Should college be free? No — and nothing is really free
Don Kusler’s column advocating free college (“Yes: Removing tuition hurdle allows everyone to achieve”) was based on two false assumptions: 1) that everyone should go to college; and 2) that anything is free.
I served in public policy for two state colleges, as both staff and a board member. Not every job requires college and not every child thrives there. To make it “free” for everyone is to assume we are all the same. We are not.
Students also perform best when they have a personal investment in their own degree. If college is “free,” the system will become overloaded with students who are just killing time. That dilutes valuable resources that are needed by committed students.
Finally, the shrinking percentage of workers who pay taxes will bear the burden of this “free” education with money we already don’t have. We need to focus first on graduating more of our kids from high school before we ever consider this impractical idea.
Donna Brosemer, Denver
This letter was published in the Oct. 13 edition.
The cost of college is a real problem, as are the participation/graduation rates. We need to address them. First, we can’t make college “free”: let’s be honest. We will just be forcing someone other than the user to pay for it. The true believers on the left can’t see or won’t admit that if you give something to people, most do not value it. If we do make college available to users at no charge to them, most students, will not value it and will come to view it as a right not a privilege.
For a reality check, take a look at attitudes and the abysmal graduation rates in many public schools. Why should adding another four years give different results? If anything, maybe we could offer subsidized tuition in exchange for military or public health service — one year of service for each year of subsidy.
Stan Moore, Lakewood