This is a re-post from the On the Issues blog maintained by the Campaign for the Future of Higher Education [http://futureofhighered.org/].
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After a brief experiment in charging tuition, Germany—the strongest economy in Europe and one of the strongest in the world–is abolishing fees at its colleges and universities.
Why?
As quoted in a recent article in Inside Higher Ed, supporters of the move argue that “’higher education is a human right’” and should be “’equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education.’”
It’s not just in Germany that college is free either. According to a recent study by the European Commission, the following countries in the Economic Union do not charge their students tuition: Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Malta, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.
The line in our country that higher education is a private good and must be paid for by the student isn’t working for our economy or for our people.
So, who is benefiting from the slashing of public funding for higher education and the mushrooming student debt that has resulted?
Inside Higher Ed
Of course, college can be free. But that would require either a massive public investment, or a massive cut in college costs. Without such a revolution in higher education, the main effect of free college education is to expand the subsidies we give to the wealthy. So the real question is why would we want free higher education?
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Reblogged this on Ohio Higher Ed.
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