Why Free College is Bad Idea

[Zelk]

Yeah agreed OP the barrier to entry into higher education should be wealth instead of intelligence

[Krille]

There's nothing super about a college degree. Everyone has the right to education, no matter what level of difficulty it is. Are you saying a high school diploma is worthless because the majority of US Citizens have one?

Yes. It's worthless everywhere. Anyone can get a high school diploma.

[Techno-Druid]

Everyone wants college to be free, except no one thinks about the repercussions of everyone having a college degree. If everyone attained a college degree, then the value of a college degree would be worthless and we would be right back where we started. Better stated in the Disney movie The Incredibles:


Here is an economics professor arguing against education in case you wanted a more "credible" (appeal to authority) source.

This implies that 1) everyone would be accepted into universities 2. everyone will WANT to go to college and 3. that everyone will take the same courses and go down the same career path.

Even if all those proposed issues are overlooked, would you rather be one of many skilled in a STEM profession or would you rather be a worker that could easily be replaced by a automated robot that would cost half of what you cost and work twice as hard?

And you may bring up a valid point, if there are a lot of people within similar STEM professions, then some of those people would be unemployed, but if you are STEM educated, you at least have a chance in other towns, cities, states or nations.

[D Luniz]

Pretty sure you still have to pass the courses
so how does free make THAT part any easier?

[TITAN308]

Pretty sure you still have to pass the courses
so how does free make THAT part any easier?

How many attempts do they get? Unlimited? I mean its free right?

[kail]

Well much like the medical field, I'd say that the education field has inflated its costs to absurd numbers.

Should it really cost over $100,000+ to get a new doctor or scientist educated?

Just like I question when a hospital charges you $8 for one aspirin.

Exactly why such industries could use some more regulation from the gov't. With current costs, it's either us or the gov't that loses (depending who gets the insane bill).

[nanook12]

You just provided a counter to your own original post. So, we're in agreement, free college does not mean everyone will have a college degree.

Hmm I suppose I did.

[Gryphoon]

Everyone wants college to be free, except no one thinks about the repercussions of everyone having a college degree. If everyone attained a college degree, then the value of a college degree would be worthless and we would be right back where we started.

In several countries getting a college degree is free. Just because something is free doesn't mean everyone will get one. Far, faaaaar from it. To begin with, not everyone even tries to get one, and among the ones who start out on a course to a degree, many won't actually graduate and instead either give up or jump the work train when given the opportunity.

It sounds like you think University is something you just pass because you attend. Also, don't forget you need to be accepted by your previous grades and are actually competing against other people. I guess this is what scares the rich kids, getting their ass not accepted because they can't buy themselves a spot before the less fortunate.

[Kaganfindel]

A degree isn't useless if it doesn't land you a job in your field of study. Accepting that assertion reduces higher education to a ridiculously overpriced, hopelessly dysfunctional job training program. There is value in an educated population.

[Deleted]

Coming from a country with free education and only having read the initial post I have to ask if OP even has a college degree to reach that kind of absurd verdict. Clearly having a more educated people throughout a country can never be a bad thing unless you like dictators. A dictator would prefer people to be stupid and uneducated as they are easier to control but in a country with democracy it only really works properly if people are well informed, which is a benefit from education.

There is a minor issue in my country which is a lack of people with non-college educations like carpenters, plumbers etc. however I think having a more educated people far outwheighs this.

[HumbleDuck]

Because we are stuck with high unemployment right now in part because everyone was sold the lie "be what you want when you grow up" so now they are saddled with $50,000 in debt with a gender studies degree and can't get a job.

Instead of being smart and actually analyzing what jobs are needed and will get them through to retirement, they live off the "mom and dad told me to do what I love with no compromise" bullshit.

Hell, Mechanical Engineers are payed very well and are always in demand.

So you prefer a life of misery to get your hands on a bite to eat instead of beiliving in yourself. Much inspired.
Anyways this simply is irrelevant to the topic. You literary can not have less chance of getting a job with a degree than without one. With expensive higher education, we are just wasting talents every second.

[apepi]

Just because they will pay for it, does not mean you will have to put the work and effort of going to college.

