This weeks discussion focused on the recent calls for free college in the US. This issue was brought to light in the 2016 presidential campaign year by proponents like Bernie Sanders. Advocates argued that it is time for the US to transition away from a for profit college system and instead, to make college free and therefore accessible to all. Such a move would allow for greater income mobility as well as combat inequality from poverty lines. Currently, going to college is a very big decision to make. Students often take on close to a hundred thousand dollars in debt just to complete an undergrad degree and lose out on  the opportunity cost of lost wages. For a person coming from a low income family that might not have the means to help with their child’s finances, such a burden is very daunting. As a result, the poor tend to have a more difficult time going to college, which in turn lessens their prospects for breaking out of poverty.

Governor Cuomo is trying to address this issue with his new tuition plan. This program aims to give free tuition at a CUNY or SUNY school to students with a household income of under $125 thousand. It is set to cost $163 million per year starting in 2019. It will be funded through tax dollars.

Adam brought up some very valid criticisms to this program in his presentation. By providing free college to everyone with an income lower than $125 thousand, you will further saturate the college market with students. Even as it is, the value of a college degree is going down. It has come to the point where a bachelors is basically the equivalent of a high school diploma from a few decades ago. Many graduates end up in jobs that don’t even need a college degree and as a result, they are overqualified for their positions and don’t even use the education they spent four years getting. Paying for everyone to get a degree would only further exacerbate this issue.

A better alternative to providing free college would be to provide free community college and trade school to those with a family income of under $125 thousand. This would allow those from poorer neighborhoods to break into specialized professions that pay strong salaries while at the same time not devaluing the degree that others have spent tens of thousands of dollars on. Many schools accept credits from community colleges towards a bachelors degree, so if a student should decide that he wants to get a four year degree, he would still be able to pursue it. Moreover, half of his degree would already have been payed for.