President Obama’s recent proposal for “free” community college caused Vic Brown to ruminate on the way college has changed over the last 40+ years. In today’s Pope Center piece, he observes that Americans used to save for college, which both helped to keep prices down and also to motivate students to take it seriously. The more the government has done to promote “access” and make college “affordable” the costlier it has become and the less educational value it delivers for many students.

Brown writes, “We seem to no longer draw rational lines between serious students who need assistance, and the many non-serious students who squander it.”

Absolutely right, but I doubt that we will ever be able to draw rational lines as long as financial aid is a political matter. The US has more wealth than ever and it should be pretty easy for private organizations to identify students who have ability and determination to learn and just assist them — not merely to afford college, but to avoid poor college choices where they will just spin their wheels.