was college ever free? like public school?

Answer 1

Yes. Many state schools used to be free. Like the University of California system.

Lots of European colleges are still free I believe.

Answer 2

I love all of the people who immediately state their completely wrong answers like they are experts.
There still are some colleges that are free. Berea College in Kentucky is an excellent school with no cost to the student. Everyone does have to work for the school though. They have all sorts of programs you can work at, from their farm to food services to janitorial. I know some very good people who went to school there and they all have GREAT jobs. There are a lot of employers who will look very favorably on a Berea education just because of the commitment you have to make.
They do have strict admission requirements in regards to academic achievement and financial need.

Answer 3

Not in the United States.

The phenomenon of Government funded education is a new (and failed) experiment. Americans were better educated prior to the introduction of public schooling.

It used to be that College was only for those who were planning to become doctors or ministers. Most of the students came from wealthy families, but small towns also often worked together to fund one or two promising students in each generation. These scholarship students were expected to come back to town and serve as a local doctor or minister.

Answer 4

Never in the United States--College was only for the wealthy and the elite and so was the high schools for many places
Today we have many grants that the governments and companies try to help educate its people. The most common one is the PELL Grant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pell_Grant

Then some of the states like California has a grant it helps pay for the community college tuition to its citizens http://www.butte.cc.ca.us/services/student/finaid/bogg.html .

Many of the campuses today also have programs to help students who have parents who did not graduate for an example the TRiO program
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html

So therefore by the time everything is paid for one should never have to take out a loan and to have money in your pocket. Books are paid for and many other things to look forward to and ...when that is all done make sure you apply for every single available scholarship no matter how small to help pay for your schooling. Many universities and colleges also have these programs do check into it...

Answer 5

No, and public schools weren't free either. In Germany and other countries college is free to it's citizens, like a perk with paying taxes.

Answer 6

Not in the US. Some other countries though, such as Canada, have free public schooling through four years of college.

Answer 7

In 1964 when I graduated high school in New York City, college was free. Yes, you had to pay for books but tuition was free.

Answer 8

Nothing is free. Nothing ever was, nothing ever will be. But if you pay it out of your pocket yourself, you're more likely to demand a decent product. If all government services were invoiced to us, we'd question the quality of the services. Hence, the government hides the costs, and most of what you pay you never have seen in your miserable paycheck.

I used to think casinos were kings of psychology when it comes to making your money appear to just be play money, but the government wins the competition hands down.

Our socialized educational system and our socialized retirement system are unsound, and they are a waste of our hard-earned money.

Answer 9

Yes...a lot of schools around the world give free educations.

Answer 10

College was free for me! In Ireland, we have a constitutional right to an education (unlike USA) so all you have to pay is a yearly admin fee.

Lucky us..