In President Obama’s most recent State of the Union address, he presented a plan to offer free community college tuition for two years to “those who want to work for it.” In order for students to qualify, they must have a 2.5 GPA (average of 80%), work towards a major, and study half time or more. This will end up costing an estimated extra $60 billion over the next decade.

First of all, it is unlikely this will pass in a Republican controlled Congress that seems determined to veto whatever President Obama is doing regardless of whether it’s a good idea or not. But if, by some miracle, it managed to pass, numerous problems would emerge.

One of the biggest problems is that by lowering the cost of community college, the demand for it would increase. This program does nothing to increase supply and does everything to increase demand which will increase the price of community college to the rest the country that doesn’t qualify for the program. Making community college free for a couple students will only make it more expensive for the rest of us.

The biggest problem I have with this, and other college subsidies, is that they do nothing to solve the actual problem. Instead of investigating education to find out what makes it so expensive and addressing that, we are turning our back on a solution and just putting up with it. We seem to be afraid to find out what the problem is and are choosing to ignore any of the problems.

The cost of college tuition is NOT a problem. It is a symptom of a bigger problem that we have overlooked. That bigger problem is waste.

Large, bureaucratic waste and outright fraud.

When we choose to increase our subsidies of wasteful programs, that only encourages more waste and signals that it is okay to waste resources. Increasing education spending is an easy political battle to win that most people agree with and makes politicians look productive and in-touch with the voters. Throwing money at the problem is an easy thing to do, but a solution for such a large problem is inherently complex.

In 1991, the Senate concluded an investigation of the Department of Education and found that the federal student loan program was “plagued with fraud and abuse at every level.” Losses to taxpayers between 1983 and 1991 totaled $13 billion. I personally guarantee that such abuse is going on right now considering the huge size of the current student loan program.

This problem can even relate to the housing bubble of 2007 and 2008 where loans were given to people who had no business borrowing a toothpick. As a result, when it came time for them to pay it back, they couldn’t afford it and hundreds of financial companies that made those loans went bankrupt at a frightening pace. History has shown that it is never a good idea to loan money to those who are unable to repay it.

Why is education any different?

Why should someone take out a $50,000 loan to major in a subject whose wage isn’t even half that. How is that not taking advantage of someone the same way those in 2007 were taken advantage of?

This problem goes both ways, too. Students taking out loans need to make sure they are making a wise choice that will not come back to cause their financial demise.

When community college becomes free, that natural check and balance of cost vs. value no longer exists. It is much easier to major in a subject of little relevance when it doesn’t cost a dime. When the cost of anything comes out of our own pockets, we are much more careful about where that money goes. Students will be more careful in selecting a major if they know it comes out of their own pockets.

But again, this “solution” of free community college is still just a band-aid fix that doesn’t get to the root of the problem but ignores any quality solution that can improve the lives of millions of people.

I think this money is better spent on first improving our elementary schools and high schools to the point where someone doesn’t need extra community college to be a productive, profitable member of society. We need to find out which programs work and which ones destroy careers and the futures of our youth.

We aren’t there yet. Someday I hope we will hear suggestions out of our politicians that aren’t regurgitated ideas from previous campaigns and administrations. Someday I hope those suggestions will take guts and address the root of problems, even at great political cost.

President Obama is not the president who is going to make these suggestions.

I hope voters pick one who will.

Photo Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/3063052882