Declan
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We're in the same ballpark here, I reckon. I am generally reluctant to increase the size, scope or powers of government if it can be avoided, but something is going to have to be done, and "investing in education" is an established gov't function (even if debatable in some venues).
If the choice is going to be between having half the workforce be unemployable, or putting some tax dollars into making education/ job-retraining more accessible to the down-and-out, I'm going with the latter.
Now you bring up state colleges and tech, vs subsidizing private universities.... and here's some interesting problems:
Gov't subsidies of universities appear to translate into much higher tuition rates, rather than large increases in attendance. Oops. Greedy buggers....
There aren't currently enough "slots" in the state U machine to educate everyone, and especially give extra time/help to those from academically disadvantaged situations...
Are there enough JOBS for all the graduates, if almost EVERYONE starts getting a degree of some kind?
Not saying I know the answers, just that all this stuff gets complicated when you start trying to fix it....
You wouldn't need to expand the scope. That is part of the problem in higher education. The cost of administration and extraneous activities have overtaken the cost of instruction in a great many universities.