Seattlest: Gregoire's Tuition Hike Plan to Saddle Students With Greater Debt

TroyJMorris

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:42:14 -0800

There is a point on Human Capital-- but to disable the lowest 20% of the population from reasonably obtaining higher education is a throw back to pre-Napoleon dark ages of education, where public education was non-existent because the poor and women need not read, lest they question the men in robes. Education should be cheap as free, especially for those least able to purchase it for themselves. Period. High-tuition, high-aid models do not provide this cornerstone goal of successful civilization. Yes, that goes for higher education. Especially with the emphasis on education becoming more and more wide spread. A H.S. Diploma or GED no longer cuts it if you want to make more than 25% more than the minimum wage.

BigGreenFrank

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 07:57:50 -0800

This was brought up last week too I think, but let's not not treat "Student Loan Debt" in the same fearful way we now look at "Mortgage Debt" or "Credit Card Debt". When you pay for an education, you are immediately and irrevocable increasing your human capital. Your human value cannot decrease like your house's can. This is debt for an unequivocally good investment. It's as close to "free money" as you will ever find. And as "BMessina" points out, the fact that this raises UW tuition to what other very good state schools (Michigan) offer seems about right when the budget is as tight as it is now.

Jeremy

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:31:11 -0800

I'm not sure how to respond to this...so I'm conservative for opposing transferring more of the cost of higher education from the state to the student (who can only accept it in the form of debt)? Or that I'm conservative for thinking it's a good thing that our education is "reasonably priced" and that perhaps we shouldn't make it less so?

bmessina

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:42:39 -0800

I can't say I agree with the conclusion to this article. From what I've experienced over the last 8 years living in this state, it's felt more like we've been living in a bubble. You pointed out that UW is already a pretty reasonably priced state school. To raise the rates and bring it more in line with other schools isn't exactly failing a generation of students. Attendance will probably go down a bit, but provided all else goes well (read: the economy), I doubt it will be significant. Who knew, Seattlest has a conservative contributor.