Higher Education for Every American

In his last State of the Union address, President Obama said,

And we have to make college affordable for every American.

And what most people heard was affordable. What I heard was every American.

Every American?

I’m totally for affordability. I will be paying my student loan until I’m 60 at the rate I’m currently going. Hopefully it will be faster since I’m trying to get as much toward it as I can on a regular basis. I have 2 kids- I’ve been saving for the possibility of higher education for each of them since before the first one was born. Most parents hope their kids get scholarships so that they won’t have to pay for college. I hope that my kids get scholarships so I can use that money I’ve saved to pay off my loans. (PS: if you are reading this and think that funding the 19 year old loans of a good teacher is worthwhile, email me posthaste.)

Let’s get back to every American.

1. Trade school is IMPORTANT. I have paid loads of money to men (mostly) and women who do some form of labor to help me with things that I can’t do myself. Electricians, plumbers, mechanics, movers, HAIR STYLISTS, the list goes on and on. These people are essential to my life. Please, for the love of all that is holy, do not tell those people to stop what they are doing and go to college. It takes serious education and *talent* to do those jobs and do them well. Can we just stop for a minute and appreciate what they do? They are not any less of a person for not going to college.
2. As an economics teacher, I have to address the economics of this proposal. And I’m not talking about the cost of everyone going to college. But the cost of everyone having a college degree. Think about the things that are economically most valuable in the world. Gold. Specific super fancy cars. Birkin bags – which were recently determined to be a better investment than gold or the S&P 500. Do you know why they’re special? Scarcity.

   

   This is an Hermes Birkin. They have waitlists of up to 15 years. They appreciate faster than gold. One can dream.

   Going to Harvard is special because it’s scarce. Not everyone can go there. And while that will remain 100% true about the Ivies, that state university degree you hold just plummeted in value.

3. Europe- people, especially my own people, those damn liberals, like to talk about how education in European countries is free. And yes, that is true and it is AWESOME! But what people don’t like to talk about is tracking. America is supposed to be a land of opportunity. You can be whatever you want- or what’s what we’re told. In the majority of European countries, you can be whatever you want, as long as you pass a test demonstrating that you have a fairly high aptitude in that area. So while we talk about high stakes testing here in the US, Europeans have been dealing with it for years. So in the US, if you think your kid should be a doctor, you can send them to college on a pre-med track if you want to. In other countries, if they don’t pass the test, they don’t go. They don’t get that chance. There are some pros and cons to this situation, but I’m honestly not educated enough on the topic to do a blog post about it.

Should college be more affordable? Yes, definitely. But before we even discuss the money involved in making this a reality, we need to understand that a psychological overhaul of the entire US is necessary to make this happen.