Quote:
Originally Posted by spence
This isn't really true.
Without Federal assistance to create land grand universities we probably wouldn't have the system we do today. I think this started back in the 19th century (I went to Iowa State, one of the big ones) so I'm not sure who the system was catering to before then aside from perhaps the upper crust.
-spence
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It really is true that we had some of the finest universities before the Federal Gov. provided MASSIVE monetary funding. Although some of them, as far back as the 17th century, did provide some private scholarships to "worthy" students that couldn't afford the tuition, it is true that they were not accessible to the masses. But for the first 70 years in this nation's history the Feds followed the Constitution and allowed the states and local communities to provide education--which included two land grant colleges. These were the models for the first Federal intrusion--the Federal Govt. providing of Federal
land to the states to build land grant colleges. The purpose was laudable, to provide education to many that was relevant to their daily lives--basically agricultural and industrial. And there was no negative impact on the Federal budget. That slowly expanded to providing actual funds for creation of agricultural experiment stations for scientific research. It took another 80 years for a new Fed wrinkle, the GI Bill to accomodate WWII Vets. Then another 15 years, in response to Sputnik, for the National Defense Education Act that provided aid to all public and private levels of education, though still basically aimed at improving technical studies, but far larger in scope than the original land grant idea, and far more expensive (notice the trend). Then enter the 1960's. The War on Poverty. New Deal II. New Deal #1 being interrupted by the post-war boom, now came the opportunity to expand further into the area reserved to the states, started by the GI Bill. Now followed a plethora of acts and revisions of acts to provide Federal assistance that has blossomed (mushroomed), with a slight pullback during the Reagan Administration, and intruded into education as the Feds have done into every aspect of our lives.
Although it is not the only reason, several studies have found a correlation between the rise in Federal Aid to the rise in tuition, including, interestingly enough vis-a-vis your little gift from POTUS, not only direct assistance, but
tax credits as well.
F. King Alexander, a president of Murray State U., said "ironically, Federal Programs in totality give incentive for institutions to increase tuition and to set high sticker prices." This succinctly expresses the sentiments of many others.
Of course, with the support of the Federal purse, comes an attached suggestion or mandate and direction of how and what is taught, and not taught. This reminds of Hayek's caveat--"the conception that Government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of Government."
I am not anti-government. We are the government. Those we vote for merely represent us. When they begin to brazenly dictate to us, not only in the most extreme and real crisis, but on a constant and all pervading basis, we must, to sustain a democratic process, be educated, informed, and independent from that government. The more we depend on a central government, distant from us in space, and in values, that enforces a cookie cutter education, a one size fits all as you referred to what you think health care should be, the less we can contribute diverse, new, re-generative ideas and solutions. We can thus be transformed from a large, truly diverse society connected by a desire to be free, that generates a robust hurly-burly of growth and innovation from the bottom up, to the anomoly of passive, polite, correct, adolescents waiting for the next Federal spending bill to cure our ills. And we will be taught, by institutions, dependent on Government largesse.
Of course, the saving grace is that the Government is broke, has been broke, is getting broker and broker, and there are still enough adults that understand this.