Free College

So Obama has stated he wants to make the first two years of college free for people who are willing to try and get themselves some education. Predictably, the country exploded into little puddles of blue and red over the issue."NO NOES! COMMUNISM!" "Yay, free tuition, but the Republicans will never go for it." You know, same song, different verse.

My guess is that there is no way this will actually pass, but it should. And honestly, I think that if the Republicans really thought about it, they would realize it benefits them more than it hurts them. After all, their headcannon 'lazy welfare person' isn't exactly who would be getting this money. After all, it's just for tuition, not for anything else. You really can't trade tuition to someone for drugs. That isn't how it works.

I think the people who will be using this two year college money are people who have just lost their jobs and need to retrain. It will be people who just got out of school and suddenly realize their degrees are useless and they should get something else. It will be kids who can't qualify for grants or scholarships. In short, it will be people who actually WANT to work and contribute to society.

However, I don't even really think PEOPLE are the ones who most benefit from this. I think this decision has more to do with the interests of big business than it does with people. Specifically, this is about feeding the higher ed/student loan monster that has been ruling this country for so long.

Higher education is getting to the point where it's almost out of everyone's reach again. Even two year institutions cost a lot of money these days. It used to be, you could spend the summer working 40 hour shifts and make enough money to cover the cost of college for the year. Now? That wouldn't even cover a class at some places. So as people needed more money to get to school, bigger and bigger student loans have had to be taken out. It's actually a little insane how much money people will borrow, but they would do it, because they knew the return would be worth it. After all, a college education meant a good job.

Except..............it doesn't. One of the harsh realities of our current economic system is that having an advanced degree doesn't mean squat. It doesn't mean you'll get a good job. You may end up working at McDonald's as you try to pay off those huge monthly loan payments. Or worse, you may not get hired anywhere.

This has been sinking in for a while now, and more and more people are starting to realize that college is a gamble that just isn't worth it. They question if college is something they need to do. They question why certain things require degrees (you should not need a degree for writing or coding or photography, dammit!). As they question, they are beginning to seek out other paths, ones that don't require a commitment of at least four years and potentially thousands of dollars in loans.

The problem is, this isn't good news for the big business of colleges or student lending institutions. They need people to buy into the gamble of college and loans and shiny happy jobs on the other side. If people stop believing, the halls will empty out. They could lose their cash cow. This cannot happen.

The solution?  Whhhhhhy, how about a nice little carrot dangling in front of everyone? Why not give them two years of free tuition? Yes, let's give them the two years of general ed classes that are mostly taught by adjuncts who don't receive benefits. And once they do their two first years, why, they'll be fully well believing in the Power of Higher Ed again, which means they'll take out those loans and continue on!

See, this isn't about helping the small folk. This is about feeding the beast.