Eighteen of the 23 (23?!) 2020 Democrat presidential contenders support some version of free college, according to ABC News.
The candidates are responding to what some say is a crisis of affordability, an issue likely to draw attention in the first primary debates later this month. Year after year, colleges say they have to raise tuition to offset state funding cuts. Students have shouldered the cost by taking out loans, pushing the country’s student debt to nearly $1.6 trillion this year. Even for many in the middle class, experts say, college is increasingly moving out of reach.
Free college, a catchall term for a range of affordability plans, is increasingly seen as a solution. Nearly 20 states now promise some version of free college, from Tennessee’s free community college program to New York’s Excelsior Scholarship, which offers up to four years of free tuition at state schools for residents with family incomes below $125,000 a year.
Research on the effectiveness of these programs is mixed. Now, most of the Democrat candidates want to make it a federal issue. They’re hoping “free education” proposals are popular with the ever-increasing number of voters shouldering student loan debt.
Their ideas vary:
- Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Bernie Sanders, and former Obama housing chief Julian Castro want to eliminate tuition at public colleges and universities.
- Senator Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden would like to see two free years of community college.
- Senator Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg support “debt-free” programs that aim to help cover costs for lower income students.
- Senator Kirsten Gillabrand wants to provide free tuition in exchange for public service.
- Senator Cory Booker, Senator Kamala Harris, former Representative Beto O’Rourke, and former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, among others, support variations of these ideas.
For most candidates, free college is just part of the solution as they confront student debt and college access. Several also promise to help borrowers refinance loans at lower interest rates; some want to wipe away huge chunks of the nation’s student debt.
Notice that all of these ideas assume someone will be paying for college, whether it’s the student or the taxpayer. No one is addressing things like dramatic increases in tuition over the past decade, or exorbitantly priced textbooks.
More importantly, no one is discussing the merits of college. A lot of us grew up being told that you go to college when you graduate high school or you won’t be successful. But college isn’t for everyone. There are plenty of jobs where a degree is useful or required, but there are plenty where a degree is not. We shouldn’t encourage kids to go to college for the “experience” of it, just to graduate with a liberal arts degree, minimal job prospects, and a pile of debt. We should encourage things like trade schools that actually prepare you for a career, or taking a gap year to work and save for college and/or to figure out what you want to do.
Instead, they’re looking at the “student debt crisis” and adding fuel to the fire (or to the taxpayer’s bill) by making it “free.” Crazy.
