BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP MARCH 24 - MARCH 30, 2017 15 PROPOSALS FOR ‘FREE COLLEGE’: THE MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE CASE During the presidential campaign of 2016, both Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders proposed plans for free public college tuition. Since then, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and others have announced plans for making colleges free of tuition and fees. This is not a new idea. Units of The City University of New York were started as tuition free in the 1840s and remained largely tuition-free until 1976. Until the early 1970s, California colleges and universities charged virtually no tuition since their founding in the 19th century. The idea is to make college education accessible and a ordable to qualifi ed students from all sectors of society in order for our democracy to be guided by an educated citizenry. This view considers the pursuit of higher learning as a public good, not just a private gain. A er all, college graduates face lower unemployment, better health outcomes and more active civic engagement. Therefore, it makes sense to make higher education available to all who qualify. Also, it is thought that making college free would reduce the reliance on what is considered to be “out of control” student debt. Those in favor of making tuition free argue that it is a ordable to the government because the added costs would be a small percentage of current higher education support. This is thought to be so because (1) the new program would be the “last dollar” of fi nancial aid provided to those eligible a er current state, federal and private scholarship programs were applied; (2) the support would be limited to fulltime students, with an emphasis on community colleges; and (3) eligibility would be limited to those from families below a certain income level. Most proposals do not address the additional costs of room, books, food, travel, etc. Some of those opposed to the idea believe that too many people go to college as it is. Others argue that the costs to the public would be excessive. Still others worry about the e ect on private colleges that already serve a public purpose. According to Moody’s, the bond-rating agency, a successful program of free tuition would have negative consequences for regionally oriented private as well as public colleges because students would fl ock to tuition-free comprehensive state universities. Indeed, Tennessee experienced a 40 percent increase in students applying for aid when a free tuition program was announced. A major question is how these students can be accommodated at institutions that already have su ered from reductions in state support? Who would pay for the additional faculty, classrooms and counselors needed? We already can see the e ects of state-subsidized tuition levels at state universities. In New York, the demographic profi le of students at SUNY campuses shows higher family incomes on average than at New York’s 110 private colleges. With free tuition at SUNY, the disparity would grow even greater, yet we can see that many of these parents can a ord the subsidized tuition. Community colleges, which are central to most proposals for free tuition, already are under-resourced and su er from inadequate sta ng and low graduation rates. These institutions enroll primarily older, non-traditional students who study part-time, not full-time. Instead of providing free college for those who can a ord to pay tuition, it would be better to provide both increased need-based fi nancial aid grants to facilitate student choice and college affordability as well as improved funding for academic programs and faculty to community and other public colleges so as to enable them to improve services and increase their graduation rates. Robert A. Scott is President Emeritus and University Professor Emeritus, Adelphi University. BK SNAP S AFTER THE SNOWSTORM. Photo by Stephanie Durso Send us your photos of Brooklyn and you could see them online or in our paper. Submit them to us via Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by using the hashtag #HRPix; or email them to [email protected]. GUEST OPED THE HOT TOPIC STORY: Verrazano Bridge to cost Brooklynites $17 starting this Sunday SUMMARY: The MTA board voted in late January to increase the tolls, while also maintaining the same base subway/bus fare currently in effect, though the actual cost of a ride will increase for many commuters, who buy weekly or monthly passes or who take advantage of the discount available for loading their per-ride MetroCards with lump sums to get a bonus. According to a fact sheet sent out by the MTA, those who use an E-ZPass will see the cost of a roundtrip across the Verrazano rise from $11.08 to $11.52, with Staten Island residents set to pay about half of that, ranging from $5.74 with rebate (from $5.50) to either $6.48 or $6.84 without rebate (from $5.74). Readers had a lot to say about the hike. REACH: 37,539 people (as of 3/17/2017) BY ROBERT A. SCOTT
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