Elizabeth Warren Declares War on Mitch McConnell After He Blocked Her Student Loan Bill

[RainDog]

64. If we had more tax-payer supported high ed

We'd also have more restrictions on who gets that money - at least that's how it plays out in western Europe.

I think a "sliding fee scale" would be a good way to make college affordable and have more fairness, combined with tax support for the major land grant universities, etc. that are anchors for research and job opportunities for people in the states where they are located.

Right now, imo, universities pay too much to administrators while using "adjuncts" - with PhDs, teaching classes so that senior faculty has the time to write grants to pay for administrative staff in depts, equipment, etc. That's how it works now - and it's not working for those who are not paid a living wage, have no job security, no health care benefits - yet they are dedicated to teaching because they love a subject and want to pass that along to students.

Even within depts - if someone is in a field that can get big grant money to pay for equipment, etc. - those people are favored over others doing theoretical research that only requires a pencil and piece of paper, or chalkboard - that's in the hard sciences.

We've taken a wrong turn when our nation decided everything's worth had to be evaluated based upon current market value. In the case of theoretical research - it may not pay out at the moment, but it's the sort of thing that creates millions of jobs in the future. But, even so, that's not enough when a university is run like a corporation that has to only care about quarterly profits.