Should College Be a Constitutional Right?

I believe the right to basic K-12 education is important and a right, but I don't believe that people should be able to attend colleges and universities for free. The cost would just too great, but I do think the US education system is in drastic need of an overhaul. This No Child Left Behind crap doesn't help anyone.

There are quite a few countries that provide free college education and health care. they understand that free education to their citizens are more important then war and power.......

I'm not trying to argue in defense of war and power. That's the last thing I want money going to, but I'd rather focus on the healthcare and giving people the basic necessities of life. I agree that college could be made more accessible, but I just feel like a free ride for anyone who wants it would be insane.

There is no " Right " to K-12 education . It is a program states provide , at the expense of the taxpayers.
The Drastic overhaul of education is Homeschooling and private schools, the government schools have become politicized

I shouldn't have phrased it as I did, I meant to say that I believe a K-12 education is a right. Without that we couldn't function as a society.

I dunno, lots of good presidents were self-taught.
A kid with the drive to obtain an education will always do better that a kid who goes through the motions to get a sheet of paper.
Education especially free education is a privilege, but take a poll at your local highschool and let me know what the general sentiment is.

...no....

College is not for everyone. It should be earned.

No, it takes the value out of a college education. All we will have is a bunch of 16th graders. I worked my way through, granted I lived at parents for free but they took it out of my hide. I worked time jobs, one on the farm for my board and one at the college to pay my tuition. It should be something to be earned. Not everyone is college material.

A significant fraction of Americans do not belong in college. Putting them in a college or university setting or demanding that they go there is a violation of their most basic rights. Demanding that colleges and universities accept these people, because they have some inalienable right to higher education, destroys these institutions of learning.

I busted my ass to get into college. And to get through college. It's shouldn't be a right; it's a privilege. And it sure as hell shouldn't be a right for all of the illegals leeching off taxpayers though the DREAM (nightmare) act...

If we paid for 4 years of College, the 40 years we pay for those who cannot make it, would more than cover the tuition...Why does OUR money go to fund welfare and abortions, but NOT EDUCATION?????

What % of people succeed when something is given to them and they haven't earned it?

Probably less than 10%, which means 90% are just wasting other peoples hard earned money.

The % on welfare. The prison population..do you think WE aren't footing the bill? EDUCATION IS A RIGHT!

Oh really? Could you show me where it says that in the Constiution?

Ready? .........GO!!!!

Education is available at the local library and internet .
1/2 of all college graduates are unemployed.
College degrees that have no commercial value.

You cannot teach, cut hair, groom a dog, be an accountant, lawyer, doctor, vet, social worker, radiologist, medical biller, with the Credentials from a Library or the Internet. An Associates Degree is a 2 year stay in a Community College...many of these jobs are pretty damn solid. College today is what High School was in my Parents' generation..

College today is what High School was in my Parents' generation..
See: http://www.sodahead.com/fun/8...
Education can be obtained for no or little cost from to many sources to list.

There is a distinction between education and Career .
Career can be learned as an apprentice , on Job training , trade schools and colleges, military , internship and other avenues depending on the chosen career.

Interest, ambition , opportunity , chance and cost all will influence ones decision. Life will sometimes dictate that desires yield to reality . Each individual makes their own way.

It shouldn't go to either!

Why not? All City Colleges in N.Y. give Financial Aid to needy students..not only to those on welfare, but whose parents cannot afford the tuition, It really is investing in a better America. Look, like it or not, you have a job to offer... people apply. One is a College Graduate, with a solid GPA. Most places will hire the Graduate, ESPECIALLY in this economy when jobs are so few, they can get the best for less. Not all students only party...College is not easy, and yes, to finish is sign of responsibility. (unless your parents can buy you seat at Harvard or Yale).

Well, I finished college after paying for it myself. And I didn't have much money. So... I didn't get any help, why should I help pay for anyone else's? And to be honest, seems like 75% of the people who graduate from college before they turn 27 or so just come out with idiotic ideals about, you know, stuff like me paying for other people to go to school as an investment in a "better America". I don't want to pay to create a bunch of liberals who are going to continue to take America down the road to ruin which we currently traverse. If you want to pay to go to college, fine. Pay. Work hard. But I don't care if the "needy" go or not. As I said, that was me, and I sorted it myself.

And none of this has anything to do with the question as to whether or not college should be a Constitutional right (I think it says in either the title or the description). It shouldn't. You have inalienable rights to work hard for your success. This would be entitlement. Making rights out of entitlements will only lead to bad things...

I went, my 3 kids went, and we did not take a dime from anyone. I am not a LIBERAL..hate labels. Would America be a better place were more people better educated. I think it would. We are paying for prisons, welfare, so obviously, things could be a lot better than they are now. We haven't tried it, so why knock it? Tell me how to stop my tax dollar from going to entitlement programs I do not want to support? Tax evasion is not an option.

