Email from the White House

Today I received an email from the White House.  Okay, so did a lot of people.  I subscribed to the email list a while back so I could be a good, well-informed citizen.  This particular email was about the soaring cost of college education.  Yes, it is soaring, but I have yet to see any politician take the steps necessary to make the cost of higher education fall.  Instead, yet again, I see the plan is to make it easier for everyone to get government subsidies to pay for a college education, the very thing that has driven the cost of a college education through the roof.

I don't have a lot of time to address this issue at the moment, so let me make this as short and succinct as possible: The American taxpayers cannot afford to pay for everyone to go to college.  Not everyone is cut-out for college.  A college education isn't a right, it's a responsibility, and if a student isn't willing to do the work to at least make average grades, then the taxpayers shouldn't be burdened with the expense of them furthering their education.  And, as far as I'm concerned, taxpayers cannot afford to pay for college degrees in things like Medieval Dance, or similar "awesome and fun" degrees.  Get a real degree, or go to school on your own dime.

The real reason that college is becoming unaffordable for many people is that the government is busy ensuring everyone gets to go.  High demand pushes the price higher.  Stop treating higher education like it is some right that everyone deserves.  When that happens, the quality of education will increase, and the cost will eventually fall.  It's simple, but politically unpopular because no one will want to admit that their kid doesn't belong in college.  But some kids don't belong there.  And some degrees shouldn't be subsidized by the government at all.  Let kids, or their parents, decide to whether a major in an "awesome and fun" degree is truly worth the actual cost.