What do you think of Free Education?

[MathewCS]

The title says it all, what do you all think about Free Education? i think it's a very debatable thread since we all live in different parts of the world(i live in Chile, where the education is not free...) and we all have a different education plan.
So leave your opinions here :)

 

[Oryx]

A society that doesn't educate its children, all of its children, is sad and can't compete on an international level. They lose millions of talented children who were born in poverty and can't afford to educate themselves.

Of course, even free education can have monetary issues, such as the differences between districts here depending on where you live.

 

[FifePokemon]

I live in Scotland, we have a free education system which includes having our university tuition fees paid for us by the government, as a result we have one of the most accomplished and respected education systems in the world. I come from a very poor area but I'm able to get the best possible education free of cost, same as someone who is from a wealthy background. It is fair and it works.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Education should be accessible to all people of all backgrounds. It helps utilize the entire community to the fullest potential.

Education in the United States is ridiculously expensive and even for people fairly well off, it is bound to leave you in some debt. I've had to go to a community college to avoid debt and even then it's not easy. I've been lucky in the last year in that my education has been paid by a grant (I'm a part of an apprenticeship program with the company I work for) but without that, I would probably only be able to afford one class a semester. And that's for the cheapest possible school.

Some schools cost well over 30,000 a YEAR for tuition and it's like, HOW THE ♥♥♥♥ DO YOU EXPECT ANYONE TO BE ABLE TO PAY THAT OFF WHO ISN'T ROLLING IN BENJAMINS.

 

[MathewCS]

In Chile, some technician careers can just be learned in the Media Education (high school, different in here) but, if you just end your career here, you can't get a job. Obviously you will need to go to the university to make a superior study about the career(i'm studying Electronics, and i will have to go to university to learn more ane get my superior title) and PAY 3 millions pesos (idk how much dollars are) EVERY YEAR, and now with the new education reform i will pay the 25% of those 3 millions.
so yeah, the education around here is pretty ****** up

 

[Dakotah]

Free education isn't actually free. We pay for it with out taxes which actually makes up a very large portion of the budget. Only healthcare (OHIP for those of us in Ontario) is budgeted for more money. While elementary schools and high schools are tax payer funded, colleges and universities are not. Students wishing to attend either of these institutions will wind up paying either big bucks up front, or becoming heavily in debt from student loans for a long while.

 

[for him.]

Education should be accessible to all people of all backgrounds. It helps utilize the entire community to the fullest potential.

Education in the United States is ridiculously expensive and even for people fairly well off, it is bound to leave you in some debt. I've had to go to a community college to avoid debt and even then it's not easy. I've been lucky in the last year in that my education has been paid by a grant (I'm a part of an apprenticeship program with the company I work for) but without that, I would probably only be able to afford one class a semester. And that's for the cheapest possible school.

Some schools cost well over 30,000 a YEAR for tuition and it's like, HOW THE ♥♥♥♥ DO YOU EXPECT ANYONE TO BE ABLE TO PAY THAT OFF WHO ISN'T ROLLING IN BENJAMINS.

I feel you, college is a horrible place. Community college isn't all that helpful to be honest. Sure it takes some of the edge off of university fees, but, at least where I am from in California, many community colleges are impacted, so instead of just two years to take care of all the GE courses, it will take people up to four years not counting the use of summer classes.

That last sentence sounds so much like a California school. It make me super sad. If I had to just pay for my classes, I would have to pay a little less than 1k, but tuition just screwed me over very hard.

 

[Lotus the Cat]

I like the way I got to experience university (although out current federal government seems to want to ruin it). It's not free but subsidised for a certain number of places in each course (placement is based on final year exam scores). The remaining fee is provided as an interest free loan by the government that you pay back over time once you start earning above a threshold level $30,000 a year I think). This made it very easy to attend university as while I have come out with debt, repayment isn't an issue and doesn't affect finances.

It's important to at least have easily affordable good education.

 

[Magic Christmas Lights]

Free education is the way to go. Imo, the US is pretty backwards for not offering free or cheap post-secondary education. I was 150k in debt when I graduated college. :'( :'( :'( Not to mention, education should be a basic right, not a privilege. I've met a lot of people who would've loved to go to college if they had been able to get the money (usually, they had no one with good credit to co sign for their loan) or if it wasn't so expensive (it's understandable to not want to wind up 150k in debt like me).

