Should Higher Education Be Free/Mandatory?

Life's a Beach

Paradise, Florida

May 05, 2012 @ 11:10:09

Good luck with this pipe dream! I think it's a good dream to have, nonetheless, but college is BIG BUSINESS in this country. Half the college educations were obtained while in a drunken/drug induced stupor, IMO! We are getting ready to send our daughter to university to the tune of $320.00 per credit hour!!! YEAH!!! I'm all for free higher education......

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hoppy

,

#3

May 05, 2012 @ 12:54:06

NOTHING is free. Earn your own way. If you think of college as a long drinking binge where you are expected to act like a fool, you don't belong there. You are a fraud and a cheat, taking up space some deserving kid wants. If government gives it to you "free", it's not. It will be substandard and expensive in the end.

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cisslybee2012

Deleted

Bronx, New York

#4

May 05, 2012 @ 13:00:41

@Five_Tailed_Fox Said

My question is, should college be included in that? Should there be free colleges that people can attend, like public high schools? Should people should be able to get their bachelor's degree without paying tuition, much in the same way that they are able to get their high school diploma without paying tuition? Furthermore, should college be mandatory, whether until someone gets to the age of twenty-one or gets an associate's degree?

Well I don't feel that college should be mandatory nor should it be free, because college isn't for everyone, and if it were free, then it would have to be upon a mandatory basis for it being free to make sense.

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boobagins

SPICY HOT TAMALES

Astral Weeks, Florida

#5

May 05, 2012 @ 14:09:57

There is absolutely no reason that someone can't be able to attend 4 year public higher education institution. There are so many scholarships, grants, and different types of assistance available that anyone who says they can't afford it doesn't want to work hard enough to get or are too lazy to seek out their options or some other factor, but money isn't the reason.

That being said, it's funny that you have this thread. Actually there has been a significant movement by universities to make education free. MIT and Harvard are both offering free GRADED courses and are in the process of setting up a non-for-profit organization that wants to make their classes available online for free for anyone that wants to take the class. Brown university, Stanford and a few others are doing the same thing except they are going for setting up a profit organization that will have free classes to the public but is supported by donors. MIT has been doing free graded classes for years but only now is it really taking form and more and more are on the bandwagon for free higher education.

By 2020, higher education will be free for the majority of the U.S. Population - hopefully with a degree attached. Right now, there are just classes available with no degree attached.

Ever heard of the Khan Institute? They offer free classes on any top that are distributed online which is backed by proper professors, backed by Bill Gates and other philanthropist.

Free Higher Education is on it's way!

1

Edited: May 05, 2012 @ 14:13

boobagins

SPICY HOT TAMALES

Astral Weeks, Florida

#6

May 05, 2012 @ 14:12:29

I've done a few graded MIT courses and it's awesome.

Stories on this subject are breaking out every where. NPR did one recently.

https://www.npr.org/2012/05/03/151907385/top-universities-expand-free-online-classes

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cisslybee2012

Deleted

Bronx, New York

#7

May 05, 2012 @ 14:13:20

@boobagins Said

There is absolutely no reason that someone can't be able to attend 4 year public higher education institution. There are so many scholarships, grants, and different types of assistance available that anyone who says they can't afford it doesn't want to work hard enough to get or are too lazy to seek out their options or some other factor, but money isn't the reason.

That being said, it's funny that you have this thread. Actually there has been a significant movement by universities to make education free. MIT and Harvard are both offering free GRADED courses and in the process of setting up a non-for-profit organization that wants to make their classes available online for free for anyone that wants to take the class. Brown university, Stanford and a few others are doing the same thing except they are going for setting up a profit organization that will have free classes to the public but is supported by donors. MIT has been doing free graded classes for years but only now is it really taking form and more and more are on the bandwagon for free higher education.

By 2020, higher education will be free for the majority of the U.S. Population - hopefully with a degree attached. Right now, there are just classes available with no degree attached.

