very little in loans (under $10K each) thanks to meager savings from hard-working parents and our own part-time jobs. Grad school is where it got tough - between us we have $75K each and you never pay that off if you are raising a family and dealing with high interest rates. We were able to get good jobs after, and with an interest rate reduction I have no doubt we could do better. As it is now we are paying but it is at low payments and stretches on forever because you can never get a head of the compounding interest.

I'd love to see free college based upon ability - especially for all public undergraduate colleges. The private colleges will continue with their rich clientele, but for the rest of us there should be a way to get ahead if you have ability and work hard. People are not asking for handouts. They are asking for a realistic opportunity.