Obama to propose two free years of community college for students.

[BugI02]

.

 

[mikebol]

Does anyone else despise the use of the term "Free" whenever it comes out of a politicians mouth?

 

[IndyDave1776]

Does anyone else despise the use of the term "Free" whenever it comes out of a politicians mouth?

You mean as in something that is NOT free, but rather paid with money stolen from someone else?

 

[PistolBob]

Why not 10 years of free community college? Or 15? Why stop at 2? Be sure to get free lunches, free parking, and free popcorn like at Rural King too.

 

[actaeon277]

Does anyone else despise the use of the term "Free" whenever it comes out of a politicians mouth?

I despise it more that people believe it.
A lunatic running around announcing free this and free that, is just a lunatic.
But people that pay them attention.

Obi Wan. Who's the more foolish? The fool? Or the fools that follow the fool?

 

[actaeon277]

When people start on the "take it from the rich".
I tell them Americans are the 1 percenters of the world. Should we then take 75 percent of their income?
They get mad.

I know someone at Ford always say it.
I tell him, to a person working at McDonald's, Ford workers are the rich.
Will he give most of his money away.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Why not 10 years of free community college? Or 15? Why stop at 2? Be sure to get free lunches, free parking, and free popcorn like at Rural King too.

Because they are too damned lazy and ignorant to build fence.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I'd be ok with the free community college, if it made the student ineligible for welfare for 10 years.

 

[trucker777]

I saw a bumper sticker today that said "You can spread wealth, but you can't spread work ethic"
That's truth right there...

 

[BobDaniels]

I saw a bumper sticker today that said "You can spread wealth, but you can't spread work ethic"
That's truth right there...

I saw a bumper sticker recently that said "if you want small govt and low taxes move to somalia" which of course was right next to the "Obama 2012" bumper sticker.

I just can't wrap my brain around folks that want big govt and high taxes.

 

[trucker777]

Point being, if they take your wealth, why continue working so hard. I mean you can't never get ahead right? The more you work the more you make & the more you make the more they take. I remember seeing a documentary about the concentration camps in Germany in WW2 and one of them had a sign above the entrance that said "WORK SETS YOU FREE" ...and such is any form of socialism. Whether it be the kind that comes from the barrel of a gun with barbwire forced labor socialism or the legislated by law forced labor kind.
No socialism for me, no thank you!

 

[frenchiectfd2203]

A few things I like:

Performance based, you have to keep a C+ grade average to keep the funding.

Open to everyone, not just low income people.

I don't think this is a bad idea, as long a the funding is cut from somewhere else to pay for it.

The country could use more Technical, and Skilled grads, vs more Business Administration, and Liberal Arts grads.

The government doesn't lose money, they will take it from somewhere else. More than likely taxpayers.

 

[BugI02]

I second this off topic idea but sorry to thread jack. Also I think if they will make it "Free" the students going should at least have to maintain a 3.0 GPA (B Average). If they do not maintain the 3.0 they have to pay off the tuition costs in full. It is a quite common thing in Law schools from what I am reading the student will get a decent scholarship on the promise that they maintain X GPA if they do not maintain X GPA they loose the scholarship in its entirety......

This won't work out like you think. Once you clear the hurdle into grad school, 3.0 becomes the minimum necessary to maintain your position, but in reality 3.0 just becomes the new 2.0. If you have a pulse, show up most of the time and complete assignments you'll get your 3.0. The real battle is for place from 3.0 to 4.0.

 

[jamil]

I'd be ok with the free community college, if it made the student ineligible for welfare for 10 years.

Huh. Low and inside. I think I'm gonna just let that one go.

 

[BugI02]

That's all this is...for now.

Don't sell them short though. This very well could be the new frontier of rights being finally made available to all. After all, who could possibly want to prevent the poor and unfortunate from achieving their life's dreams and making a better life from themselves?

When everybody has a baccalaureate you will need a Ph.D to get anywheres in life

 

[BugI02]

Perfect, let's ignore the issues our public education system already has by sending more kids to community colleges where they will take classes they should have taken in HS...great plan... and that's just one of a myriad of issues with this.

Public Education, years 13 and 14

 

[BugI02]

The gain is our increased competiveness in the global market. Individual financial gains will be minimal due to the increased workers with degrees, but increased training of any kind should decrease the flow of jobs overseas. At this point, it is just one option to keep this country's head above water.

I think you could get way more bang for your buck if companies got together (with gov't facilitating but not paying or dictating) and replicated things like Bell Labs and Xerox Research Parc. Support the folks that already have the right stuff

 

[jamil]

I second this off topic idea but sorry to thread jack. Also I think if they will make it "Free" the students going should at least have to maintain a 3.0 GPA (B Average). If they do not maintain the 3.0 they have to pay off the tuition costs in full. It is a quite common thing in Law schools from what I am reading the student will get a decent scholarship on the promise that they maintain X GPA if they do not maintain X GPA they loose the scholarship in its entirety.

Allot of my current classmates do go to college for no other reason than to party at school I will totally admit that. But at the same time most of my classmates that are out partying can not maintain a 3.0 GPA if their lives depended on it. And even when they do graduate they have no career plans. So technical schools would be beneficial as well in the long run especially with the skilled tradesmen currently retiring in mass.

At the very least capping off how much tuition costs would be nice. I have a friend who is basically blowing $20,000 a year just to go to purdue that is insane especially for a public school IMHO. The tuition inflation that has happened can only be described as greed.

I disagree. The inflation could be greed, but is probably more a matter of self-interest. Colleges are enjoying a situation where there is no downside for them to keep pushing the tuition higher and higher. Did they create that situation? If so, maybe it's greed.

But why do you think that there is no downside for colleges that inflate tuition? What happens to most businesses when they charge too much money for the market? Why do you think there doesn't seem to be a consequential limit to what colleges charge?

 

[IndyDave1776]

I disagree. The inflation could be greed, but is probably more a matter of self-interest. Colleges are enjoying a situation where there is no downside for them to keep pushing the tuition higher and higher. Did they create that situation? If so, maybe it's greed.

But why do you think that there is no downside for colleges that inflate tuition? What happens to most businesses when they charge too much money for the market? Why do you think there doesn't seem to be a consequential limit to what colleges charge?

It couldn't have anything to do with creating an artificially boosted demand (with the free flow of tax dollars for anyone who can prove they are too poor to afford tuition) with a relatively limited supply driving the price through the roof with no market correction, could it?

 

[jamil]

It couldn't have anything to do with creating an artificially boosted demand (with the free flow of tax dollars for anyone who can prove they are too poor to afford tuition) with a relatively limited supply driving the price through the roof with no market correction, could it?

Anyone can be president. Anyone can be an astronaut. Anyone can go to college. Anyone can realize their dreams regardless of how big their dreams are or how much it costs to achieve them. Let's make the system such that anyone can afford to dream beyond their capabilities. I dream of going to Harvard and graduating with a PhD in the field of gender studies, and working in that field while earning a 6 figure salary.

Meanwhile, in mom's basement...

I would be more likely to support helping underprivileged kids become employable to their fullest potential if we tied success to the deal. Helping someone learn to be self sufficient is cheaper than having to pay them to do nothing.