Pete Buttigieg argues against free college. This is why progressives can't agree about subsidizing t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. The concept of free college is great and hard to object to, but

it's too simple. For years I worked as an adjunct faculty member at a state university whose students were mostly working adults, including a lot of immigrants. Almost all of them were trying to go to college while working full-time and/or taking care of families. Their biggest obstacle to staying in school wasn't tuition - the tuition was relatively low and many students had financial aid, like the GI Bill, scholarships or grants - but the burden of juggling the rest of their lives with their course work. The main reason students dropped out wasn't the tuition but the demands of their jobs and families. If their employer changed their work schedules or a child got sick the student couldn't come to class. There are on-line classes that somewhat assuage schedule difficulties but even they don't solve these problems completely, since the students also have to do off-line work. Until there's a realistic way to help these students - who need help a lot more than the teenaged children of middle-class families - just paying their tuition isn't going to ensure they can complete their college educations. Maybe there should be funding for child care on campus, or grants in cooperation with employers that allow the students to take a leave of absence from their jobs. More and different solutions are needed besides paid tuition.