If higher education becomes free someday could the government require people to stay longer in school/university?

It’s possible for a society to do just about anything. If they want to raise the school-leaving age to 20, they can do that. Of course, you’d have to ask what advantage there would be in doing that? You can force people to sit in class (sort of), but you can’t make them learn. Higher education is really expensive. Would you really want to spend tax dollars on people who have absolutely no interest in being there?

In most states in the US, 16 is the age at which you can leave school and be on your own. I think we set these things because we want to encourage kids to learn so they can take care of themselves when they are in the work world. But we can’t force kids to learn, and we can’t even make them stay in school. So off they go to work, and they don’t care about school at all.

I think it would be a pretty bad idea to raise the school leaving age. But I don’t believe in outlawing drugs or alcohol, either. I believe in education to help people learn healthy, successful behaviors. I do not believe you can force people to learn, though. They have to want to.

A better option, if you are willing to pay for it, is to offer a free college education to those who can maintain a B average. Students would be given vouchers they could use at any school they can get into, but it would only pay for a certain amount—maybe a certain fixed amount, or maybe a certain portion of tuition. I don’t know. But that’s how I would do it. Use the carrot, not the stick.

We have compulsory education now up through a certain grade level and as far as I know, that’s been deemed constitutional. So I don’t see why, as society’s needs for an educated workforce change, we couldn’t advance the grade level. Thomas Jefferson was the emotional spark-plug behind the idea of public education. It was controversial in its day. The wealthy landed gentry wanted education reserved exclusively for those that could afford it, and for po folks to be kept in their place. Jefferson’s private notes make it clear he actually favored public education extending through state sponsored colleges and universities. But he knew the limits of what he could accomplish politically.

I doubt it, though I suppose they could. You can sort of “force” minors to go to school but once people reach the age of majority, are determined to be adults, usually at 18, it gets a lot harder to force them to do things they don’t want to do.

@lillycoyote What if the government changes the age of majority? They have done it before…. Wasn’t it 25 years old 150 years ago?

@talljasperman They certainly could change it, anything’s possible. It would be extremely difficult to do though, I think.

The taxpayers are already tired of paying for too many free benefits. I doubt there will be any changes any time soon.

@YARNLADY How about the opposite… could the taxpayers not want to pay some of the free benefits that they are giving out now?

@talljasperman The taxpayers are tired of paying for benefits, yet they are always happy to receive free benefits. I don’t believe most people understand the facts of economics. There is no such thing as free.

@YARNLADY If taxpayers get tired of paying for the :free benefit” of education, then they can live in a nation with an illiterate population like Afghanistan. Is that what the right wing really wants? Are taxes here that onerour, that you’d seriously opt for a largely illiterate population?

You have the benefit of living in the nation that has enjoyed the highest standard of living and had the largest economy of any nation on Earth for over 65 years now. You’re quite right, ther is nothing free. Quit investing in this country, and watch it slide into obsacurity among third-world nations.

@ETpro Yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I’m not one of the taxpayer revolutionaries. I’m in favor of taxes and the attendant benefits. Unfortunately, my vote usually ends up on the losing side.

I do hate the waste that takes place in government and I support every effort to uncover and eliminate it.

@YARNLADY I think the public is waking up.