Ever heard of the Khan Institute? They offer free classes on any top that are distributed online which is backed by proper professors, backed by Bill Gates and other philanthropist.

Free Higher Education is on it's way!

Sounds good.

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LuckyCharms

Magically Delicious

,

#8

May 05, 2012 @ 14:13:48

I think that if one truly wants to make their way in this world they need one of three things education wise.

A college degree, a trade school education or an apprenticeship.

College education is not the end all be all; there are some people that are not a good fit for college. (Plus the fact our college requirements are dumb - phys ed, degrees in general ed - really??) But they do need some kind of training in something they can earn a living from.

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lilkatangel

Northglenn, Colorado

#9

May 05, 2012 @ 16:20:35

There should be some options available free of charge, and some not free same as with public versus private schools. Unfortunately, many with degrees still struggle to find work. And for those without any degree or vocational schooling, well, the job hunt is even harder. There are lots of loans, yes, but loans must be paid back and often students can't find work after graduation so loans aren't the best answer for many. Scholarships are great but many simply do not know how to go about finding out about all that they may be eligible for.
I think one should be able to go to school for free as long as grades are kept to a certain level(which would have to be determined by the school).

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raditz

Blah

Houston, Texas

#10

May 06, 2012 @ 02:00:08

No, and it should be more difficult to get into college, not easier.

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bob_the_fisherman

Anatidaephobic

, Angola

#11

May 06, 2012 @ 02:16:42

This is from the perspective of a cynical Australian teacher, but, the compulsory school age goes up every few years in order to keep the unemployment rate down, because we are too braindead in western countries to work out that you actually need to make s*** rather than buy it from other countries. The school age in Australia has gone from 15 to 17 in the last few years as a means of hiding unemployment.

Should university be compulsory? No. But on current trends, it soon will be.

What the government should do is encourage or create manufacturing jobs for kids who do not need or want an academic education. Not only is it good for those kids, it is also good for the economy.

1

cisslybee2012

Deleted

Bronx, New York

#12

May 06, 2012 @ 02:22:53

@lilkatangel Said

There should be some options available free of charge, and some not free same as with public versus private schools. Unfortunately, many with degrees still struggle to find work. And for those without any degree or vocational schooling, well, the job hunt is even harder. There are lots of loans, yes, but loans must be paid back and often students can't find work after graduation so loans aren't the best answer for many. Scholarships are great but many simply do not know how to go about finding out about all that they may be eligible for.
I think one should be able to go to school for free as long as grades are kept to a certain level(which would have to be determined by the school).

That's a good way of looking at it.

Although I never felt that it should be free, you give a compelling view point. But people have a lot of evolving to do before we can really reach such stages of universal development. For right now, we're literally choke held around the neck to clock those dollars to survive.

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twilitezone911

Saint Louis, Missouri

#13

May 06, 2012 @ 03:16:09

i think " junior colleges " that has only have two years course,that should be change to 4 years. after you graduate from high school, you are manatory to go to a " junior college ". i mean that high school in not over yet, continue grade 13 through 16, the college give college courses, but you have a combination high and college teachers there, give you a better education in a long run. that the state paid for the college, not you, it would be free. the bad problem is that you are still school until 23 years old. then you will have a choice to continue your education or not. i think it would give a better change in getting a job or make usa look better to other countries, in academic way. just a thought!

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Five_Tailed_Fox

Cottontown, Tennessee

#14

May 06, 2012 @ 04:11:22

@raditz Said

No, and it should be more difficult to get into college, not easier.

The main reason a lot of people don't go to college is the lack of money, not the lack of intelligence or the willingness to work hard.

I've seen a lot of people that were in college simply to goof off, get drunk and have sex and such, but they usually didn't have any problem getting into college. Raising mandatory test scores or tuition fees or whatever would just harm, to an even greater extent, those that do wish to continue their education.

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Willi