Ubuntu_user Wrote:...is there any possibility that "free college" would devalue the college degree both to the degree pursuer and/or the employer?Germany doesn't think so - they've recently passed a similar plan for tuition-free degrees. And college used to be "hard" enough. It should continue to be "hard" and I don't foresee any negative effect on rigor from eliminating tuition. I'm OK with free or low-cost; that in itself will never dilute the value of a degree. It might make some folks mad for a while - those who had to pay through the nose for their own degrees. But that will pass... even in my case.
What need to be raised (as tuition is lowered) are the standards for entry into college. Right now, many colleges have to take pretty well anyone with basic qualifications who applies, because they need the funding. And student loans are available to anyone with a pulse. That needs to change. We need students 100% capable of learning. Right now, many schools take those who are 100% capable of paying - with their own, their parents' or ...borrowed money. Over a trillion dollars of it, at present.
If anyone's going to oppose eliminating tuition, it will be the lenders. Poof! There goes their market! I think it should be harder to get into college, appropriately rigorous to get through - and if a person qualifies to attend, money should not have to be much of a consideration.
Johann
PS. Any college that isn't "hard" enough may have had to water down its programs, to retain students who were academically weak but could still continue to get their hands on tuition-money. The school would lower the standards and ensure maximum passing grades - strictly for monetary reasons. Take tuition out of the equation and presto -- the rigor problem is resolved.
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