Is High College Tuition Defensible?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ABOUT BIG THINK:

Smarter Faster™
Big Think is the leading source of expert-driven, actionable, educational content -- with thousands of videos, featuring experts ranging from Bill Clinton to Bill Nye, we help you get smarter, faster. S​ubscribe to learn from top minds like these daily. Get actionable lessons from the world’s greatest thinkers & doers. Our experts are either disrupting or leading their respective fields. ​We aim to help you explore the big ideas and core skills that define knowledge in the 21st century, so you can apply them to the questions and challenges in your own life.

Other Frequent contributors include Michio Kaku & Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

Join Big Think Edge, to gain access to a world-class learning platform focused on building the soft skills essential to 21st century success. It features insight from many of the most celebrated and intelligent individuals in the world today. Topics on the platform are focused on: emotional intelligence, digital fluency, health and wellness, critical thinking, creativity, communication, career development, lifelong learning, management, problem solving & self-motivation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Big Think here:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[philzlzlz]

We subsidize college education because of all of the social benefits (positive externalities) that come from it.

[CharlieTango]

I've never seen a more disconnected person in their field of work. Truly amazing how out of touch you can be with students.

[oomrp]

I love "look at the actually tuition paid... they are given loans.." lol. I actually have to pay those, guy. what an ass.

[TempestTossedWaters]

What nonsense to come from a smart man. People can do such obtuse rationalizations when they have vested interests, such as the financial incentive this guy has to keep rates high. He's confusing two completely separate arguments, how much poor people should pay taxes vs. whether college education should be free and accessible for all.

Education is supposed to be the great equalizer of opportunity. If you have to pay to get education that's the opposite.

[obits]

Loan's don't decrease the cost of tuition. They simply delay the cost and add interest. Government loans have also created a bubble similar to the housing bubble. Greater access to loans increases demand (because people denied loans would have had to walk away). This increase in demand has cause an education bubble.

[gamerknown]

They have lower education costs for comparable outcomes in countries with far lower budgets, they just place greater value on education than military supremacy. Students don't have to surrender their work to corporations in order to stay afloat either. In the US there is more public funding for children living on US bases throughout the world than maths, physics, biology and computer science combined.

[CasualNaps]

Going to a private institution would not have been taxpayer subsidized? But he just pointed out that there are mechanisms (from the Govt.) available that reduce/help pay for the high tuitions of today - so in fact, tax payer dollars DO go towards paying for education regardless of how you slice it.
Higher Education IS the next economic bubble in the United States because of these very institution raising their tuition knowing the government will step in and pay or provide financial assistance.

[imaslacker]

The biggest problem I have with this argument is that the majority of taxes are not paid by the lower and middle classes. The majority of taxes are paid by people who already have money (and in my opinion this percentage should be much higher).

[Higgs]

Went to a public University for my associates. Went to a smaller, private university for my bachelors and masters. The cost at the private school was MUCH lower, and the quality of education I received was exponentially better. The professors didn't have six figure salaries, and most were professionals in their field. I will not be sending my children to a public University, and I don't suggest it to anyone else.

[serialkiller]

If you don't work in your field then your extra skills are in many cases useless to the employer, or highly devalued. If someone wants to expend his higher salary for a formal education, by all means. If he makes a informed decision, not being forced by a obsession with a piece of paper. If the possession of knowledge is so valuable, go for it. Just don't make other people pay for it.

[kevinclass]

I go to a private university tuition free. The loans goes toward housing and living expenses. People should look for the grants universities offer rather than scaring children with huge numbers.

[blurglide]

@arenelomax It's not technically free. I pay through the nose to send other people to public schools, which spend $16k/year per student in my city and only has a 50% graduation rate. What a waste that is, but they keep under performing because they get my money regardless of how poorly they perform. And I don't even have kids!

[MisterF_]

I think the point is the immediate cost, or the cost per week. A loan allows someone with little money to study and pay it back later. Makes sense to me.

[torchkit]

ANY loan, "low-tuition" or not, doesn't LOWER total tuition cost...it RAISES the cost.

[rogueremis]

Considering that the whole competing for education thing is a load of crap because it's just a price tag for shitting learning no matter how you look at it or where you get it from this is a boat load of fail...

[blurglide]

@Shinkajo It's not free. SOMEONE is paying for the professors and facilities. Don't you think it makes the most sense to have the people who directly benefit pay for those things?

[deancounts]

Loans make the tuition even more expensive, you pay face value plus interest

[kmelfina]

So where's the balance between "Paying for Education and THEN being able to pay off for it in the end without being a debt slave"?

[obits]

Yes - through prices and risk analysis. Imagine a world where lenders had to take on the full risk of your student loan in the private market. These lenders would then judge you worthy of a loan based on your high school grades, work ethic (activities, grades, and jobs), and your college plan/job market prospects.Those going to college would be vetted by both the college and the lender before starting. Also, I would reform the bankruptcy code so that loans would be dischargable after 10 years.

[SezSays]

The problem is that education is seen as a marketable good. Its a Merit good. Therefor, any defense of it to be subject to demand is inexcusable.