There's more than 1 great reason to push for free or much more affordable higher education.

[Garrett78]

Aside from it being beneficial to society, look no further than what exit polls say about those with and without a college degree. I know the gap was wider in 2016 than it's been in past elections, but even if we see a regression toward the mean (which is not a certainty), there will remain a gap. The bottom line is that more people with college degrees is good for Democrats.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I graduated high school in 1965.

In Arizona, which is somewhat important. I had two scholarships to the University of Arizona, in Tucson where I attended high school. One was for $125 per semester. That covered my tuition and fees. The other was half that, $67.50 per semester which allowed me to purchase my books. I lived at home and didn't have to worry about the cost of a dorm.

That phenomenal low cost of college is almost unfathomable today. But I do want to point out that even back then there were substantial differences in the cost of a public school in different states.

We were still living in New York State when my older brother graduated high school in 1960. He had a regents diploma and some sort of a Regents scholarship, the details of which I'm sorry to say I haven't a clue. But I do know that he decided to attend New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, for two reasons. One, it was significantly cheaper than any of the schools in New York State, and secondly he was planning to go into engineering, and they had a co-op program, which meant that after our parents paid for his first semester, he'd be on a work-study plan that meant everything else was paid for after that. Excellent deal. (The fact that he dropped out after a year isn't entirely relevant, other than to his personal life journey.)

Many years later I was trying to explain to my son that when I first started college, a minimum wage job, if you lived at home and saved most of that money, would see you through the next year at a public university. He could not begin to comprehend a world like that.

The underlying problem is that states have been cutting back their funding of their very own public universities and colleges, which is criminal. Many, probably most, state universities and colleges are at worst pretty good, and many of them are very good to excellent. States should be immensely proud of their public colleges and universities, and should be funding them well. I don't care what state we're talking about. Each and every state should be taking vast pride in their schools, and should be funding them to attract students from all over.

Me, I've attended public universities or community colleges in five different states, and I know very well how those schools are the backbone of this country. Unfortunately, state legislatures and state legislators don't seem to get that.

[Garrett78]

2. I have relatives with similar stories. Tuition, books and housing costs are now outrageous.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. They are.

Which is why I constantly tell people, both parents and students, that unless they are well off enough to afford to pay for college outright, or unless they get a very good acadamic or need based scholarship -- and it must be scholarship money, not loans -- then they should start out at the local community college. At least the first two years of college can be completed at what passes for a relatively low cost. Plus, those schools tend to have excellent certificate programs that lead directly to employment.

You can always take the literature or art history or whatever classes a bit later on, while you're working at a decent job.

[Garrett78]

5. I'm a big believer in community college, though even CCs are getting pretty costly.

I went straight to a state university. In hindsight, I should have spent my first two years at the local community college.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. The community colleges are getting more expensive,

but they're still cheaper than the state universities. To me the main drawback is that there is rarely any kind of residential life. Most of them do not have student housing, and most of the kids are living at home. But you really can get as good of an education as you can at a four year school, just not a four year degree.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Garrett