Obama to propose 2 free years of community college

originally posted by: onequestion
Oh good then the community colleges can hike the price up through the roof and they will end up only being able to cover half the cost.

That was a thought I had as well. When I graduated college in 2000 I was paying $2,800 a year ($1,400/semester) for full time tuition. In the 5 years it took me to receive my BS and minors, that had increased by $200 a semester, but was still affordable for most who wanted to go. If you either lived at home or shared a place with a couple of industrious friends, you could easily pocket the money needed for both semesters over each summer. Today the same school is $5,980 a year just for tuition, and has thrown a bunch of additional costs into the mix to boot, making the average yearly cost to attend just under $12,000. (that figure includes estimations on books and materials, parking costs, lab fees, etc. NOT dorm costs or food.) Also 92% of in-state attendees to my school receive some form of federal aid, mostly in the form of loans.

This program would help some, but there's another trade-off at play here, too... saturation of the job market by a glut of 20 year olds with associates degrees. The country doesn't have enough jobs to keep 4 year bachelor degreed employees working in their degreed fields... does anyone really believe that will improve when an associate's degree becomes the new GED/HS Diploma?

originally posted by: onequestion
a reply to: Answer

If you think poor people are the problem with our economy and these economic policies then your clueless.

Enjoy it.

Poor people who take advantage of the system are a HUGE problem.

I'm not advocating taking welfare away from people who truly need it. I'm advocating trimming the fat to free up enough money to pay for free education without raising taxes.

It's not that hard to figure out.

Libya offered free university and the west cheered when they found out. Us offeres 2 years of private community college and the bitching starts.

Man... Just ... Ugh

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
Who do ya suppose he plans to steel the money from to pay for this?

The middle class, that would be to burden them even more.

a reply to: Answer
I see at least a couple problems with your idea to fund it:

Problem #1 - The influx of welfare recipients would cause an already low quality college education to become even lower quality than it currently is as it gets "governmentalized".

Problem #2 - If welfare recipients all have a college education then surely everyone else will be expected to have one & it will soon become a requirement for even the lowest paying jobs

Might as well just add 2 years to high school...

originally posted by: Answer
3) Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for welfare recipients.

Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for all students attending free community colleges...
Ponder that while trying to keep your head from exploding and your eardrums from skittering across your keyboard.

originally posted by: rupertg
a reply to: Answer

So your solution for big government is even more big government?

Rock on!

That's how you read that?

I'm advocating that big government change the system to dissuade people from living off of welfare with no motivation to get a job or an education.

Free education would be possible without raising taxes if we eliminate existing waste. Big government isn't going anywhere so we might as well strive to make it more efficient.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

It already is.

The startup cost for any small business is already to high for graduates to be able to start a business, pay rent or a mortgage and payoff the loans for the business itself.

We are moving closer to a state of fascism everyday and these policies are bringing us even closer.

I forgot to mention pay rent with student loans. They can't start a business until they are in their 40's. Talk about an economy killer.

originally posted by: burdman30ott6

originally posted by: Answer
3) Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for welfare recipients.

Mandatory drug and alcohol testing for all students attending free community colleges...
Ponder that while trying to keep your head from exploding and your eardrums from skittering across your keyboard.

You have apparently made some incorrect assumptions about me.

I'd be completely in favor of that.

If people are getting freebies from the government, they shouldn't be throwing money away on drugs and alcohol. Anyone on a free ride at college shouldn't be squandering that opportunity by being high/drunk.

a reply to: burntheships

What middle class?

a reply to: Answer

It's non of your damn business what anyone does with anything,


Your thought process is the start of totalitarianism. Stop trying to tell other people what to do with the money they are given and crawl back into the hole you came from.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

34 billion dollars? A drop in the bucket compared to military spending (granted, a large drop). I think it's a wonderful idea, and has the potential to change the face of American education. Go O!

a reply to: Aleister

Oh no don't bring that up. Don't bring up the taxes oil companies DONT have to pay or the bank bailouts or any of the other total nonsense we pay for.

How about we update our infrastructure and create a bunch of 50-100k a year jobs instead?

originally posted by: coldkidc
a reply to: Answer
Only see a couple problems with Obama's plan & your idea to fund it:

Problem #1 - The influx of welfare recipients would cause an already low quality college education to become even lower quality than it currently is as it gets "governmentalized".

Problem #2 - If welfare recipients all have a college education then surely everyone else will be expected to have one & it will soon become a requirement for even the lowest paying jobs

Might as well just add 2 years to high school...

I'll address problem #1 as I don't consider problem #2 to be valid, no offense.

Quite simply, it could be set up so that anyone attending the free govn't-provided community college goes through a series of testing to determine if they should be in core academic courses or a technical school.

There could be an separate curriculum for those on the free program and after achieving a certain GPA, they can transfer to the normal courses. The technical school would be for the folks who either don't test high enough OR decide for themselves that they prefer the technical courses.

Frankly, technical schools are an underutilized resource in the US because 18 year old kids think tech schools are for dummies.

a reply to: FlySolo

I go back and forth with free education. Depends on the day really.

I'm actually all for it but when we implement a policy like this in the us all of these so called capitalist take total advantage of the system and it backfires in our faces.

It's a tough conversation to have it really is. I go back and forth.

originally posted by: onequestion
a reply to: Answer

It's non of your damn business what anyone does with anything,


Your thought process is the start of totalitarianism. Stop trying to tell other people what to do with the money they are given and crawl back into the hole you came from.

There's more of that emotion-based nonsense.

Are you honestly saying that someone who is receiving FREE MONEY FROM THE GOVERNMENT should be able to spend that money on drugs, alcohol, etc instead of food?

If they're so poor that they have to get support from the government, why do they have extra money to get drunk and high?

I'm absolutely a fan of totalitarianism when it comes to the people who are getting free money from taxpayers. Why shouldn't we have a say in what these people are spending their money on/how they're living their life? If a friend asked me for a loan so he could pay his bills and eat for that week, and I see him at the bar getting drunk... I'm going to demand my money back and never help him again.

a reply to: Aleister

can you please give me time to figure out how I'm going to be able to afford to pay for healthcare i don't want before ya go and spend more of my money that i ain't got? please and thank you.

Take the funds needed out of the welfare budget...

We all know the saying, "...teach a man to fish".

I'd much rather my tax money go for education than for welfare.