Bernie Sanders makes the pitch for free college tuition

MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show ^ | May 19, 2015 | Steve Benen

[2ndDivisionVet]

Even Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) most ardent supporters would probably concede, albeit grudgingly, that he faces very long odds in the 2016 presidential race. So why run? Because there’s value in having a national platform for bold, progressive ideas that might otherwise be ignored.

Bloomberg Politics reported yesterday, for example, on Sanders’ new plan to make public college tuition-free in the United States.

The plan will provide tuition-free higher education to students at four-year colleges, the statement said, and is modeled after the way many European nations handle the costs of college.

“Countries like Germany, Denmark, Sweden and many more are providing free or inexpensive higher education for their young people,” Sanders said in the statement. “They understand how important it is to be investing in their youth. We should be doing the same.”

That point about overseas examples is no small detail. The more the United States invests in an educated workforce, the greater our competitiveness on the international stage. There’s no better way to guarantee America’s role as a 21st-century superpower than lowering the barriers to higher education.

And if major economies like Germany can make tuition at public colleges free, there’s no reason the United States can’t, too. So what’s the next step?[continued]

[rrrod]

you go Bernie~~ LOL

[Wolfie]

It’ll never work. But that’s what we’re competing with overseas. Again, no way to do it in the U.S., just a disadvatnage we have to deal with. Luckily, service jobs don’t require all that much higher education.

[Garvin]

Subjects in Europe and the UK are already over educated. You need a degree just to work in a retail store as a clerk.

[lowbridge]

“l. The more the United States invests in an educated workforce, the greater our competitiveness on the international stage. ”

So what kind of results are we getting from college graduates today? And how will switching the financial costs to the taxpayer make a whit of difference in those grades and intelligence?

[lowbridge]

Exactly. He who pays the bills, calls the shots.

[Svartalfiar]

If states want to make some kind of deal with their residents paying higher taxes, so everyone can get a free degree, then let each state make that decision.

The only reason European countries can afford college for all is because they have a much higher overall tax rate, AND they spend almost nothing on military or any kind of R&D. There’s a reason companies with operations in the US tend to discover the most new drugs or whatnot. There’s a reason no one asks Britain to send their Navy to help after a devastating hurricane.

Also, European countries do a much better job of tracking people into not-college. Germany especially has a big vocational schooling, which is what the majority of the populace needs for a job. College is something you go to for higher education, or because you’re a rich spoiled brat. Not for the majority of jobs.