 

[PokemonLeagueChamp]

I would argue that the issue with the US is not so much the cost of post-secondary education as it is the majority of well-paying employers demanding it, even if it isn't 100% necessary. Do I want doctors and engineers to have gotten educated and earned certifications? Yes. Do you really need to spend 4 years in college to run a logistics department or work in sales? Probably not. It probably helps, but you don't need it. As it stands right now, for a lot of decent-paying positions in America, you end up getting an education so you can get a job that pays well enough to pay off the debt that you accrued getting an education to get that job. If that way of doing things makes sense to you, congratulations, you're probably on drugs.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

I would argue that the issue with the US is not so much the cost of post-secondary education as it is the majority of well-paying employers demanding it, even if it isn't 100% necessary. Do I want doctors and engineers to have gotten educated and earned certifications? Yes. Do you really need to spend 4 years in college to run a logistics department or work in sales? Probably not. It probably helps, but you don't need it. As it stands right now, for a lot of decent-paying positions in America, you end up getting an education so you can get a job that pays well enough to pay off the debt that you accrued getting an education to get that job. If that way of doing things makes sense to you, congratulations, you're probably on drugs.

Sadly it does feel like this is becoming more common. Even with a college diploma it's getting harder to find a job. Actually more people getting diplomas may have flooded the market with educated people. However since companies and the government have so many people to choose from they choose those with the most work experience as everyone else is the same in terms of education...

 

[Oryx]

I would argue that the issue with the US is not so much the cost of post-secondary education as it is the majority of well-paying employers demanding it, even if it isn't 100% necessary. Do I want doctors and engineers to have gotten educated and earned certifications? Yes. Do you really need to spend 4 years in college to run a logistics department or work in sales? Probably not. It probably helps, but you don't need it. As it stands right now, for a lot of decent-paying positions in America, you end up getting an education so you can get a job that pays well enough to pay off the debt that you accrued getting an education to get that job. If that way of doing things makes sense to you, congratulations, you're probably on drugs.

You expressed the problem in your post though - it helps. When you have 50 applicants and 40 of them have college degrees while the other 10 don't, it's likely that they'll get laid aside not because it's necessary to have a degree but because, like you said, it helps. The only way to solve that crisis is to make it not very helpful to have a degree in those jobs that don't require one - because there are enough college graduate at this point that if a degree helps, someone with a degree will inevitably apply and win over someone who doesn't have one. But how do you make employers see the value of people that don't have the degree as equal to those that do?

I would disagree that you wouldn't want a college degree to run a department though - any department. Management is a skill that you need to hone and learn just like any other and if you're running an entire department I would feel more comfortable if you had some knowledge about how to do so beyond watching other managers manage.

 

[Plumpyfoof]

I have absolutely no problem if the Australian government would throw an education tax in the pot and remove education fees. This would allow EVERYONE the possibility of the best education in the country without being segregated based on financial capacity. But alas our Prime Minister just dropped education funding by a huge amount and I feel like we made a mistake electing him.

 

[PinkCatDragon]

In the UK. i get a "get into college and uni free card" due too
A.I sued the eduction authorty in somerset because i went throgh school with out be diagnosed with a dyslaxa and b autsium.
B.I get funding from the School too take a ict course. my school after being diagnosed was private.

 

[Corrin]

Education should be free. Everyone should be able to pursue their talents and interests regardless of who they are.

In Canada, it's free up until college and university, and the prices of college and university vary depending on what one it is. I just went to the local college here and it was $3000 for the whole year. Universities, where you get degrees, are more expensive, but you get a bigger provincial loan.

 

[MathewCS]

I think everyone says the same: Free & HIGH QUALITY education. Obviously, the goberment is going only to take one out of two options, and they have made it, they have chosen the High quality term on educatin, so they think "okay, we give you high quality education, but we have to consume your parents money and soul to pay your High quality education."

That is the thought the Politicians and the Gobernment have about. Vile capitalism? i think so.

 

[Neil Peart]

Everything is ass-backwards and declining in this country (USA), and all of these politicians make education a huge part of their rhetoric when campaigning.

When they get into office, however, they seem to want to do all they can to ensure tuition rates go up and grant amounts go down.

I used to live in Kalamazoo, MI, and they had something called the Kalamazoo Promise. Basically, a bunch of rich philanthropists got together and created a massive college fund. All you had to do is be in the Kalamazoo school district and maintain a 2.5 GPA, and upon graduation you could choose from a list of colleges to go to for free.

I'm not saying we should put the onus on the rich to provide free or cheap college, but that's one small example of ideas in action. SOMETHING needs to change nationally.

Obama has tried several times to make things easier on college students, and not surprisingly, Republicans have shot down pretty much everything he's tried to pass.

 

[MathewCS]

Here in Chile, the president Michelle Bachelet in her proposals at the beggining, she offered free education for all the country, but, she said that in 2013, and here we are all, waiting for her proposals, she only did a tributary reform, that complicates MORE the private education (i'm studying at a private school, but the paying is meaningless), so that leaves me complicated as i'm about to finish the secondary...