[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by shiumai

'Free' college or university isn't 'free' - it's paid for by the taxpayers. If you don't have kids or aren't going to college, what percentage of your wages would you be willing to give up to send someone else to college?

Lots of pro and con arguments but I don't think there's a good way to make it 'fair'. The world's not 'fair' and never has been. I don't know what the solution is, or if there's a good one.

It is primarily paid for by the person going to school, even in a system where tuition is "free". On average, people make more money when they go to college:

A recent study from Georgetown University found that, on average, college graduates earn $1 million more in earnings over their lifetime. Another recent study by the Pew Research Center found that the median yearly income gap between high school and college graduates is around $17,500.

So somewhere between $750k to $1 million. Even if that income was modestly taxed at 10% then that is an extra $75-100k in taxes paid. If that income was taxed at 20% then that is an extra $150-200k in taxes. Unless tuition for public school was really expensive, the person will pay back their debt to society in taxes and then some. They will also be more productive member of society and a more educated member of society. They are less likely to take from social welfare systems, and they are more likely to contribute back to society with voting, with philanthropy, while not getting into trouble with the law, etc.

The solution that other countries have come up with is to provide free college. Tuition is going up while wages are dropping, so it has never been harder for people to afford to go to school. The widens the income gap, as the rich continue to send their kids to school. In other countries, if you don't go to college prep middle school and college prep high school then you don't go to public university, which is entirely merit based. Private and trade schools might still have some financial aid, grants or support, but the have tuition.

The idea behind forgiving college tuition isn't a free handout. It is a stimulus for the economy for one, and it is a way to free up people's earnings to go towards other things. That college payment could go towards a new car, or it could help someone pay off their credit cards, or it could be used for a down payment on a home, or whatever. Instead of money getting funneled to a few banks, the money can be freed up to be moved back into the economy and unsaddle students with debt, which typically delays buying a car, home, getting married, moving out, etc.

The schools with the highest amount of student loan debt are University of Phoenix, Walden University, Nova Southeastern University, Capella University, and Strayer University.[8] Except for Nova Southeastern, they are all proprietary (profit-making) universities.

The default rate for borrowers who didn't complete their degree is three times as high as the rate for those who did. [2]:1 Student loan defaults are disproportionately concentrated in the for-profit college sector.[9] In 2018, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that the 12-year student loan default rate for for-profit colleges was 52 percent.[10] The 12-year student loan default rate for African Americans going to for-profit colleges was reported to be 65.7 percent.[11] A 2018 Brookings Institution study projected that "nearly 40 percent of students who took out loans in 2004 may default by 2023."