If College were Free… Would We Want It?
March 26, 2008 Posted in Buzz, Other Stories
Sometimes I think about how our Founding Fathers intended to guarantee everyone a free education; not a professional education, but the basics anyone needs in order to get by in society. Unfortunately, I think the standards have changed. College is now just as necessary as high school.
Does that mean it should be free?
On the surface, I’d say yes. But then again, if it were free, would we want it? I’m not so sure. After all, look at the condition of our public schools today! They are nothing short of a funding disaster. While our children consistently fall short of other nation’s children in subjects such as math and science, politicians bicker about whether teaching Intelligent Design in public schools is a violation of the separation of church and state. (I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but our goal is to continue producing generations of scientists, right?) And while poor and working-class minorities are concentrated in certain neighborhoods and schools just as much as they were pre-Desegregation, certain administrations set up systems that punish schools for low scores by taking away funding!
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want these problems spreading to college as well. Honestly, public universities and community colleges have enough problems with funding and bureaucracy already. They don’t need more.
That being said, though, I don’t think any of this is what the Founding Fathers had in mind — No Child Left Behind or required higher education at even higher prices. I think they would tell us that the exact problem they tried to avoid — a good education being available only to the elite classes — is happening all over again. So yes, if you consider it like that, a college education should be free — or at the very least, more accessible.
But until we can find a way to make college affordable (or free) without undermining its quality, I just don’t think it’s realistic — no matter what Jefferson or Adams or Franklin would have wanted.
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Elise says:
Wed, 26th Mar 20086:31 am
Well, see, college *was* free for me.
I worked my butt off to get it free, though. Studied for the SAT constantly throughout my sophomore and junior years, took the PSAT to qualify for National Merit, and was downright aggressive with my search for scholarships. My senior year wasn't about getting *into* a college, it was about getting a *free* college.
See, we were really freaking poor. And I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I wanted a degree.
In the end, I got a full ride so complete that I basically got my whole Pell grant back in cash, minus fees. The Pell grant was my food, gas and clothes money for the semester. Man, I had a racket going and no mistake.
Of course… getting out with no debt will be great, and I had no problem maintaining the 3.8 GPA needed to keep the scholarship, but now there's a twist of irony. I entered this school a piano performance major, I'm leaving it as an English major, and when I leave I'm headed straight for the video gaming industry. This whole thing has given me a degree I'll probably never use, but I still value it.
Now that my parents have a lot more ready cash, my little sister's at this school, and I'm amazed at how little she cares about it. She gets her tuition etc. paid for by Mom (and the Pell), a weekly allowance from my dad, and her professorial last-name recognition from me. And I really don't think she could care less.
See, I may have got it 'free', but I paid for every semester with hard work, whereas she won't feel the money burn until she leaves school and gets handed the bill. So yeah, your point may have some serious validity to it, but keep in mind that more financial aid isn't necessarily the most dangerous force here.
Plus– if college is free and people stop going, maybe *our* degrees will stop being so worthless. Hmmm….
Christine says:
Wed, 26th Mar 20088:18 am
That's pretty impressive, Elise. Not many college students really give that much dedication to their education. I know I want the degree but am I willing to kill myself for it? Not really. I'll work hard, yes, but I'm not going to go above and beyond since that's not part of who I am.
I think in the long run students would be better off if they had to face reality and start paying for everything right away. I've started backing away from my family and doing things myself. It's hard but it'll help me deal with it in the future.
A free education would be wonderful and I would definitely take advantage of it. But I'm not getting my hopes up… Ever. I'll just pay my bills and be bitter about it for the rest of my life.