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Who Should Pay For College?

voxmystic

voxmystic

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May 18, 2010
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in another thread, the idea came up that a good parent will set aside a college fund and not use it if times are hard. maybe some good parents do, but i am of the opinion that even good parents don't owe their children post-secondary education. i also feel that if a young person has to pay his/her own way through college, s/he will be more likely to make the most of it, i.e. hitting the books rather than the parties. if a high-schooler knows that his/her parents will not be footing the bill for college, perhaps s/he will work harder towards a scholarship, if s/he desires to attend college.

these are just one person's opinions, though. i'm interested in hearing others.
 
higher education is the burden of the government in which you are born. all the social standards (illusions) are setup and enforced by the government that we live in. go to school, get a job, cut your hair, buy ten pairs of shoes, have two cars, buy a house. america, we dont even read anymore, how is anyone going to get a college degree.

other places have such a progressive way to educate their citizens. take australia for example, thru the HECS system you are granted 100% tuition coverage for the duration of your education, up to something like 10 years of education is possible. You dont pay it back until you get a job meeting your degree's salary potential.

No high interest loans, no debt, your wages are garnished once you get that job i was speaking of. now if i were to have to decide whether i wanted to utilize a system that taxed me fairly for education or go up against a flawed loan system designed to keep you in debt forever i would def take the former.
 
My opinion here continues on the same theme in the abortion thread you made in CEP. I realize that my opinion isn't well-tolerated by most.

I think that paying for the child's education is the least a parent can do. In fact, any good that a parent does for their child is in fact owing. I arrive at this conclusion through the following train of thought:

1. Suffering is a fact of life.

2. All things aside, who, theoretically, is the one with any say as to whether or not to bring a new life to the world? It is the parent, not the chid.

3. Therefore, any suffering the child endures throughout its lifetime is ultimately the parents' responsibility, regardless of who did what since the child's entire life and the potential suffering it entailed is a result of the parent's actions.

So the way I see it, a responsible parent goes into the act of reproduction entirely understanding that the result WILL entail suffering and that s/he is therefore responsible for mitigating.

So what's in it for the parent? Well besides sexual pleasure, in a world of suffering, love begets love, and chances are that a loved child will love back and help the parent in times of need when they grow up.

So what it comes down to, will an education make the child's life easier? If so, then the parent should theoretically be responsible for it.

On a whole other level of analysis though, I personally happen to think that education, like healthcare, should be the responsibility of the state through tax money - but that's a whole other thread :)

I don't know. Maybe I have my head somewhere up in the clouds :).
 
i like you, Jammy -- you make good points. i said i wanted to hear other peoples' opinions, 'member? i didn't say i wanted everyone to agree with me -- what fun is that?

it so happens that i do agree with both you and
blackjesus about higher education being free to attend and paid for with taxes. it could only do a nation good to have more of its people educated.

of course life is suffering, but it's also a blessing, an education, a grand adventure! even with the suffering, life is a gift, not a curse. mine is, anyway.

if a parent can afford college, and wants to do that for his/her child, there's nothing wrong with that; i just don't think it's an entitlement (unless and until the government makes it one.)
 
I think the government should pay for college. Our (USA) education system preforms extremely poor to the benchmark countries of the world (Japan, China)

I was lucky enough to have parents furnish my college but I lived at home 4/5 years and went to a state school (though the second largest college in my state)

If the government won't pay and if my child can't get a scholarship I'll dig ditches earning minimum wage to see them through school.
 
when I see this I'm glad to have school paid by the country where I live but there's also "private school" for the parents which think, education is better cuz they pay a lot...(which isn't the case)

but if times are hard, times are hard you're not gonna starve because you want to keep your money for the school of your kid. In other case yea, for me parents have to set aside college funds.
 
i have a grown child who received a scholarship and a small grant to pay for her college. she attended one semester and didn't even properly finish that. once, she went to class so hung chow that the prof told her to go home. needless to say, she lost her funding. i'm glad i didn't scrimp and save for 18 years to pay for that.

should this be over in SO? CE&P? it's been homeless for a while........
 
The government should pay, or at least provide a system like Australia's, because if there is no government support then poor children can not go to university.
 
Well, if parent can afford to pay the college, I dont see why he shouldnt. There is also the other thing - motivation. Well, I'm really grateful to my mom, because I was a slacker in high school, but she paid for my private college, and I'm doing best I can to get a decent job after it. Got scholarship last year.