Of course it's not an option, but you can speak out against it. Rolling over and taking it when you are not a liberal makes it that much worse. Are you saying that since you can't evade taxes, you just have to accept it? You know that's not right...

I have been speaking out against it for years! N.Y. is a very Liberal City, filtering into regions Upstate. I would rather pay for the 4 years of College, or Trade Schools, then pay for generational welfare, which can be endless with no return ever paid back, via taxes from JOBS!

That's a great point, Peacock. I guess I get too wrapped up in the argument against entitlement to consider the pros. When I think about college being a "Constitutional Right", I think about being flooded by illegals who know that if they breed here that we will have to pay for their children to clog up the universities, or people using that free education to get good jobs in other countries... Some radio show mentioned the numbers of Indian students who come here for the best education and then go back to India. I know that there would be benefits, but IDK how long it would take for us to realize them as a society...

it shouldn't be any kind of right in of it self. and not to mention that the biggest problems with collage is because of government interference so why add more.

I think they should have free "public" colleges to get basic degree's. And the expensive colleges and university's should be for people who want to further a college education or get a different degree of learning

A right ought not require intervention on another's behalf. The reason for this is very simple. The government cannot give you anything it hasn't already taken from someone else. Furthermore, a right ought to require that others explicitly refrain from intervening. That's the standard by which all of our other rights as American citizens are defined and that's the way it should stay.

Government sanctioned larceny is still theft regardless of who it helps.

I'm dumbfounded by how many imbecilic sheep don't understand this elementary concept.

By the topic and response of the author, I suspect that any quality college would reject you on principle alone.
Everyone has a right to go to college, why should your neighbor be forced to pay more out of his paycheck to send you to college? Why is it because you are here that others should be beholding to take care of you, nurse you, clothe you, feed you, much less educate you?
Your attitude is exactly why this and previous regimes get away with murder. Govt expansion, income tax, fiat currency, etc., etc. The govt was not intended to take care of you from cradle to grave, but to protect your freedom and liberties to pursue the best life available to you. They currently do just the opposite.
That being said, you are a moron for asking others to fund your desires. You want to go to college, get a job and pay for it like so many others before you have done. Sorry if you weren't born with a silver spoon, most of us weren't.
You want to further your knowledge? Get off your lazy a$$ and get a library card. Abraham Lincoln had an 8th grade actual education, but continued to read and gain knowledge on his own. Odds are, if you were given the money to go to college, you would be the one passing around the beer bong and failing anyway.
To all those that have said yes to this ridiculous question, get a phreaking life and take responsibility for yourself. Don't ask others to do it for you! Idiots!

Why do we give Medicaid and welfare? Oh..the ones with the $$$ pass along the bongs..and more. No sterotyping please! I keep reading such penny wise, pound foolish short term thinkers. Pay now, or pay later, for longer, and for the children and and and..just NOT 4 years of betterment!

No, working your way through college is good for character building. We have a bunch here that get scholarships through the lottery and they don't care. They quit at the drop of a hat because they have nothing to lose.

Okay, this is what I don't get:

You're brought to court if you don't go to school for enough days, but then after high school is over, the State doesn't give a crap anymore? Great, you have a high school education, but that only gets you a waitress job or something as minimum wage as that. I think college should be free. I can't believe knowledge comes at a price.

get a library card!.

What about kids who can't teach themselves? Suddenly, that's not our problem anymore?

No,it's not my problem!. If one can't learn on their own,how can college be of any benefit?. Why are me,or anyone else obligated to pay anything for you?.

I am not saying anyone should pay for it. Why are bad kids forced to go to high school? I think college should be free like elementary school, middle school, and high school.

Elementary,middle,and high school are not FREE!. It is paid for by property taxes!.If if you only rent,the landlord pays property taxes out of the money charged for rent!. You should know this so you may want to think again before contemplating college as high school isn't working out too well!.

If they can't teach themselves then why go to college? Spoon feeding goes on long enough...unfortunately it penetrates college as it is....no need to make the problem worse by flooding college with students that think they deserve a degree without the work (there are enough of them already)!

Um, Gee, maybe because they do better with a teacher being around so they ask questions? Number one: I'm not saying the kid should walk in and expect to do nothing. He should work hard at passing. Kids that don't want to go, don't have to go. Of course, just like any other student, they would be working. I don't know where you got that thought from my answer to the question. I am saying college should be free. Meaning(!) that no one pays for it. Just like Elementary School, just like Middle School, and just like High School. The education you work HARD for and the knowledge you work HARD to receive should be free like the past eighteen-nineteen years of your life.