I have three fabulous daughters, the oldest about to graduate from Eastern Washington University, the middle one is studying at Western Washington University and the youngest is a sophomore in high school.
All three are living in the Northwest after being transplanted from Dallas, Texas. For the most part, the ideologies of people in these two areas of the country are as vastly different as they are geographically distant. People in the Dallas area tend to be conservative Republicans while people in the Northwest tend to be liberal Democrats.
All three are living in the Northwest after being transplanted from Dallas, Texas. For the most part, the ideologies of people in these two areas of the country are as vastly different as they are geographically distant. People in the Dallas area tend to be conservative Republicans while people in the Northwest tend to be liberal Democrats.
I no longer claim any party affiliation because I see that our great country has lost its way. We need to get back on the track to greatness. One political party is advocating that a method to get us back on that path is free college education for all. I will address that issue and hope to encourage college-level critical thinking regarding it.
Imagine that you have gone to college to earn a degree and you have an entry-level job in your field. You must work hard to get ahead but that hard work is rewarded. The harder you work at building your skills and setting yourself apart from the rest, the more money you make.
Imagine that you have gone to college to earn a degree and you have an entry-level job in your field. You must work hard to get ahead but that hard work is rewarded. The harder you work at building your skills and setting yourself apart from the rest, the more money you make.
In the scenario above, we witness two components to success: education and hard work. One political candidate is garnering a lot of support from the young people by promising free college education for all. Sign me up for that!
As I said, we have two in college and a third one wanting to go. After it is all said and done, we will have spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 for their educations so of course, I would appreciate FREE!
In a recent speech, Bernie Sanders said, "… we need the best-educated workforce in the world, yes, we are going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free."
I absolutely agree that in order to compete in the world today, earning some sort of degree or certificate is a necessity for most in order to make a middle- to upper-middle class living or beyond. There are always those exceptions that drop out of college and go on to create multi-billion dollar companies but they are few and far between. Thus it seems that as a college-level education is becoming a requirement for a good job that the education should be available at no cost to everyone, right?
As I said, we have two in college and a third one wanting to go. After it is all said and done, we will have spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 for their educations so of course, I would appreciate FREE!
In a recent speech, Bernie Sanders said, "… we need the best-educated workforce in the world, yes, we are going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free."
I absolutely agree that in order to compete in the world today, earning some sort of degree or certificate is a necessity for most in order to make a middle- to upper-middle class living or beyond. There are always those exceptions that drop out of college and go on to create multi-billion dollar companies but they are few and far between. Thus it seems that as a college-level education is becoming a requirement for a good job that the education should be available at no cost to everyone, right?
Let's forget about the pesky question, “How and who is paying for it?" That isn't the right question anyway. The right question is, “Would getting rid of tuition at public colleges and universities, by itself, really give the United States ‘the most educated workforce in the world’?”
I guess by the way I phrased the question the answer is obviously, "NO!” But why not?
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States currently has the ninth-most-educated workforce in the world, with 45 percent of young adults having earned some form of diploma or certificate. South Korea is at the top of the chart where 67 percent of adults have some degree or certificate. Japan is in second showing 58 percent. Here is the problem with the theory that free education leads to a more educated workforce... Both of these countries charge tuition at their universities, which are overwhelmingly public.
I guess by the way I phrased the question the answer is obviously, "NO!” But why not?
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States currently has the ninth-most-educated workforce in the world, with 45 percent of young adults having earned some form of diploma or certificate. South Korea is at the top of the chart where 67 percent of adults have some degree or certificate. Japan is in second showing 58 percent. Here is the problem with the theory that free education leads to a more educated workforce... Both of these countries charge tuition at their universities, which are overwhelmingly public.
The theory takes another punch in the gut when we look at Brazil, Norway, Sweden and Slovenia. All have lower percentages of adults with higher education but they don't charge for college. There are several reasons why but the point is that an overwhelming percentage of students drop out for a simple reason: "Ain't my money”.
So "the most educated workforces in the world" today don't have free college, while countries that do have free public universities don't necessarily have more educated workforces than we do.
If free education isn't the answer then what is the answer?
There is a second component to success that we seem to be over-looking: hard work. When people work hard for something, they appreciate it whether it is their first home or their college education. Even if people are handed a free education, unless they possess the motivation to work hard, they are going to fall short. The fact that they are demanding a free education tells me they are lacking the desire to work hard so no amount of free education is going to build them into successful people.
There is hope for our country by going back to one of the principles that made us great: “We the people” are empowered by God, and our Constitution, to govern ourselves (and all that implies), and we own the responsibility to measure up to this expectation. We cannot and should not expect a new president or a new Congress to save us. We need to work hard to achieve the results we desire as individuals. In other words, "leaders" please get out of our way; capitalism works!
references:
https://data.oecd.org/chart/4s6E
https://youtu.be/6kbjo3SFLuc
There is hope for our country by going back to one of the principles that made us great: “We the people” are empowered by God, and our Constitution, to govern ourselves (and all that implies), and we own the responsibility to measure up to this expectation. We cannot and should not expect a new president or a new Congress to save us. We need to work hard to achieve the results we desire as individuals. In other words, "leaders" please get out of our way; capitalism works!
references:
https://data.oecd.org/chart/4s6E
https://youtu.be/6kbjo3SFLuc
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