What I would do to my kid is - I would let him have a free year after high school, get to know students of his age, made him find work so he feels how it is to earn money, and then, next year, pay for college.
 
the recurring answer here is that post-secondary education should be gratis. why the heck not? we pay for grade school and high school through taxes.......why the cutoff point? who is profitting (profiteering) here? and is his/her profit more important than a)levelling the playing field, and b)freeing knowlege? i think not. fuck capitalism, anyway.
 
My parents didn't help me at all so I'll prolly be biased in this thread. My dad had his own business when I was a kid and it went under. My parents ended up going into debt just to keep the family alive and instilled in me at a very young age that they were not going to be able to help me with college. I worked hard in high school and earned a full scholarship and paid for my college that way.

Because of how my education played out, I don't think parents should feel guilty if they are not even able to pay for their kids' college. Especially in these economic times, setting aside that kind of dough just isn't possible for a lot of households.

All that being said, I will try my hardest to pay for my own kids college but I don't want them growing up thinking they're gonna get a "gimme" when they graduate HS. I still don't know how it will play out, but if I have the money available I would like to make sure my kid(s) earn it.

Of course I'm also toying with the idea of not reproducing. If that's the case, more money for me =D
 
I'm INCREDIBLY lucky.

My parents jointly paid for my undergrad. My mom pays for my law school tuition with her alimony.

It's sort of a sensitive subject with me because I'm aware I don't really deserve it. Then again, it's her money so I can tell her all day that I should just take out more loans but it doesn't sway her.

My perspective is entirely skewed and I can't imagine, right now, trying to figure out who 'should' pay for advanced education with my reality.

That said, I entirely expect to pay for my childrens' undergrad.
 
Damn Jammy, that was pretty deep and well reasoned.

I think most parents would agree that an education is the best investment they can make for their child.
 
I don't think that the government should pay for university. I see no reason why anyone should receive a service that will benefit them greatly in terms of future earnings at the expense of those who are employed, it should not be treated differently from any other good.

The UK proposal for a graduate tax to replace tuition fees is one of the most half-baked policy ideas for a while IMO.
 
Good thread.

Jam's arguments resonate with me the most here. If I had kids I would want to provide whatever I could for them...it ain't their fault I cast them into this world, and would see it as my responsibility. But if I was going to pay for my kids school, I would create an incentive structure to make sure there weren't going to waste the money. Like make them take out loans for school initially, with the understanding that I would pay off the loans upon their graduation. If they waste the opportunity then it's on them. Also I don't know if I would pay (in full anyway) for an arcane degree that does nothing to bolster one's earning prospects.

I disagree that the state should provide everyone a full-ride though. Perhaps aid in the process, but I think the opportunity for misallocating human capital is huge with such a system. People need to have some stake in their education too, otherwise tremendous amounts of capital will get wasted. And: "A government that's big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away." Oh yeah and I have no interest in paying 50-60% income tax, thanks.
 
cilosyb said:
I disagree that the state should provide everyone a full-ride though. Perhaps aid in the process, but I think the opportunity for misallocating human capital is huge with such a system. People need to have some stake in their education too, otherwise tremendous amounts of capital will get wasted. And: "A government that's big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away." Oh yeah and I have no interest in paying 50-60% income tax, thanks.
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okay, i see your point here. maybe the aussies have the best take on it? but somehow the playing field should be made more level. people aren't going to quit having kids just because they can't afford to send them all to university. even when parents plan to pay for school, lots of unforseen things can happen to make that implausable; major illness or injury, down-sizing, obselecense, disaster, etc. those kids should have the same opportunity as rich people's kids to prepare themselves to earn a decent living.
 
on the basis you spend your whole working life paying into the system regardless of what level of education you have surely the government can paying for the teachers.

If you have over a set amount of income and savings yes you should pay something towards it, but I think the main cost lies at the foot of government when they so happily take your money for the rest of your life.
 
So what it comes down to, will an education make the child's life easier? If so, then the parent should theoretically be responsible for it.
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I've met enough spoilt, ungrateful children of successful businessmen to know that making a child's life easier is not always the best thing to do for them.
 
I really don't think the government should pay for your college education. Like cilosyb said, since the government really has no stake in whether it's investments pay off or not, they will be far less likely to use their money wisely than a private organization that has a stake in the school's profitability. Government would end up spending more money on education than would've been spent in a private system, and I'd rather taxes and/or the deficit NOT go up even higher than they already are.

As to who should pay, I'm sort of on the fence about that. While I think that parents are totally in their right to pay for their child's education if they have the money to spare, it does in many cases result in these entitled students who throw their parent's money down the drain. I feel like people appreciate it more and work harder if they have to pay for it themselves, or if they worked hard in school so they could get scholarships or financial aid. Even if the parents pay for most of it, at the very least the student going to school should help their parents out by working while at school or over the summer.
 
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