Aug 23, 2019 2 min read

Counterproposal to free tuition pitch

On the subject of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders’ proposal on free higher education tuition to public colleges/universities, I wish to make the following suggestion. As a 1971 graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, I witnessed many freshmen who truly were not college material, but were enrolled simply because the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted legislation creating the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). It provided grants to Pennsylvania residents enrolled in a four-year degree program at one of our state-owned (or state-related) colleges/universities. What I saw were far too many who had no intention of pursuing a degree because of a lack of academic discipline, or a willingness to apply themselves in an earnest effort to be worthy of the state’s generous investment of covering their educational expenses. The dropout rate was excessive after only two semesters. It can be unequivocally stated that well-educated future generations will be a tremendous asset for the United States; however, totally funding an educational degree program, without the candidate proving him or herself worthy of the public’s financial support can prove to be a risky investment.

I propose the following: Any student enrolled in a public college/university or accredited skill-training school must prove himself academically worthy by satisfactorily completing the first 50% of the program by self-funding all expenses. Should the candidate meet all proficiency requirements, then the government will assist with the final 50% of the student’s tuition costs. The public can then be reasonably assured the student will complete the degree program to the required graduation standards, and therefore will be worthy of the investment the general public made.

I believe my proposal is reasonable and should appeal to a large number of voters in both political parties.

Ronald J. Yamka

Canonsburg

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