Project 2029 - 7 Post Secondary Education

Dear Friends,

In a prior post, I wrote about the need to provide high quality, free daycare and pre-K through 12 education to all.  That is only the bare minimum.  We must do the same for post secondary education. 

In the United States and generally throughout the world, attaining a bachelor's degree provides a pathway to higher life time earnings as well as a wide variety of non-financial benefits.  Here are two summary statements from a report by Lumina Foundation:  

Despite enrollment and completion rates declining and Americans’ confidence in higher education falling, the economic case for earning a college degree remains solid. College graduates earn about $1 million more on average over the course of their working years than U.S. adults with no college degree...

The results show that additional years of education beyond high school make for a healthier, more civic-minded individual who is more likely to interact with neighbors and family members and find careers that align with their natural talents and interests.

According to a study by the Education Data Initiative (here), the United States has the highest average public college tuition of all other OECD countries at $9,596 in 2022-23 academic year

There are many countries that highly subsidize post secondary education.  For example,

Norway - While public postsecondary education in Norway is tuition-free, student loans are available for living expenses and private tuition costs. 

College students in Norway pay $0.00 for one year of tuition in an average public bachelor’s 

Sweden -Tuition in Sweden is free to EU/EEA citizens, and Sweden’s government spends more on postsecondary education than most other developed countries.

• College students in Sweden pay $0.00 for one year of tuition in an average public bachelor’s program; 

France - While the French government subsidizes public higher education for all, EU/EEA citizens usually receive more in subsidies than non-citizens (apart from a few specific groups, such as long-term residents and refugees).

• For EU/EAA citizens, tuition for the 2024-25 academic year is €175 (equivalent to 182.10 USD at the end of 2024) for a licence (bachelor’s) program; 
• For non-citizens, a smaller share of education costs are subsidized; tuition for 2024-25 is €2,850 (equivalent to 2,966 USD at the end of 2024) at the licence (bachelor) level.

Germany - While Germany offers free tuition at its public universities to EU/EEA students, this does not include living costs or semester contributions (which cover administrative costs, student services, etc.).

• College students in Germany pay $156.70 for one year of fees in an average public bachelor’s program.

While the United States spends more on education than other countries, it does not receive commensurate results.  In this case, I believe the reason is the high cost to families, particularly working families for whom the opportunity is beyond their reach. The following chart from a study by the OECD compares the percentage of the population that has post secondary education delineated by the education of the parents.  As you can see, the United States is in the middle of the pack despite spending much more than other countries.  In addition, the opportunity gap for students whose parents did not have post secondary education remains a stain on a country that claims to provide equal opportunity. 

If we are ever to achieve true equality of opportunity, we must provide affordable educational opportunities to all.  While scholarships are nice, the government must ensure that all students who meet the educational qualifications can attend post secondary educational programs for free.  If a student and/or the family must incur debt to provide this opportunity to the student, we have failed.  The children of working people deserve the opportunity to attain all the benefits that post secondary education provides.  In the richest country in the world it is a policy to choice to fail to do so.

Thanks for reading and please comment,

The Unabashed Liberal