University Letter

UND's faculty and staff newsletter

March 30: ‘Will Making College Free Improve Education?’

“Will Making College Free Improve Education” will be presented from 4 to 6 p.m. March 30 in the East Asian Room, Chester Fritz Library. The discussion will be presented by Katy Ramey, winner of the Elliot Glassheim Essay award on Capitalism and the Common Good.

There has been a lot of political discussion about making college education free for all (or some) Americans. Yet, people disagree as to whether it is a good idea.

True, free education would provide college access to many who can’t afford it, but some claim it would lessen the value of an education and others claim it would hurt students’ motivation.

At the heart of this discussion are great philosophical questions. Some have to do with rights and human nature. For example: Is education a right or a privilege? What motivates people to succeed? Does scarcity make something more valuable? Others have to do with equal opportunity: Is it money or prejudice that prevents people from having access to college? Is college itself a process that weeds people out—is it designed for only certain people and not others? And, then there are questions of economic justice: if college is free, will it help the wealthy as much as the poor? Is this really a program to buy off middle-class voters?

What’s your opinion? Come and tell us. Join us for snacks, discussion, and to celebrate the winner of the IPPL/Glassheim Scholarship. For more information, write ippl@und.edu, call 777.2887, or visit www.philosophyinpubliclife.org.

— Institute for Philosophy in Public Life