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New York State Passes ‘Free’ College Tuition Bill, Ungrateful Liberals Whine It Is ‘Lame’
Newsbusters ^ | April 12, 2017 | 1:59 PM EDT | James Powers

Posted on 04/12/2017 11:22:44 AM PDT by drewh

Even “free” isn’t good enough for liberals.

New York State’s newly passed 2018 budget included a provision that will pay for the tuition of residents who attend public colleges in the state, building on some of the ideas promoted by Sen. Bernie Sanders during the campaign. The liberal media praised the government handout and found progressives who still considered it insufficient.

Slate senior business and economics correspondent Jordan Weissmann called the new program “pretty lame,” and immediately focused on the lefties “trashing” the plan.

“In the eyes of free-college advocates, however, the program leaves a lot to be desired. Which is why you may have noticed some progressives trashing the thing on Twitter,” he wrote. He repeated several of their complaints which included that it would help wealthier families more, fail to cover room and board, and “the pointless and parochial requirement that students stay in New York state after graduation for as many years as they received the Excelsior funding.”

The Excelsior Scholarship is estimated to cost $163 million per year and would only apply to students whose parents earn less than $100,000 a year. Other stipulations included earning 30 credits per year, finishing school on time and remaining in New York State two to four years following graduation. The scholarship only covers tuition, not room and board.

Some liberals considered those rules too burdensome.

NPR education blogger Anya Kamenetz quoted “free college” advocate Sara Goldrick-Rab of Temple University who tweeted, "Free college is about moving beyond a complex, untrustworthy aid system. This move perpetuates existing problems."

Huffington Post reporter Lydia O’Connor said the post-graduation requirement to stay in New York State was “alarming to some student aid experts.” But she also found liberal praise for the bill, including former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who called it “a great step for progressives.”

Absent from many of those stories, was criticism from the other side. American Enterprise Institute research fellow Kevin James challenged free college programs during the campaign in an op-ed for US News & World Report. He wrote that making college free could cause private colleges to “struggle to survive” trying to compete with free state schools and warned it would “significantly reduce pressure on public institutions to serve students effectively.”

The Daily Wire staff writer added a dash of skepticism. Aaron Bandler noted that as more students will attend college for free, the demand would increase and “raise the cost of tuition even higher.”

While Tennessee, Oregon, and Minnesota already offer free community college, the plan makes New York the first state to offer to pay for four years of public tuition.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; US: New York
KEYWORDS: educationfunding; highereducation

1 posted on 04/12/2017 11:22:44 AM PDT by drewh
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To: All

Too many people in college as it is....


2 posted on 04/12/2017 11:26:33 AM PDT by Maverick68
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To: Maverick68

no free room and board at Columbia, no justice!


3 posted on 04/12/2017 11:28:01 AM PDT by drewh
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To: drewh
RE:”The Excelsior Scholarship is estimated to cost $163 million per year and would only apply to students whose parents earn less than $100,000 a year. Other stipulations included earning 30 credits per year, finishing school on time and remaining in New York State two to four years following graduation. The scholarship only covers tuition, not room and board.”

What determines if it is two or four years (in NYS)?

I assume that if they refuse to sign agreeing to that they will they don't get the $$$

They can wait tables in NYS for those years after free college,

4 posted on 04/12/2017 11:32:00 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Trump declares war!)
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To: drewh

Just send these kids diplomas in the mail - Affirmative Action Degrees... Hocus Pocus, you are an MD..


5 posted on 04/12/2017 11:33:55 AM PDT by Lexington Green (Sun Tzu Trumps Saul Alinsky)
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To: sickoflibs
"What determines if it is two or four years (in NYS)?"

"...requirement that students stay in New York state after graduation for as many years as they received the Excelsior funding."

6 posted on 04/12/2017 11:34:29 AM PDT by BlueLancer (Ex Scientia Tridens)
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To: drewh

“New York the first state to offer to pay for four years of public tuition”

I thought the University of California system was officially tuition free.


7 posted on 04/12/2017 11:35:29 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: drewh

4 years of free state college. There will a another stipulation to getting free stuff in NYS....I know you all know the answer to that one.... Makes me sick that Emperor Cuomo will do this ,pissing away almost 200 million a year.


8 posted on 04/12/2017 11:36:46 AM PDT by MGunny
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To: drewh

“Ungrateful liberals”

Is there any other kind?


9 posted on 04/12/2017 11:38:02 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: drewh

They could have someone take the classes for them and they would still whine.

The requirement to stay in the state should actually be increased as far as time. Say 10 years.

They’d have something if they put all this money toward trade schools instead.


10 posted on 04/12/2017 11:38:07 AM PDT by headstamp 2 (Fear is the mind killer.)
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To: Brian Griffin
“Ungrateful liberals”

Redundant.

11 posted on 04/12/2017 11:38:50 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: drewh

Nothing in Life is Free.

Maybe it’s Included, but it’s never Free.


12 posted on 04/12/2017 11:40:38 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (The way Liberals carry on about Deportation, you would think "Mexico" was Spanish for "Auschwitz".)
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To: BlueLancer

Thanks!


13 posted on 04/12/2017 11:43:35 AM PDT by sickoflibs (Trump declares war!)
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To: Brian Griffin

I’d be shocked if they still were. Most state universities were free when they were established. Over the years those laws and provisions were removed. The ones that didn’t and charged some sort of fee not labeled as tuition were eventually sued.


14 posted on 04/12/2017 11:54:30 AM PDT by PrincessB
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To: sickoflibs
One can't help but wonder if this scheme will create wage slaves for New York State, to replace invaders and H1B Visa abuse.

Then there is the situation that colleges are what they are. They're money-sucking machines which will grab as much money as they can to support their lunatic ways. Will there be a situation where tuition is "free" ie a loan with conditions which will get it forgiven, but costs such as student fees, room and board, lab fees etc etc will increase beyond belief? Will it cause a death spiral for most private colleges, leading to NYS paying for many more tuitions than anticipated? It's all so unknown.

15 posted on 04/12/2017 12:10:15 PM PDT by grania (only a pawn in their game)
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To: Brian Griffin
I thought the University of California system was officially tuition free.

Has not been for many years. In the early 70's my cousins moved out there specifically to take advantage of that. By 1980 it had a fatal collision with economic reality.


16 posted on 04/12/2017 12:20:48 PM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: sickoflibs

That is clear and unambiguous discrimination. Sue.


17 posted on 04/12/2017 12:21:36 PM PDT by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
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To: drewh

It’s not worth anything if it isn’t free harvard degree for everyone. It’s either equal or it isn’t!


18 posted on 04/12/2017 12:29:36 PM PDT by xzins (Retired US Army chaplain. Those who truly support our troops pray for their victory.)
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To: Buckeye McFrog

I recall dimly now that there was a collision with a governor name of Reagan.


19 posted on 04/12/2017 12:29:50 PM PDT by VietVet876
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To: drewh
“the pointless and parochial requirement that students stay in New York state after graduation for as many years as they received the Excelsior funding.”

No different than a company paying for your education and requiring you to stay x-amount of years. Same with the military.

20 posted on 04/12/2017 1:00:07 PM PDT by Oatka
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