FREE COLLEGE WILL ONLY DEEPEN THE CLASS DIVIDE. HOW ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE WORKING CLASS?
IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO MUSTER up the potential benefits of making college free in the U.S. It could provide equitable access to the opportunities made available through higher education, open possible pathways for some to escape generational poverty and offload the yoke of college debt. These benefits have some calling for college to be free nationwide, a proposal that gains ground during Democratic primaries. But while I agree that there is a real problem in this country of socioeconomic factors creating barriers to upward mobility, I don't think college is the answer, free or not.
Eleven years ago, I was a member of the lower socioeconomic tier myself. I was 18 years old and living in my car, sleeping at the homes of my friends and their families when I could. If you had offered me a full ride to go to college at that time, it would have been about as useful as trying to heal a gunshot wound with Neosporin. I needed surgery, not a salve. And even if you'd lifted the burden of tuition costs from my shoulders, I still would have had to pay for the cost of living: food, shelter, repairs to my unreliable car, clothing and a phone. Even without the cost of tuition, there was no way I would have been able to work full time, go to school full time and claw my way out of the pit of poverty I was in.
I know this because I did go to college, for a short time. I qualified for a Pell grant, which covered a large chunk of tuition, but even with that help, college just wasn't the answer for me to achieve the upward mobility I was searching for.
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Julia Stiles
“What’s funny is that I did everything as a director that I swore I would never do to my actors.”
AMERICA'S BEST - REGIONAL BANKS & CREDIT UNIONS 2025
REGIONAL BANKS AND CREDIT UNIONS ARE the financial backbone of communities nationwide.
How the Other Half Live
Patricia Arquette returns for season 2 of Severance. Free from the corporation, she reveals her character's struggle with her newfound independence
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
\"I'm not too worried about her not being likable.\"
'These Were Courageous Leaders'
Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter Bernice tells Newsweek how her family aligned with the Carters in the fight for civil rights
'A Clarion Call to Service'
Former ambassador to China heralds Jimmy Carter's 'exceptional dedication to humanity and world peace'
An Iron Dome for America
Donald Trump has promised to build a missile defense system to protect the continental U.S. from a nuclear strike. A new report lays out how it might look
THE GOLDEN AGE OF GENETIC SEQUENCING
HOW GENES ARE MAPPING THE WAY TO CANCER CURES
Mystery of Ginger Cat Is out of the Bag
The genetics behind the vibrant orange color in feline coats is finally confirmed after 112 years
Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie
PARIS HILTON AND NICOLE RICHIE ARE READY TO BRING A LITTLE “SANASA” to the world with Peacock's Paris & Nicole: The Encore, their first project together since their reality show The Simple Life ended in 2007. What's “sanasa”? It's a song and phrase the longtime friends created as kids and popularized on The Simple Life. The show, a cultural phenomenon in the early days of reality TV, followed them over a series of blue-collar jobs. Now they're bringing it back as an opera. “I know this is just going to make people laugh, have fun, be nostalgic and just celebrate our friendship,” Hilton said. While Richie acknowledged “you can't do Simple Life again,” she said now “felt like the right time.” The famous pair also revisit some old jobs in Arkansas, like fast-food chain Sonic, where they now have drinks named for them. “I think that there is a part of our friend- ship that the show ended up showing that people connect to,” Richie said. As for this new special, Hilton is glad to do something positive for their fans. “It's been such a crazy past couple years, and I just feel like the world needs more joy.”
