The Future Of Free College

Is Free College Really Going to Work?

Why we should take a critical look at the idea of free college beyond an easy sound bite that allows politicians to attract voters without explaining or solving the problem of why college is so expensive in the first place.

Alana Dunagan | May 25, 2016

You’ve seen the headlines before: Americans are burdened with a record $1.2 trillion in student loans—with default rates above 10 percent. The overall balances are eye-popping and speak volumes about the cost of education, which continues to rise. College costs are an issue across higher education, but the student debt crisis is focused squarely on two groups of students: those who do not complete college, and those who complete degrees or earn credentials that have little to no value in the labor market. The highest default rates on student loans are actually those who owe the least—less than $5,000. Although there are always exceptions, borrowers with high-debt balances also tend to be very high earners who racked up big balances paying for law school, business school, or medical school. 

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/progressreportoncommunitycollege.pdf

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/progressreportoncommunitycollege.pdf  (page 7)

<more at http://www.ecampusnews.com/funding/free-college-work/; related articles and links: http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/free-community-college.aspx (Free Community College. April 25, 2016) and https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/29/kentucky-will-delay-free-community-college-scholarship (Delayed Promise in Kentucky. A planned scholarship to provide students in Kentucky with free tuition for the first two years is put on ice for a year by the state's governor. April 29, 2016)>