The Obama administration proposed a new program whereby
students pay nothing to attend the first two years of any community college. For people (like myself) whose employment depends on enrollment, this may seem like a good thing, but unless you have no qualms about inflating grades or do not mind playing "hatchet man" to a disproportionate number of students, you should not be celebrating: This is little more than gimmick to shore up the youth vote for his party. It also ties in with the
idiocy that "everyone" should go to college. Those of you teaching college with some sense of academic integrity know that 20-40% of college freshman are wasting their time. Hence, anything that is done in order to expand college enrollment is a scam to sell these impressionable young people a false bill of goods. While I strongly believe that higher education is way overpriced, further subsides for college do absolutely nothing to reduce the actual costs. I propose expansion of rigorous testing programs (like the AP exams) that permit more students to obtain credit without necessarily attending an accredited college. I would also privatize the student loan program because private lenders will not lend to applicants who are a making bad choices. Both of these measures will pressure colleges to lower their costs because they would reduce demand. Colleges would have no choice but to get rid of the frills that contribute little or nothing to providing an education. After all, serious students struggling to pay for college would gladly forego the
jacuzzis they never used and celebrity speakers (with their 4-5 digit lecture fees) they never saw.
