And let's not bury any attempt at devising some forward looking proposals as being "too complex" so no action is ever taken. Or dismiss some innovations aimed at reducing college costs, with the ultimate goal of tuition free college education, smeared as nothing more than a semi-socialist country's idea stemming from their welfare state mentality.

It ain't either one of those excuses . . . I mean, it isn't either one of those excuses.

Damn that conservative, church affiliated, private, undergraduate college education I received.

To be clear, are we talking about all post secondary education being free or just for a bachelors degree?  Are you talking about making Masters and Doctoral degrees free?

Since my original premise is that I believe education to be essential to maintaining a democracy with educated voters and education to be an investment in the future, I would say all of them.  Remember I qualified that with students who have the ability, desire, and work ethic to continue through the programs.  I also stated there needs to be a minimum GPA maintained and Goose added time limitations which I agreed with.

Of course, if one doesn't buy into or accept my premise, then we can't discuss it any further.
 

 How do you quantify ability, desire and work ethic to ensure some can receive and continue to receive free education?

That is addressed by the requirement to maintain a standardized GPA.

Time limits would have to be discussed.  I'm glad you are willing to consider the idea of a tuition-free education beyond high school.  I also believe this would have to be done on the federal level, much like we handle national defense and the military on a federal level.
 

My own bias would be to do it on a federal level, to confine it to undergraduate degrees, and to vigorously vet institutions getting the money.
I would use GPA to assess eligibility. They have to be making grades that show progression towards a degree. As for time limitations, I would not use them. I would approve funding for the number of credts that it takes to get the degree. This would protect the public from being used while meeting the needs of students who might want to attend school part time while working.

I see issues with using the GPA as well.  How many professors will be pressured by the college administration to issue "B" grades in order to ensure students still receive their funding and don't drop out of college?  How many students will take "easier" courses to ensure they can maintain the 3.0 GPA and free tuition?

If we are just going to discuss generalities and not get into the details as to how something like this might or might not work, as I said before I believe education and education funding should be left to individual states.

What might be worth considering on the federal level is some sort of federal student loan forgiveness for students who offer their services to some sort of program after they graduate.

Last edited by Brady Bunch (9/05/2016 3:28 pm)