Should College Be Free?

Jay Nixon wants college to be free. Here he explains why:

"I firmly believe a college education is key to achieving a dream," he said. "Tuition at state colleges is skyrocketing and middle-class families are getting squeezed by outrageous tuition fees."

And here are a few reasons to oppose the plan:

1. College is expensive, but most of the eventual gains go to the student, in the form of higher wages and greater appreciation of the finer things in life, like philosophy. (At least, according to my philosophy professors.) So it makes sense for the student to bear the cost. We should give people opportunities to borrow for college and help out low-income students who couldn’t attend otherwise. But there’s no need to do away with tuition for all middle-income students.

2. College is essential to achieve many dreams. However, there are other "keys" to dreams, like winning the Nobel prize, owning an expensive car, or finding the perfect spouse. The state of Missouri can’t subsidize everybody’s dreams.

3. Last but not least: When you subsidize an industry, it loses the incentive to improve and innovate.