Wade, what are your thoughts on "private college entitlements"? I am not being critical, just curious.
Originally Posted by: vikesrule
It's a fair question.
I don't believe in them. Though I would consider the "research grant" and the subsidized student loan" a different kind of government payment than the others you described, I personally believe we'd be better off without government money in education across the board.
If the government feels it necessary to finance research, at least that is an "investment" in human capital rather than a simple transfer payment. Same with the student loans. So, if you were to ask me to list all government expenditures in order of their relative value, those two would probably be up there fairly high -- below national defense, basic police protection, courts to protect rights and enforce contracts, but above most of the other usual suspects.
But in the end, you're paying for that research and loan subsidy with tax dollars from someone. That means coercing someone's wealth from them and telling them to spend it in a way they would not do otherwise. Add in the bureaucratic costs of administering, and add in the reality that the grants process rewards being good at applying for funds as much or more than it rewards true innovation/groundbreaking discoveries/new ideas/etc., and frankly, I think we pay far too much in aggregate for the few academic stars and wonderful pushing-back-the-frontiers-of-knowledge that we manage to get.
Push billions of dollars at something and you'll get some gold medals. But each of those gold medals will give a ROI less than your average polluting relic purchased under the Cash For Clunkers program.
I do think your "private"/"public" dichotomy is a distinction badly drawn. All recipients of government payments, in the end, are private individuals. The fact that some of these private individuals are already government employees or already partially subsidized by tax dollars by virtue of their institution's "public school" status seems to me a difference in degree not in kind.
I think we're all equally unworthy of government handouts. If we think we have a good idea, we should push it in the marketplace of ideas. If we think we have a better way to educate 5-year-olds or 21-year-olds, we should push it in the marketplace of education. Wind turbines or parking lots or whatever aren't "sustainable" if they demand subsidy and coercion to take place.
Frankly, I think if you got rid of all the distortions to higher education wrought by government funding and our pursuit of them via tuition support, research in a hundred disciplines, grants for dozens of "good ideas" for social causes and improvements (see said wind turbine), we'd find that 40K comprehensive fee would probably be about 1/4 of what it is.
What do I think about private college entitlements as you call them?
Any politician who tries to tell me he's "pro-education" because he supports XYZ education "funding" and "grants"? He has just told me he probably isn't worth my vote.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 (NKJV)