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Michelle Miller-Adams

@mmilleradams

11 Sep

From the start, the challenge of federal #FreeCollege has been making it work in 50 states with 50 higher ed systems (more, really since a state like mine - Michigan - has no system) and, more specifically, how not to reward states for under-investing in higher ed. (1/9)

@chingos

@chingos wrote about these risks a few years back but my sense is that advocacy and policy folks didn't pay a lot of attention at the time, assuming they could be managed down the road. (2/9) nytimes.com/2019/12/20/ups…

@kevincarey1

Reality has now set in as House Democratic staff work on the budget reconciliation bill that would set a federal-state free-college partnership in motion. See @kevincarey1's valuable thread about how the sausage-making is going. (3/9)

https://twitter.com/kevincarey1/status/1436355384248254467

Read 9 tweets

Michelle Miller-Adams

@mmilleradams

19 Jan

This week in #FreeCollegeQuestions -- a more specific version of last week's question, “Nothing is free, someone is paying.” Today, “Why should I pay for other people’s children to go to college?” (We’ll leave aside for now the question of free college for adults.) (1/11)

Degrees and credentials these days are generally thought of as private goods – the person earning them reaps their benefit, so that person (or that person’s family) should bear the cost. This was not always the case. (2/11)

For much of the past century, public colleges and universities in the US were affordable and sometimes even tuition free (as in the case of California until around 1980). Prices were kept low through state support for the higher ed sector. (3/11)

Read 12 tweets

Michelle Miller-Adams

@mmilleradams

12 Jan

This is the second in a series of #FreeCollegeQuestions that explore what average Americans may want to know about free college. “Nothing is free, someone is paying” is one of the most common responses when people hear about the free-college idea. (1/9)

This is, of course, literally quite true. In order to function, higher ed institutions must pay their faculty, maintain their infrastructure, and provide a host of other services. Making college “free” does not eliminate these costs. (2/9)

What free-college plans DO eliminate is tuition charged to students. With a radically simplified message about affordability, free-college programs encourage more people to seek credentials and degrees. This is good not just for them, but for non-collegegoers, too. (3/9)

Read 10 tweets

Michelle Miller-Adams

@mmilleradams

5 Jan

2021 will bring a free-college proposal in Congress and publication of my book, “The Path to Free College.” In honor of both events, I’m launching #FreeCollegeQuestions, a series of weekly posts to explore questions average Americans may have about free college.

First up in #FreeCollegeQuestions, “If college is free will people value it less?” Richard DeVos (Betsy’s father, who died in 2018) made this argument about the Kalamazoo Promise back in 2006, telling the Grand Rapids Economic Club "If it's free, it's not worth much."

@KzooPromise

I’ve always suspected DeVos’s problem was with @KzooPromise emphasis on public schools and universal access rather than the philanthropic gesture itself. (His family, after all, is one of the nation’s largest givers, with over a billion dollars in lifetime philanthropy.)

Read 10 tweets

Michelle Miller-Adams

@mmilleradams

29 Apr 20

My fascination with the free-college idea is well documented. I've spent 14+ years studying it and have written 2.5 books on the subject (#3 is under way). One reason for the fascination is the tremendous flexibility of the idea as witnessed today. michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309…

@GovWhitmer

The free-college or "Promise" idea is eminently adaptable to all kinds of circumstances and settings. Today, @GovWhitmer announced a version of free college ideally suited to the COVID-19 economic and social crisis.

Governor Whitmer is a genius politician who understands the challenges facing workers and the state, and who avails herself of strong ideas and smart advisers (the opposite of guess who?). With "Futures for Frontliners" and the GI Bill analogy, she has landed on a formula...

Read 9 tweets

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