The problems of underprepared students and poor completion rates are primarily the result of lack of preparedness at the K-12 level. And the lack of preparedness is primarily a problem for working class students and students whose parents have never attended college, i.e. the traditional disadvantaged populations. Developmental (remedial) college classes typically have a disproportionate number of working-class African-Americans and Hispanic Americans. Whether the problem is caused by racial inequities in the school system or the fact that college-educated parents are better able to help their students navigate the K-12 and college paths (or both), the problem must be resolved by the K-12 system BEFORE the student enters college.

A second problem that I haven’t seen discussed much is that K-12 doesn’t prepare students to make a wise choice of major and preparation for work after college. If someone else pays every cent of a student’s expenses, but the student can’t get a job, then the free college will have been quite costly for the student. Again, students with college-educated parents (especially wealthy parents) stand to gain much more from college — even if they attended the same colleges as poorer students.

So to answer the question “Can Elizabeth Warren (more accurately Elizabeth Warren’s proposals) Fix Higher Education?”: Not until she (or someone) first fixes K-12.