Should college be free in the USA?

Part 3 of 3 College tuition hurts those who need higher education the most — lower-income students. Back in your parents’ era, that may not have been much of a problem, thanks to a growing middle class. But in America today, the middle class is disappearing, leaving more of us than ever facing impossible future tuition costs for our children.The high cost of college tuition has become the most expensive outlay a family faces after buying a home. Most graduates face years of paying off education loans. Students who graduated last year will carry an average of $25,250 in debt, a 5 percent increase over the year before. It was the first year when student debt surpassed credit card debt in this country. Why do we do it?Most studies agree that the marginal value of a year of college education adds around 6 to 10 percent to annual income, but the cost versus the benefits are starting to unravel. College grads are facing an economy of slow growth with high unemployment where jobs are at a premium and salaries are going down, not up.It is a determined student, especially in poorer families, who can ignore the messages he receives from as early as the eighth grade. “College is just too expensive. We can’t afford to send you.”That was the message I received from my folks. Neither of my parents graduated high school.I opted to join the Marine Corps, fight in Vietnam and four years later attend college on the GI Bill. Today, roughly 100,000 men and women follow that route every year and attend college for free. I believe college should be free for all Americans because college is to today’s generation what high school was to my parents’ generation.But the most vexing part of paying for a college education today is the product itself. Aside from acting as a convenient (though expensive) job screen for potential employers, does a college education prepare students for the working world? A growing consensus among educators argues no. Information changes at lightning speed and cutting-edge knowledge becomes obsolete in less than a year. In that kind of environment I believe our students should be focused on one purpose: the need to “learn how to learn.” I agree with Walt Kelley (and others) who advocates the same thing in his book “Common Sense, a New Conversation about Public Education.”Think about it. A college graduate’s learning curve begins the moment of entering the workplace. It doesn’t matter whether you join a high-tech startup, an investment bank on Wall Street or service autos at a garage: There is a wealth of new knowledge you must master in order to succeed. And it never ends!In my own career (and I’m sure in yours as well) I am constantly required to learn and master new subject matter, many times on a daily basis. Over many years, I have acquired a skill set that allows me to digest even the most complex data, integrate it into my knowledge base and communicate it to you, the reader, in terms that you find comprehensible.I have found that most successful individuals I know have acquired these same fundamental educational skills and use them throughout their careers. As applied to our educational system, I believe that beginning in elementary school, students should be taught the foundations of learning how to learn. Reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, music, art, physical fitness and civil service are the fundamental building blocks that begin that process. In our high schools this foundation of knowledge should be expanded. Foreign language, history, economics, ethics, logic (among others) should be mastered, integrated and applied to daily life. By the time one reaches college, the student will have mastered an arsenal of learning tools that can be applied to any and all subjects.So why pay anything for a product that doesn’t deliver the goods? Sure, college should be free but it goes beyond that. What is the point of acquiring an expertise and storing tons of information that will be obsolete in a year? I believe the goal of higher education in this country should be to produce citizens who can think for themselves, understand the difference between rhetoric and fact, create and challenge both themselves and their communities and as a result get this country and its future back on track. Bill Schmick lives in Hillsdale, N.Y. He is registered as an investment advisor representative with Berkshire Money Management. Bill’s forecasts and opinions are purely his own. None of the information presented here should be construed as an endorsement of BMM or a solicitation to become a client of BMM. Direct inquires to Bill@afewdollarsmore.com.