Viewpoint: We should change the way U.S. students pay for school

Caleb Diehl | Lewis & Clark College

When about 40 students in Sydney, Australia -- trying to keep their higher education system from becoming like that in the United States -- entered a building where Education Minister Christopher Pyne was this week, police responded with pepper spray.

Students trying to enter the Sydney Masonic centre where Christopher Pyne is speaking say they were pepper sprayed pic.twitter.com/Me0ey0C6cc — Rebecca Barrett (@becjbarr) February 13, 2015

In Australia, students pay nothing for college until their income rises above AU$53,344 a year.

Students want to keep it that way to avoid mountains of student loan debt.

Others, like Pyne, want to deregulate the university system, allowing colleges to set their own tuition and fees, just like in the United States.

It’s easy to see why students abroad brave pepper spray to keep their university system from devolving to our level. In the United States, the class of 2014 is the most indebted ever. The average graduate took home a degree... and $33,000 worth of debt.

Students in both hemispheres are fed up with deregulation. It’s time lawmakers consider letting U.S. students attend school for free (at least until they can afford to make payments).

Some legislators are offering just that with “Pay It Forward” plans.

As part of the Support Michigan and Retaining Talent Act, under review in the Michigan state legislature, tuition payments are scaled to students’ income. A similar plan in Maryland would let students enter college without paying up front, then make fixed-income payments after graduation.

Opponents of such reforms argue that deregulation allows universities to control their revenue stream and spend money where they see fit.

That’s why U.S. colleges get away with $50,000 price tags.

READ MORE: Student loan debt

They spend that money in places that have little to do with education. An extraordinary amount goes to athletic departments, lavish student accommodations and recreation.

In 2013, 92 schools racing to upgrade their recreation centers reported capital projects totaling $1.7 billion. Students dump savings into our colleges, only to have their money returned in the form of amenities they don’t need or athletic trophies that reside on dusty shelves.

Because I’m not feeling particularly industrious, let’s look at lazy rivers as an example.

Louisiana State University is building a lazy river that spells “LSU” in the school’s signature Geaux font. Texas Tech already sports what the New York Times calls a “Texas-size” lazy river.

Opponents of the Michigan and Maryland legislation claim the bills leave too many questions unanswered. They say deregulation benefits taxpayers by reducing government spending on education.

Perhaps those legislators spend too much time afloat down the river of lazy policymaking. Other countries put in the effort to answer the tough questions and find the funds to invest in the talents of young people.

A 2014 study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported that in eight countries, universities charge no tuition. The researchers found that in countries with tuition fees, income-contingent repayment plans, like Pay It Forward, “can help promote access and equity while sharing the costs of higher education between the state and students.”

READ MORE: College tuition

Fixed-income loans do cost government more, but if there’s anything taxpayers should spend money on, it’s higher education. Sending young people to college decreases youth unemployment and leads to a more productive and innovative labor market.

There’s an even more basic motive at the heart of student cries for financial support. Before the Sydney students collapsed to the street clutching their eyes, they were chanting, “Chris Pyne, f--- you, we deserve a future too.”

Unfortunately, some Americans still disagree.



Caleb Diehl is a student at Lewis & Clark College and a spring 2015 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.