Do you believe that Princeton, Harvard and Yale are fighting for their survival?

[jeff47]

59. Um....no.

First and most superficial, none of the ivy league schools are for-profit. They're all non-profit.

Second, the ivy league schools are not threatened by free community college. Their student body is made of up an entirely different class of people who would never attend a community college. Too many tongues would wag at the next dinner party.

In addition, each of the schools you list has a massive endowment. Harvard has more than $30 billion. They could afford to charge $0 tuition for decades.

Free community college is a slight threat to for-profit 4-year schools. But a 2-year degree is not a 4-year degree. There are plenty of fields where an associates degree would not be considered enough.

Plus, for-profits are paid per student. It doesn't particularly matter if they're freshmen or juniors. So if a free 2-year with transfer becomes the norm, they'll accept 1/2 as many freshmen and twice as many juniors. Resulting in the same size student body and the same income.

OTOH, we need a lot more people working in the trades. Free community college would be an excellent way to help more people enter those fields.