Think of it as a model airplane that you got as a gift. You actually have to put work into building that airplane even though it is given to you, just because you got it for free does not devalue it.

[Torgent]

Free college does not mean everyone will get a degree. There are people that currently don't even finish Highschool, and that's free. In rural areas, a GED can be more common than a high school diploma. The only people that argue for this (your economics professor included) are people who don't understand that people will naturally move toward things they are suited for. Not everyone is cut out for college, even if free. So those people wouldn't go to college.

[Themius]

Well much like the medical field, I'd say that the education field has inflated its costs to absurd numbers.

Should it really cost over $100,000+ to get a new doctor or scientist educated?

Just like I question when a hospital charges you $8 for one aspirin. (seriously, next time you have a trip to the hospital ask for an itemized bill, not the summary one they send you)

You could partially blame insurance companies.

[Gestopft]

1% of what total though?

And how big is that 1% over the course of 50 years?

The 1% number was from 2014. You can look at the data yourself if you want. The point was more that as much as they get ripped on for being less than useful degrees, they represent about 1% of the number of Bachelor's degrees annually, and are statistically rather insignificant. It's not like everybody is suddenly getting useless degrees these days- the % share of most degree fields hasn't shifted that considerably in the last 40 years.

[TITAN308]

You could partially blame insurance companies.

No argument there at all.

- - - Updated - - -

The 1% number was from 2014. You can look at the data yourself if you want. The point was more that as much as they get ripped on for being less than useful degrees, they represent about 1% of the number of Bachelor's degrees annually, and are statistically rather insignificant. It's not like everybody is suddenly getting useless degrees these days- the % share of most degree fields hasn't shifted that considerably in the last 40 years.

Well those examples I threw out there were just that, examples. There are other degrees they appear to be fruitless even though on paper they sound great.

[Kaganfindel]

You literary can not have less chance of getting a job with a degree than without one.

Calling bullshit. Here's an example.

You get an advanced degree in a STEM field. Let's say Polymer Science.

You work in field for a few years, life happens, you have a kid and raise the kid or you make an enemy who's prominent in the industry in which you work. It's a fairly narrow field, and only gets narrower once you've been working in field for any length of time, so both of those things can render you unemployable in field. Now you've got an engineering degree and a mountain of student debt, and most entry level jobs out of field won't have you because you're overqualified. They can't pay you enough to get out of debt with Sallie Mae, and they can't challenge you enough to keep your attention on your work. You have fewer opportunities now than when you started.

[Seefer]

College degrees don't always mean great jobs now anyway, my mother has 2 and works a crap ass job making reservations for a ski resort because those who have the jobs in her field of study stick to said jobs until forced retirement and not everybody wants a college degree anyway some people prefer to do manual labor (I have 2 friends who can't stand desk jobs).....so in short your theory is shit.

[Chetnik]

OP's argument is fallacious. College shouldn't be free because forcing people to have a stake in their education helps to ensure that they do something with the degree. For every example you can give me of a country that does free college "correctly," I can give you one whose economy is in the shit hole and vice versa.

In the US, it's very easy to go to college for free if you're deserving of it. If you're poor, you get Pell Grants just by filling out your FAFSA. You have to do a little more work to find other scholarships, but it's very easy. You could also spend 4 years after high school in the military, which will ensure you not only get free college, but you get paid to go (this is the route that I took). If you can't be bothered enough to do your schoolwork and study, then you don't deserve to have free college. Higher education is there to educate, not party.

I'll never support "free college" because it will mean my taxes will be paying for people to major in xxxxxx studies (anything that ends in studies is worthless). If you want to get a degree for a -studies major, all power to you, but you shouldn't be able to use my tax money to do it.

[Krille]

College degrees don't always mean great jobs now anyway, my mother has 2 and works a crap ass job making reservations for a ski resort because those who have the jobs in her field of study stick to said jobs until forced retirement and not everybody wants a college degree anyway some people prefer to do manual labor (I have 2 friends who can't stand desk jobs).....so in short your theory is shit.

"College degrees", particularly hers are bad for getting jobs. Not every degree is equal the other. Out of this years graduating students in my program, everyone got a job. Some even months before they graduated. Get a degree that's needed, and thou shall have a job from it.