Issue #73

Last Update May 20, 2013

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Free College by Gerry Krownstein May 15, 2015

Politicians in the 19th century, at least in New York State, seem to have been much smarter and far-seeing than any that are around today. It was in 1865 that the New York State Legislature set aside a whopping 6.1 million acres of upstate New York  as the Adirondak State Park. In the 19^th Century, too,  the city fathers of New York City bought huge swathes of upstate land for watershed and reservoirs to provide clean water to the city's population. And in 1847, the Free Academy was founded to provide a free college education to any New York City resident that wanted one and could qualify academically. The free Academy later became CCNY, the flagship unit of CUNY, the city university. Other free colleges were established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Just as free high school education pushed working class students up the economic ladder, free college helped the best of these compete with the children of the rich, who could afford a college education as entry to the arts and professions.

The free CUNY units were forced to accept tuition in 1976 during the New York City economic crisis (remember "Ford to New York: drop dead?"). Asking for state aid during the crisis, CUNY was met by jealous upstate legislators whose constituents were ineligible, by reason of residency, from attending CUNY, and a Governor Rockefeller, who wanted an expanded, tuition-charging State University to be the flagship of New York's public education and was unwilling to preserve its rival's free status.

Three items have made charging tuition almost a necessity: the increase in administrative and other non-academic costs; the near-universal attachment of graduate schools and research institutions to undergraduate colleges; and the reduction in governmental aid to colleges by city, state and federal governments. Little can be done about the reduction in aid until the electorate frees itself of the low-tax, small government politicians it has been electing.

It's time to return CUNY to the ranks of free education .