Bernie Sanders is wrong: College is not a right
It's also not a cure-all for America's problems
Liberals care about higher education — a lot. It's long been a top-tier issue of the left, from the construction of state universities decades ago to the Occupy Wall Street protests of this decade. So it's no surprise that Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made higher education policy a major plank in his left-wing primary challenge to Hillary Clinton.
Higher education ought to be considered a "right," Sanders said in an interview with The Huffington Post. Similarly, he has previously argued for large increases in government tuition assistance. By upping federal aid by $18 billion, matched by states, all Americans could effectively have two years of free college at public universities across the nation.
Sanders' goals are laudable in many ways. However, such a proposal is less left-wing than it might appear, and the language of "rights" is politically problematic. It's very easy for free college to be effectively regressive, so any such program should be part of a broad program of material security.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Now, Sanders is undoubtedly correct in many things. First, he is right that the number one driver of rising costs at public schools is declining support from state governments. More and more, public schools are funded through tuition (rather undermining the whole "public" nature), which is increasingly obtained by going into debt. Sanders is also right to point to this skyrocketing debt as a major economic drag in an era of stagnant or declining wages for graduates, especially given the utterly unjustifiable fact that it's very difficult to discharge that debt during bankruptcy proceedings.
However, the most important fact about higher education is that only a minority of people go to college. Though the proportion of people with a college degree has been rising for a long time, as of 2012, only about 40 percent of the population held a two-year degree or higher. That 40 percent, of course, overwhelmingly overlaps with the upper 40 percent of America's income distribution.
The upshot here is that free college will inexorably tend to benefit the rich disproportionately, both because wealthy people are vastly more likely to go to college, and because a college degree sharply increases their earning potential. (Ironically, as I can personally testify, high prices can actually benefit the poor sometimes, through need-based aid funded by wealthy students' tuition.)
Does that mean free college is always bad? Not necessarily. A two-year plan, as Sanders roughly sketched out, is a better one, because poorer people who do attend college typically go to two-year community colleges or similarly abbreviated programs. His funding mechanism might be improved, though. Income-based repayment, wherein college is free at the point of access, but one must pay a percentage of one's income for a number of years afterward, would be egalitarian, progressive, and have universal access. But insofar as the focus is on provision for the actually needy, and not on the prestigious four-year colleges that get the vast majority of media attention, Sanders' plan is to the good.
This brings me to how the benefit is sold. Even four years of free college can be part of a social democracy, but it requires a lot of countervailing institutions to make up for the regressive nature. As Matt Bruenig points out, in Sanders' beloved Nordic nations, which do have universally free college, it's perceived as the part of the welfare state that binds the rich into the general social fabric. It's harder for an incipient plutocrat to argue his fortune is 100 percent the result of his hard work alone if society paid for his school.
But Sanders' framing of higher education as a "right" does not really comport with this sort of general responsibility thinking. On the contrary, as was unfortunately common during the Occupy Wall Street protests, statements were often framed around personal entitlement to jobs or a lack of debt. That's an understandable thought from people struggling to make it with a huge debt burden, but at root it's more of a complaint about lack of access to the system rather than a criticism of the unjust system itself.
For all the real pain suffered by people graduating in the teeth of the financial crisis (as I did in 2008, I remember it well), there were many others who had it dramatically worse. So whether we think of college as a right or not, basic material security for all people is surely a greater priority. Given their inherently regressive nature, free college programs always ought to be part of a such a program, not a standalone right.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published