Bennett Hypothesis: Financial Aid Increases Tuition

[sanantone]

My point about SL was that they succumb to the laws of the free market.  Traditional schools do not, they receive subsidies, they have regulation, tenure, and FAFSA which drives up prices.  If you remove all of those barriers they would adjust their model to become closer aligned to what you see from SL or fail which is good also.  Technology has always reduced cost and SL is a clear example of how you can run collegiate level courses for a fraction of the cost.

Come on, now. We all know how SL works. As long as you Google all the questions for the quizzes, you can get a zero on the final and still pass.

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I am saying that having a chance to go attend college is separate and apart from how someone pays for college.

A distinction without any meaning in my book.

There are 1200 open enrollment community colleges in this country that EVERYONE can attend.  Walk in and sign up.  Access is already in place.  

If I walked into any community college in my state, I could register for 30 credits per year and I would get a $4000 Pell Refund for each and every year that I attended.  I could even earn a second associate and stretch it out a few years.  Each state will differ, but every state has open enrollment community college, and you don't even have to have graduated high school to start.   We don't have an access problem.

Yes, I would agree that for two year degrees, the system works fairly well. NOT because there's no aid, but because they are public colleges that are funded decently (in some places). I would love to see our 4 year public universities be as affordable and plentiful. THEN we could talk about reducing or eliminating other forms of aid. But to suggest, as some have done here, that eliminating aid would automatically fix everything is silly.

Yes! The community colleges that the conservatives here love so much are one of the largest socialist institutions in the U.S. They are cheap because they are heavily subsidized by states, cities, and counties.