Hilllary's Debt-Free College Plan

Probably, the most well known rule of economics is the Law of Supply and Demand. Simply, when demand is higher than supply, prices will rise.  When, supply is higher than demand, prices will fall.

For decades, college tuition has been rising faster than inflation because of high demand and limited supply.  There is just too much money available in the form of loans and grants to send nearly anyone to college; qualified or not.
 
Now, in an effort to garner the votes of current and future college students and their parents, Hillary Clinton has announced a $350 billion dollar tax payer giveaway to essentially make tuition non-existent for public colleges and universities; and, as such, increase demand.  This will do nothing but accelerate the cost of a college education.  And, instead of the student bearing that cost, the tax payer will be on the hook for it.  This is what is so wrong with the "free" mentality of liberal Democrats.

If we want to reverse the high cost of higher education in this country, we need to lower the demand and increase the supply of post-high school education alternatives.  Last December, CBS news reported this:

"At most public universities across the U.S., only 19 percent of full-time students manage to earn their bachelor's degree on time. At flagship schools, which typically serve as the premiere public university in their respective states, 36 percent graduate in four years."

While CBS News (and Hillary) might argue costs as one of the primary reasons for this failure, US News & World Report says that college readiness is the primary reason.

The reality is that we are sending too many people to college who are unprepared.  That is a waste of both time and money and why we need to reduce the demand for college by better screening those who are unprepared to attend.  We shouldn't give loans to people who won't graduate and who won't get good enough jobs to pay those loans back.

At the same time,  this country would be better served by spending billions of dollars to create trade schools in conjunction with major businesses.  We should also invest in alternatives to brick-and-mortar schools with the increase in taxpayer funded online Universities.  That, to me, would be a plan.

References:

Hillary Clinton to roll out $350 billion college plan - CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/10/politics/hillary-clinton-college-affordability/

Why your child won't graduate from college on time: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-your-child-wont-graduate-from-college-in-4-years/

High School Students Not Prepared for College, Career: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2012/08/22/high-school-students-not-prepared-for-college-career