So saying we could have "free" college in the USA because they do in China is a complete farce. "Free" college on paper sounds great, it just won't work on any level here in the USA. If we had ir how:
A] Would you deny one child because another was better qualified on paper. Once it becomes a right there is no denying any child.
It would still depend on grades and tests. You have to pass the classes. Simple. If you can't hack it, you're done. That's also why we need to provide vocational training for those who aren't college material.
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B] How do you deny a person based on their age? If a 60 or 70 year old retired machinist decides they want to go to college in the USA you cannot say you can't go because you are to old.
Your lack of knowledge gets you again. I've been looking into it, my wife and I are thinking of retiring to a college town and going to school part-time, because I love to learn. Couple that with the social component, like sports, lectures, theater and music, I think it would be a great retirement. Most major colleges allow retirees to audit classes for free.
So, already done.
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C] How do you keep students from taking obscure courses for which there is no market.
How do you know what learning is good and what learning is bad? But the colleges decide upon curriculum, not the students.
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D] How do you pay for what would surely be 300 billion a year.
It's an investment, which would pay off as these students graduate, get good jobs and start becoming taxpayers at a much higher tax bracket.
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E] This is only the surface this onion would have endless layers.
I believe it was last Sunday in the Atlanta paper there was an OP/ED about "free" college and how students at UGA and Auburn were overwhelmingly in favor of it, using Germany as an example.
The writer went on to say there is no Roll Tide or GO Dawgs at German Colleges. The classes are often over 100 and it is a sink or swim situation. They have no 100 million dollar football teams or 500 million dollar athletic facilities. The writer described they are basically a place where students go to learn their future profession without many frills. I doubt that would fly very long here in the USA.
Most community colleges are no-frills. Not that big a deal.
But if the students didn't have to take on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, they'd be pretty damned cool with it.
And Germany also has all kinds of vocational training. That's why their workers are far more prosperous than they are in the US.