Why Arne Duncan is skeptical about making college free
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has heard Democratic contenders for president propose making college tuition- or debt-free — and he's afraid the debate is missing something.
A proposal for making higher education debt-free has become almost mandatory for Democratic candidates in the primary. Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley have both put forward plans; Hillary Clinton's campaign manager hinted in May that she'll eventually have a proposal of her own.
Meanwhile, Duncan has been emphasizing the importance of assuring quality in education. In a wide-ranging interview Monday, Duncan and I discussed his concerns about the free college agenda and the congressional effort to overhaul No Child Left Behind.
Why Duncan thinks debt-free college isn't enough
The Obama administration has emphasized that college should be affordable. But they've also pushed harder than any of their predecessors on trying to ensure colleges are giving students value for money.
The problem, in their eyes, isn't necessarily student debt; it's when students either don't graduate or don't get good jobs, which can turn student debt from a financial handicap into a disaster.
"If all we’re doing is making cheaper or free a system in which the failure rate is so high, that doesn’t get the country where we need to go," Duncan said.
He didn't criticize the Democratic contenders explicitly, saying that it's still early in the campaign and candidates from both parties should be pressed for more specifics on their goals for higher education. But he argued that debt-free college on its own is not a sufficient agenda.
"If that’s all we’re talking about, if that’s all the nation is talking about, it is insufficient," he said. "Yes, it needs to become more affordable. Yes, we need to reduce debt. Those are important pieces of the puzzle. Those aren’t the only pieces of the puzzle."
It's important to focus "not just on access but on quality," he said. In higher education, he said he'd define quality as "do these degrees have value in the marketplace?"
It was President Obama who first put the idea of free college in the spotlight. During the State of the Union address, he called for a partnership between states and the federal government to offer two years of free community college to all students. (The White House later clarified that there would be an income cutoff: Families making more than $200,000 per year would not be eligible.)
The White House has continued quietly pushing states and cities to create free community college plans of their own, meeting with college presidents, community leaders, and business executives to talk about the idea, Duncan said.
But the White House plan — which was dead on arrival in Congress — came with strings attached. States would have to keep up their funding for higher education. They'd also Why Arne Duncan is skeptical about making college free - Vox: