Free College

Everyone seems to be talking about competing plans for free college.

It strikes me that offering free college at STATE institutions, we would create a two-tiered post-secondary world.  Rich elites would dominate private institutions - even more so than they do now. A degree from Harvard always opened doors, but now Hamilton or Pomona might also work as a signifier in certain quarters. 

I can't claim any great in-depth policy insight - except perhaps my experience working with teenagers, and that has led me to be very gun shy about giving them free tuition. But the following strike me as plausible:

- Free two year degrees.  Community and junior colleges do an excellent job with two year professional degrees.  These are increasingly needed in our economy.  They should be free and paid for by universal federal taxes.

- College costs need addressing. I have yet to see any real reason why college is so expensive. We know it's not paying the teachers, because of the move to temporary adjuncts. Why does college cost so much is a question I haven't seen adequately answered.

- College debt for four year degrees should probably exist under the following conditions:
 + All student loans should be issued by the government directly, not private lenders.
 + All student loans should be interest free with the term of the loan determined by the borrowers net worth and income.  If you have little wealth and not a lot of income, you get longer to pay off the loan (again with no interest). If you are raking in six figures, pay it back sooner. Foregoing the interest in how the public subsidizes four year degrees.
 + Finally, student debt should be able to be forgiven by bankruptcy proceedings.  The fact that this is currently not true is criminal.
 + There should be a generous expansion of Pell Grants to help lower income students bridge the gap between being able to pay off interest-free loans and simply not having a base of wealth in the first place.

I don't know if that's workable, but that's my plan.