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Comment by sys_64738 | Hacker News Reader

The govt shouldn’t guarantee any student loans. My tax dollars shouldn’t be an ATM for student tuition.

> My tax dollars shouldn’t be an ATM for student tuition.

In theory tuition is a great way to spend tax dollars because it creates better educated citizens who will earn more money (and pay more taxes). In practice it does seem to be more like monopoly money that props up sub-par schools and provides even worse education to those who could benefit from it the most.

Depends on the theory. If you believe that college education is a positional good - that it allows people to be classified as middle-class and be prioritized for white collar work at the expense of non-college-educated competitors - then tax subsidies is the last thing you'd want to do.

Wow. That's a really good point... subsidies lead to overconsumption and overconsumption of education leads to "degree inflation" which leads to... even more overconsumption of education.

Yikes.

Would you say that in countries like Germany, where there is no tuition fee and university is funded with tax money, schools are sub-par because of that?

Definitely not but I think Germany puts forth considerable effort to make that happen. It's my understanding the the German equivalent of K-12 is much more uniform in the quality of education than what the 50 states provide. They also cap school fees that the government will cover so tuition doesn't increase at ridiculous rates. Since they're so diligent in the quality of K-12 education they can then set pretty high standards for admissions & administration of universities without disenfranchising lower-income students. Although a German friend of mine was recently telling me there's been a push to "ban" private K-12 schools (that charge tuition beyond what the government will cover) because many people find it distasteful that someone could "purchase" access to a better education. I would love the German education system but it would take a miracle to implement something similar in the U.S.

> The govt shouldn’t guarantee any student loans. My tax dollars shouldn’t be an ATM for student tuition.

I agree with the first part but not the second; there is a good case for need (personal and societal, in the latter case by field of study with public service commitment, as we use currently, in a way, for military officers) and merit based grants for higher education. Government-guaranteed, generally available loans are a bad idea, though (and making them government issued, so the guarantee is just for the secondary market, doesn't make the bad idea good.)

well what are tax dollars for then? police? you realize education is a better way to reduce crime. that aside, cant think of a better way to spend tax dollars..

There are better ways to educate people than enriching "non-profit" private institutions and their wealthy administrators.

By all means, provide public funding for public schools. That is common sense.

And what do you say to public elementary, junior high, and high schools?

K-12 is generally funded from property taxes at the local town level. It's not a loan system as there's nothing to pay back.

I am surprised to see this comment "faded." I suppose this means you've rubbed a moderator the wrong way. Administration of this website befuddles me.

At any rate, I completely agree: the wealth of the average taxpaying citizen should not be used to pay the blackmail of too-big-too-fail financial engines holding public education for ransom.

Blackmailers should be arrested, tried, and sentenced to community service. Their demands should not be met.

> I am surprised to see this comment "faded." I suppose this means you've rubbed a moderator the wrong way.

Not a moderator - a reader with enough karma to be able to downvote (500 karma, IIRC).

Thank you, this has perplexed me for a long time.

Meta: comments are "faded" when they get downvoted by users. That is not a moderator decision.

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