College Tuition Was Imposed as an Oppression Tactic
#NeverForget
For the better part of a century, college tuition was free in many states across America. States like California, New York, and even Florida all had university systems where tuition was free for in-state residents. There were still fees and other costs associated with attending, but the bulk of the price tag most students are faced with today was seen as antithetical to the noble pursuit of receiving an education. Upon its inception in 1868, the University of California system went so far as to officially decree that “admission and tuition shall be free to all residents of the state,” with the California State and community college systems following shortly thereafter.
What has transpired within higher education over the last month is dismaying, but not particularly surprising. After all, these are institutions that, much like the parasitic business executives and politicians we often deride, are beholden to similar benefactors that ultimately call the shots. It’s not a secret that education is a key component in producing better outcomes in life. As such, government strong-arming of universities is a tale as old as time.
The genesis of higher education’s transition from accessible, public asset to systematic debt mill is particularly salient today. Most of the enacted legislation that pulled state funding from colleges and forced their hand to charge tuition was in response to rising social unrest of the late 50s and 1960s. College campuses were a battleground for civil rights and anti-war movements, rightfully disrupting and agitating the powers that be. The voices of student protesters and activist groups grew louder with each passing semester.
Ronald Reagan’s election as governor of California in 1966 came with the promise of cuts to state funding for colleges and a pledge to “clean up the mess at Berkeley.” As for what followed, I’m going to let a couple of quotes from Reagan do most of the talking here. The first is from a 1966 speech at the San Francisco Cow Palace:
“There has been a leadership gap and a morality and decency gap at the University of California at Berkeley where a small minority of beatniks, radicals and filthy speech advocates have brought such shame to and such a loss of confidence in a great University…”1
The next one is from a press conference two weeks after proposing California universities should adopt tuition as a revenue model. Reagan stated this was in an effort to
“get rid of undesirables […] those who are there to carry signs and not to study might think twice to carry picket signs.”2
And lastly, I’ll add an all-time classic from Reagan advisor Roger A. Freeman during Reagan’s 1970 reelection campaign:
“We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat…We have to be selective on who we allow to go through [higher education],”3
In February of 1970, as state funding for higher education continued to decrease year over year, the UC Board of Regents finally imposed tuition, or an “educational fee” as it was called, on all registered students. The fallout from this transition is obvious and cannot be overstated. Student debt is now a way of life, college’s return on investment has shrunk, and a fundamental pillar in the pursuit of a better future has collapsed.
The American dream has always been mythologized, but now more than ever it feels like complete fantasy. Good grades and a college degree are no longer parameters that guarantee a well-paying job, a house, and the ability to support a family. People aren’t just now becoming disenchanted with higher education; public opinion has already turned sour.
Research on this sentiment provides some notable data points. The first is from a Gallup-Lumina report that shows an almost 10-year decline in confidence towards higher education and an increase in skepticism towards higher ed within that same 10-year period. Roughly a third of these respondents cited cost as the reason for declining confidence.
Another is from Pew Research, which shows only 22% of US adults think college is worth the cost. As an added bonus, 47% of US adults think college is worth the cost but only if you don’t have to take out loans; a notably fantastical reality for most Americans.
The implementation of college tuition and its rising costs has essentially worked as planned. It’s not so much that Americans don’t value getting an education, but they see the financial commitment required to do so as a barrier not worth overcoming. While the decimation of the American dream is a multifaceted project, making a degree both unattainable up front and insignificant even after finishing has been a particularly successful part of it.
The fact that higher education wasn’t always this way is proof enough that it doesn’t have to continue as it exists now. A core value of this newsletter is that education is a human right, and its attainment serves as a basis for better future outcomes and earnings in a person’s life. This belief extends beyond the individual as well. An educated society is more stable, more peaceful, and more prosperous. Roger Freeman and Ronald Reagan knew this. Both of them were fully aware of the threat this posed to capital owners and the status quo.
Abolishing student debt and advocating for tuition-free public colleges is not a frivolous venture for handouts. It is a just cause in the fight against fascist oppression that has sought to keep people ignorant, poor, and hopeless. We are now, once again, living through a moment in history where higher education is spotlighted in the midst of an administration’s retalitory flailing. The power that knowledge has is not lost among our political leaders; it’s why they work so hard to suppress it. They’re not going to lose sight of that, and we shouldn’t either.
My total cost (San Diego State College) per semester (including books!) was $65. Of course, this was California in the early 1950s; ... before Ronald Reagan became governor.