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How does making the school free solve that specific problem? Wouldn’t the taxpayers foot the bill for whatever the price is? At least with loans there is some c

How does making the school free solve that specific problem? Wouldn’t the taxpayers foot the bill for whatever the price is? At least with loans there is some consumer price sensitivity, even if it’s lowered via use of loans.

sokoloff 5y ago
Taxpayers footing the bills for things are more rational and calculating than either 17 year olds or the parents of same who “just want the best” for their kids. (That’s not to say that taxpayers are particularly great at making trade offs; I just think the 17 year olds and their parents are especially terrible at it.)
zenithd 5y ago
> Wouldn’t the taxpayers foot the bill for whatever the price is? No, that's not how state budgets work. It's the other way around. Universities will get whatever the state appropriates to them and then have an obligation to take all comers.
- jeegsy 5y ago
  > Universities will get whatever the state appropriates to them and then have an obligation to take all comers. Would that be like current pre-university public schools then? Shudder!
  - zenithd 5y ago
    >> Universities will get whatever the state appropriates to them and then have an obligation to take all comers. > Would that be like current pre-university public schools then? Shudder! Why would that be the case? IE, what are the root causes of problems in public K12 education and why would changing the funding mechanism of universities cause those problems to propagate? Many states have already done this with Community College systems and AFAICT the results have been mostly positive. So, I imagine it would be exactly like current public universities (in CA quite good). It's not like changing the funding mechanism completely wipes out the faculty or curricula. In practice, the major change would be that getting into certain programs at public universities (traditional 4 year bachelors programs) becomes more difficult. The university system takes all comers in the sense that there's no charge the point of use, not in the sense that they literally admit everyone who applies. And making college admissions more selective might be a good thing anyways.
emsy 5y ago
> Wouldn’t the taxpayers foot the bill for whatever the price is? Certainly doesn’t work that way in germany where college is free. But then again, the US have an odd relationship with tax funding, to say the least.
AmericanChopper 5y ago
Yes it absolutely would. A better approach would be to test the creditworthiness of the educational program against the earning power of its graduates. That would go a long way towards solving literally every issue relating to student debt and tuition costs.
germinalphrase 5y ago
Presumably, the state has more leverage to negotiate/cap prices than the individual student.
Jensson 5y ago
You want the person who is better able to negotiate to negotiate price and product. For what groceries or car you buy you yourself is better than the state. However for education and healthcare the state has proven to be a better negotiator than the people.
tshaddox 5y ago
Presumably any proposal for completely or largely government-funded schools would contain some price controls.

sokoloff 5y ago

Taxpayers footing the bills for things are more rational and calculating than either 17 year olds or the parents of same who “just want the best” for their kids. (That’s not to say that taxpayers are particularly great at making trade offs; I just think the 17 year olds and their parents are especially terrible at it.)

zenithd 5y ago

> Wouldn’t the taxpayers foot the bill for whatever the price is? No, that's not how state budgets work. It's the other way around. Universities will get whatever the state appropriates to them and then have an obligation to take all comers.

jeegsy 5y ago
> Universities will get whatever the state appropriates to them and then have an obligation to take all comers. Would that be like current pre-university public schools then? Shudder!
- zenithd 5y ago
  >> Universities will get whatever the state appropriates to them and then have an obligation to take all comers. > Would that be like current pre-university public schools then? Shudder! Why would that be the case? IE, what are the root causes of problems in public K12 education and why would changing the funding mechanism of universities cause those problems to propagate? Many states have already done this with Community College systems and AFAICT the results have been mostly positive. So, I imagine it would be exactly like current public universities (in CA quite good). It's not like changing the funding mechanism completely wipes out the faculty or curricula. In practice, the major change would be that getting into certain programs at public universities (traditional 4 year bachelors programs) becomes more difficult. The university system takes all comers in the sense that there's no charge the point of use, not in the sense that they literally admit everyone who applies. And making college admissions more selective might be a good thing anyways.

emsy 5y ago

> Wouldn’t the taxpayers foot the bill for whatever the price is? Certainly doesn’t work that way in germany where college is free. But then again, the US have an odd relationship with tax funding, to say the least.

AmericanChopper 5y ago

Yes it absolutely would. A better approach would be to test the creditworthiness of the educational program against the earning power of its graduates. That would go a long way towards solving literally every issue relating to student debt and tuition costs.

germinalphrase 5y ago

Presumably, the state has more leverage to negotiate/cap prices than the individual student.

Jensson 5y ago

You want the person who is better able to negotiate to negotiate price and product. For what groceries or car you buy you yourself is better than the state. However for education and healthcare the state has proven to be a better negotiator than the people.

tshaddox 5y ago

Presumably any proposal for completely or largely government-funded schools would contain some price controls.