Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: Hot off the press! New Quinnipiac Poll! [View all]karynnj
(59,498 posts)It is almost the opposite. Very rich parents buying admission by bribes in addition to having the money to pay legitimate expenses. Most of the free college proposals are limited to instate at state schools.
This actually happened in some cities or states in the past. In NYC, CUNY was once free or relatively inexpensive. Some of its colleges were very highly rated and it served as a path to the middle and even upper class for many bright, but not wealthy, students. In CA, there was an enviable free or near free university system until Reagan.
But, it was not just liberal coastal states. In the late 1960s, the tuition for an instate student at IU Bloomington was $195 a YEAR for as many credit hours as you chose to take ... And I didn't even pay that because I had a Hoosier scholarship that was designed to be the full tuition at IU for the 4 years I was there.
Now, even more than then, college is needed. Just as there is available free public school for K through 12, it is in our country's interest to have public college available to qualified students whose families can not afford it. ( I would think it fair if their were a sliding scale so families would pay as their income or assets increase.) By qualified, schools could define the level of competence needed to have a reasonable chance to succeed. For those who fail that, it might be beneficial to support remedial education outside college.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden