Poll: Where do you stand on free tuition to state colleges and universities

[JDPriestly]

71. You need an MA today if you want to get anywhere. Either an MA or some

professional degree. Times have changed. Unless you have connections, you need to go to graduate school.

I don't think that middle class parents can afford to pay even for the first four years of any college nowadays. Remember, middle class is maybe 40-60,000 per year if you go by median income.

From academic years 2007–08 to 2012–13, the percentage of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students at 4-year degree-granting institutions receiving any financial aid increased from 80 to 85 percent. During this time, the percentage of students receiving aid at 4-year private nonprofit institutions increased from 86 to 89 percent, and the percentage of students at 4-year public institutions increased from 77 to 83 percent. The percentage of students receiving aid at 4-year private for-profit institutions was 76 percent in 2007–08 and 89 percent in 2012–13, a difference of 13 percentage points. For 2-year institutions, the percentage of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students receiving any financial aid increased from 68 percent in 2007–08 to 78 percent in 2012–13. Showing no significant change, the percentage of students receiving aid at 2-year private for-profit institutions was 87 percent in both 2007–08 and 2012–13. The percentage of students receiving aid at 2-year private nonprofit institutions increased from 85 to 90 percent and the percentage of students receiving aid at 2-year public institutions increased from 62 to 76 percent.

. . . .

In 2012–13, the percentage of first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students receiving federal grants at 4-year institutions was highest at private for-profit institutions (74 percent), compared with lower percentages at public (38 percent) and private nonprofit institutions (33 percent). The percentage of students at 4-year institutions receiving state or local grants was highest at public institutions (37 percent), followed by the percentage at private nonprofit institutions (26 percent) and the percentage at private for-profit institutions (10 percent). The percentage of students receiving institutional grants was highest at 4-year private nonprofit institutions (81 percent), followed by public institutions (44 percent) and private for-profit institutions (27 percent). The percentage of students at 4-year institutions receiving student loan aid was highest at private for-profit institutions (79 percent). In comparison, 62 percent of students at private nonprofit institutions and 51 percent of students at public institutions received student loan aid.

For first-time, full-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students at 2-year institutions in 2012–13, the percentage of students receiving federal grants was highest at private for-profit institutions (71 percent), compared with the percentage at private nonprofit institutions (67 percent) and at public institutions (56 percent). A higher percentage of students at 2-year public institutions (34 percent) received state or local grants than students at 2-year private nonprofit institutions (30 percent) or 2-year private for-profit institutions (7 percent). About 38 percent of students at 2-year private nonprofit institutions received institutional grants, compared with 13 percent of students at private for-profit institutions and 11 percent of students at public institutions. The percentage of students at 2-year institutions receiving student loan aid was highest at private for-profit institutions (76 percent), compared with private nonprofit institutions (61 percent) and public institutions (27 percent).

https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=31

Thanks to our trade policies, there aren't many jobs that pay people well who don't go to college. And there aren't many jobs for college graduates either.
I know of college graduates (a couple in this case) who live in a van because they can't afford to rent a place.

We don't have factories that much any more. And McDonalds just doesn't pay that well.

The middle class????

These statistics prove that only a small percentage of Americans can afford to pay for their childrens' college education.

The middle class is disappearing very rapidly.

That is why Bernie has the support he has. Because the middle class is slipping into oblivion in this country.