Thread by @wdoyle42

I took a look at the state-level subsidy implied by the Warren plan for free tuition:
willdoyle.us/files/2019-04-… 1/6

Bottom line: A few states–Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan— will receive in excess of $6,000 per student, while several large states– Texas, California, Florida– will get less than half that. 2/6

Any plan that guarantees free tuition at public colleges has to grapple with two issues: 3/6

First, if the free tuition plan provides a blanket guarantee without requiring states to equalize their investments, it will end up rewarding states that have done a pretty bad job at making college affordable. 4/6

Second, state leaders will almost certainly lower their spending on higher education in order to gain more federal dollars, unless the free tuition plan requires that they spend at a certain level. 5/6

The Warren free tuition plan contains what appears to be a “maintenance of effort” provision, but it’s not clear how effort would be defined, or how maintenance would be enforced. 6/6