Free Higher Education Is a Human Right

[xchrom]

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/03/20-8


Students in Montreal took to the streets in the spring of 2012 to demand their right to a free education. (File: public domain)

***SNIP

The College Cost Crisis

Consider the situation in which we now find ourselves:

Social mobility in the United States is at or near its lowest point in modern history. A nation which prides itself on the “only in America” myth has fallen far behind other countries in this, the primary measurement of an equal-opportunity society.

In the midst of this class ossification, higher education remains a powerful tool for social mobility.

Education is in danger of becoming an inherited privilege. The greatest predictor of a child’s likelihood of graduating college lies in the answer to the question, Did his parents graduate high school? The OECD found that “The odds that a young person in the U.S. will be in higher education if his or her parents do not have an upper secondary education are just 29% – one of the lowest levels among OECD countries (emphasis ours).” (Source: Education at a Glance – OECD Indicators 2012.)

That’s not a “land of opportunity.” This kind of economic aristocracy is fundamentally un-American. And it’s getting worse.

[pipoman]

1. I've been waiting for this at US universities and colleges

I believe our state colleges should be required to accept resident applications over all others. I also believe the number of student visas should be reduced by half or more to encourage colleges to look closer to home. .