Some states looking into no-tuitition community colleges
Even if there is no tuition, as Milton Friedman once said: “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.”
Still, here with the story printed in USA Today is Stephanie Wang of the Indianapolis Star:
Indiana debates free tuition for community college
INDIANAPOLIS — In Tennessee — one of the few states less educated than Indiana — a big move looks to raise college expectations and bolster enrollment:
Free community college tuition.
It’s a buzz-worthy plan that experts expect to change Tennessee’s culture of higher education. Tennessee faces struggles similar to Indiana’s in closing gaps in postsecondary attainment levels — and, consequently, gaps in in-demand workforce skills.
In both states, according to the Lumina Foundation, about two out of every three people don’t have any kind of college degree.
As Indiana looks to reverse that statistic, one of the primary challenges comes from the state’s calculations that small annual increases in college attainment won’t be enough to meet employer demand over the next decade.
By 2025, the state estimates, about half a million additional Hoosiers will need to graduate with certificates or associate degrees.
So the push in Tennessee — No. 42 to Indiana’s No. 41 in the country in college degrees — naturally raises the question: Should Hoosier students get a free ride to the state’s two-year colleges?
“Think how we’d change the state,” said Jeff Terp, Ivy Tech Community College chief operating officer. “We’d have one of the most educated workforces in the country.”
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“Think how we’d change the state,” said Jeff Terp, Ivy Tech Community College chief operating officer. “We’d have one of the most educated workforces in the country.”
Let’s translate that, shall we? I think what Mr. Twerp, I mean, er, Terp, meant to say was:
“Think how we’d change MY ANNUAL BONUS,” said Jeff Terp, Ivy Tech Community College chief operating officer. “We’d have TONS OF SUBSIDIZED STUDENTS FILLING THE COFFERS AND MY POCKETS.”
If a nicely red state like Indiana passes this, they are idiots. Mitch Daniels was a phenomenal governor. If this passes, it will show Pence to be nothing more than a poser with no clue what a great act he is following.
California once had tuition-free community colleges. Enough said.
Something given for “free” has no value.
No, the SOLUTOIN is to get academia to put their money where their mouths are:
1) Make admissions “financially able to pay blind”.
2) Let schools then do :
– a) They can take a $10k voucher for the student per year, and not charge one dime more.
– b) Let the college co-sign the loans. They keep telling us the education will pay dividends, that education leads to prosperity, that education is a right – let them have some skin in the game.
THAT will solve the price crisis.