What would be some reasons why the general public would be against having free universities?

Question

(higher taxes, etc.)

Answer 1

1. Taxes would have to be much higher to pay for the cost of college educations.
2. The government would have to be fair and equitable, enabiling many more people to go to college, raising the costs.
3. All kinds of people who should be working would instead be studying Plato and Aristotle, and the nation's productivity would go down.

Answer 2

Free universities would have to be supported by the government. That means two things:

1) Taxes would be raised so that the burden of college would be more heavily shared by those who either aren't capable of or just do not want to go to college. Some people would be disproportionately advantaged by this system, even more than they are now.

2) If the government had even more control over universities than they do now over public universities, the ability for unrestricted thought and free speech would more likely be limited. We see this in many countries; when a particular political party takes over, professors who say things which disagree with their point of view are fired, students with political "credentials" are able to get into universities, while others are not.

Answer 3

1) The tax burden would be incredible. Taxes already subsidize public institutions.
2) If you are paying, you care. Free education k-12 in the US is not appreciated. Under a free university system, higher ed would be "what I deserve" and many would not learn anything, and get through on the tax-payer's dime.
3) If you care, you can go under the present system. Loans are available. I had one, my children had them. We paid for our educations; my son is a lawyer and is still paying.
4) Individual accountability is still the best system.

Answer 4

- More people in school means less people working and serving in the military.
- Taxes would be raised in order to pay for free education.
- Classrooms would have to be expanded and more staff members would need to be hired to accommodate the influx of new students.
- The quality of education would go down because less time could be devoted to individual students.