“One of the program’s goals is to break down the financial barriers that keep many students from pursuing a useful certificate or degree. Two free years at a community college supposedly will make a four-year bachelor’s degree more affordable. Yet four-year colleges and universities depend on larger classes taught to first and second year students to keep cost down,” they wrote in the Post.
“These larger introductory classes are the flip side of the smaller and more teacher-intensive upper level classes of the final two years. The upper division courses are the ones that truly prepare students for a job market that prizes advanced training in technical and non-technical fields alike.
“If the proportion of freshmen and sophomores at four-year universities falls (due to students taking advantage of the ‘free’ community college program), this could push up the cost of a four-year degree for students who go directly to places like Ohio State or Oregon. Welcome to the ‘law of unintended consequences.’”
via eagnews.org
Economists are such a$$e$--always pointing out those pesky consequences.
