The following is from the perspective of someone who has taught college and grades 6–12 to an economically and racially diverse diverse group of students. Until we resolve racial and economic inequality in K-12, making college tuition free will have the unintended consequence of increasing inequality, not ameliorating it.
Systemic discrimination in K-12 ensures that many African American and Hispanic American students never graduate from high school. Free college tuition will put these students even further down the ladder.
Economically disadvantaged students who do graduate are often underprepared for college and are consigned to developmental (“pre-college”) classes that are demotivating and (if students do clear these hurdles) mean that poor students (disproportionately African Americans by the way) lose a year or two of income compared to their advantaged peers.
White middle and upper class kids typically receive better college counseling. And I’m not even talking about wealthy kids whose parents tilt the pinball machine. An African-American man in my pre-college English class whose writing was at the college level told me that he could have passed the placement test if he had known to take it seriously. Do you think any rich kids didn’t take the test seriously? Chances are they had private tutors if necessary (and those are the ones who didn’t cheat the system).
You’ve no doubt read of the ripoff proprietary colleges so beloved by Betsy deVos. Do you think any rich kids attended them? Did high school guidance counselors steer poor kids away from these cesspools?
Free college tuition can be a great boon for disadvantaged students, but only after they at least have a relatively level playing field in K-12. Until then, it’s a Bandaid solution that will only exacerbate economic inequality.
And tuition is only a part of college costs. Books, fees, transportation, uniforms, daycare, reduced income are particularly problematic for poor students.
A good and free education for everyone is essential for a democratic nation. But it has to start long before college.
