Truly free college would compensate students for their indirect as well as direct costs. The median annual earnings for a high school graduate are about $30,000, so the $3,800 Obama hopes average students could save each year doesn’t look so impressive. That $30,000 is what it takes to live like a low-income worker, which is what most students are, and you can’t live on tuition alone. Mandatory expenses such as food, rent and health care have increased above and beyond inflation over the past few decades, piling on cost increases for college students. The fantasy of free higher education doesn’t involve taking out loans to pay for a place to sleep, and the fact that it takes money to stay alive is a big asterisk on the president’s plan.
But why should young people be entitled to free college, never mind free food and lodging? Ignore that a lot of their parents got it; nothing in America is free anymore. Why should all of us pay to train kids for better jobs? Becker’s investigation into the economics of learning led him to think about the work that students actually do and where the fruits of their labor pop up. Education is an investment in human capital, an investment in workers’ future ability to do work. On the individual level it’s a no-brainer: A college degree is more or less a prerequisite to a good life in this economy. On a societal level, it’s good for employers and the national economy since workers with more human capital are more productive.