Do Taxpayers Owe Qualified Students A College Education?

After World War ll, using the G.I. Bill, millions of returning veterans could receive a college education from grateful taxpayers, as state universities and community colleges were built or expanded to accommodate them. The result was a well educated workforce, the likes of which the world had never seen before. This workforce lifted the U.S. to enormous success and prosperity.

But today as the U.S. economy struggles and millions of people are out of work and/or losing their homes to foreclosure, the U.S. is backing away from that educational commitment. California, by far the U.S.'s biggest state, in the California State University (CSU) system with 23 campuses has 417,000 students and employs 47,000 faculty members and staff, the largest university system in the U.S.

But with the latest budget cuts, it plans to turn away 16,000 qualified students in the Spring of 2013. And yesterday, the governor announced much bigger state budgetary cuts will be needed as revenues continue to fall.

So today, do the taxpayers still owe qualified students a college education? Or will more students be turned away for lack of money. In the 1960's thanks to the taxpayers, I earned Bachelors and Masters degrees and used that education to become successful in business. In turn I became a substantial taxpayer gladly helping to fund college educations for others.

Since 1961, 2 1/2 million people have graduated from the CSU system becoming teachers, entrepreneurs, businesspeople, engineers, doctors, lawyers and practically every other imaginable profession. Some of those people stayed in California while others went elsewhere in the nation but we made a real difference wherever we went.

Now we as taxpayers have a difficult choice. So many state funded services are necessary from a declining revenue pool. Under these circumstances do we still feel that we owe qualified students a college education, an investment that will pay us enormous future dividends? Or will we express our regrets to the many thousands of students turned away for there was no room for them. If we make the latter choice, how will that impact our future?

Dick
To learn more about the CSU system, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_University