183 - Why Some States Are Giving Away Free College
Colleges are still raising prices, even while faith in higher education plummets. So why are local governments offering free rides to these overpriced institutions?
Every year, The Re-Engineered You collects data and articles on the diminishing state of US colleges. As of the most recent Pew Research numbers, only 22% of Americans say that getting a four-year degree is worth taking on loans to achieve. Even worse, only a quarter of us believe it’s “extremely important” or “very important” to have a college degree at all, without about half of Americans saying it’s less important than it was twenty years ago, despite the rise in technical jobs.
And yet, while the public believes a college degree to be more worthless than ever, employers still prioritize education job candidates, and state governments are panicking at the absence of skilled workers among younger populations. In short; we’re entering an era of artificial intelligence, cyber warfare, and data-driven industry, and we’re producing high school graduates who neither care for a degree, nor believe in a degree. Nowadays, a degree on your wall is less of an indicator of education, and more of an indicator of debt.
Which is why our episode today is all about free college. Which states are offering free degrees in STEM fields, which states are sending their graduates to community college, and which states are honoring alternative, unaccredited systems like Study.com, Sophia Learning, or simple work experience.
Links:
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/05/23/public-views-on-the-value-of-a-college-degree/
https://www.collegehacked.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/11/well/family/grandparent-grandchild-childfree.html