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Michigan cut basically all remaining funding for higher education while I was in college. I saw double-digit percent increases every year. A few years ago I wen
by coryrc 4y ago
Michigan cut basically all remaining funding for higher education while I was in college. I saw double-digit percent increases every year. A few years ago I went back to look, assuming sky-high tuition rates, but they ended up only being a little bit higher than when I went.
So why did tuition get high? The state stopped subsidizing it directly.
- willcipriano 4y agoGiven that degree holders go on to make wages much higher than those without, is it really fair that those without subsidize the education expenses of people who will go on to out earn them? Especially given how vanishingly little of it goes to actual education and instead administration and sporting programs.
- thehappypm 4y agoIt’s a societal good as a whole, so yes, societies should invest in them. Example: not everyone becomes a doctor. But society needs doctors. Having affordable pre-med college programs benefits everyone, even though only doctors directly make income from the program.
- willcipriano 4y agoHow about in exchange we cap their rate of pay so that society as a whole can benefit from their affordable services?
- thehappypm 4y agoI’d rather lower the barrier of entry than punish the doctors. If it was easier to become a medical professional, doctors wouldn’t need to be paid so highly. We’re actually seeing a trend now of more people going into PA school which could help.
- derbOac 4y ago"easier to become a medical professional" rather than only "easier to become a physician" is key. There needs to be a lot more competition in healthcare service provision period. There are a lot of things that could be made over the counter (e.g., drug deregulation), and a lot of services that could be provided by other types of providers (e.g, pharmacists, other professions that don't even exist now).
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoAnd if you do that you won't have enough doctors. Many countries suffer shortage of doctors. If you want to do that, why don't you start by capping pay of CEOs, there seems to be no country on earth with shortage of CEOs
- willcipriano 4y agoPhysicians aren't the ones having trouble paying off their degrees (certainly not in America, that healthcare spending goes somewhere). We may have a district lack of doctored art historians but I think we will survive. Alternatively they could pay their own way.
- colinmhayes 4y agoPay is not what is capping the number of doctors in this country. Only 41% of med school applicants are accepted. The bottleneck is the number of residencies. The government could fix this by increasing the stipend residencies receive, but I'm afraid they've been captured by the AMA.
- ryan93 4y agoAffordable doesn’t mean your plumber pays for it. My brother took pre med classes at a community college for 400 a pop.
- pnutjam 4y agoHah, my daughter is a state college student. She needs one class to avoid taking an extra semester with housing costs and all that fun stuff. It's some sort of pre-requisite and her advisor messed up. It's $600 to take it this summer. No financial aid since she's just taking on CC class.
- toast0 4y agoIf degree holders go on to make wages much higher than those without and many taxes are progressive, a subsidy on degrees will be paid for substantially by those with degrees (who may have had their degrees subsidized), and degree subsidization may have positive ROI for the government in terms of future tax revenue from those who got degrees. If you're worried about administrative and sporting expenses, you could choose to subsidize only instructional expenses; primarily being instructor salaries, classroom buildings and equipment.
- willcipriano 4y agoHere's the problem. I have no formal education and I pay the same rate of tax as a degree holder. Even under this system, I am subsidizing someone who has had considerably more privilege than myself.
- pnutjam 4y agoIt's to your benefit to have educated people around you.
- willcipriano 4y agoAll of the ways I benefit, I pay for. From the educated doctor who treats my illness to the educated engineer who designed my car. I don't find that I benefit enough to want to pay twice. Really the degree holders benefit from having me around. I've been a taxpayer since 13, worked full time since 15, consumed essentially only the government services that I was forced to at gunpoint and even then I left school before I was legally allowed to. Why don't you all chip in for my mortgage?
- pnutjam 4y agoHey, good news. We all do chip in for you mortgage via tax deductions. There are a ton of other ways you benefit from an educated and informed society.
- ClumsyPilot 4y agoGiven that people who finished school make a lot more money than those that haven't, why should final 2 years of schooking be free? You could make this argument about anything: Given that people who are well read make more money, why do we subsidise public libraries? Given that people with access to transport make wages higher than those without, is it really fair that we pay for highways out of taxes?
- zoolily 4y agoUniversities have a broader purpose than training people for the workplace. Ironically, increased costs is a large part of the reason why society's vision of universities has become so limited. It's also worth noting that reducing subsidies to education led to much of the administrative expansion. Recruitment, development, alumni, grant, and IP offices were created or expanded tremendously in an attempt to find additional funding from sources like more students, donations, indirect costs, and royalties.
- nonethewiser 4y ago> Universities have a broader purpose than training people for the workplace. Ironically, increased costs is a large part of the reason why society's vision of universities has become so limited. What is that? Instilling values some people think is important and not others?
- zoolily 4y agoFocusing on workforce training is a choice of values too, that not everyone agrees is important.