Family Tree by Signe Wilkinson for October 11, 2023

College and university is very affordable if you are on the R.O.T.C. plan.

Our country is run by people with college degrees. With the cost of college where it is, that means that people who were born into families that didn’t have a lot of money are unlikely to get a degree. Considering the miserable job they are doing in DC, maybe we need to have the brightest people going to college, not the ones whose parents can pay for it.

The average college graduate pays more in federal taxes very year of their working life than the average high school graduate. If that’s divided by the 4 years it takes to get a college education, and public schools were free, those additional taxes would pay for the cost of college, with a net gain for total income taxes paid. THE REST OF US WOULDN’T HAVE TO PAY MORE TAXES, IN FACT THE NET EFFECT WOULD BE A TAX PLUS. This doesn’t even consider that with the degree, the person is less likely to ever need unemployment or welfare, and that more students would complete high school if they could see it as the way to a good job. They would also be paying a larger amount in all other types of taxes, social security and Medicare.

The best investment we could make to keep America strong is to not just forgive all student loans but to make all public higher education, including trade schools, etc totally free, as long as the student is making decent grades. There is no better way to spend money than, to give our people every opportunity to be the best they can be. Yes, It’s good for them individually, but the country is made up of individuals, so what’s good for one is good for the country.

This is just so sad.

Universities have devolved into just another money making enterprise. Loans should not be made for a degree that have little chance of making a good living.