DeVos says free college initiatives ‘socialist takeover of higher education’
"We know what “free college” means: a government takeover. Nothing is truly free," Betsy DeVos posted on Twitter.
Outgoing Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recently declared the idea of free college a ““socialist takeover of higher education.”
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According to The Hill, DeVos appeared at an online conference where she shared her views on free and affordable higher education and student loan forgiveness. During the Federal Student Aid Office’s virtual conference she claimed free college options would do more harm in the United States than good.
“Any innocuous label out there can’t obfuscate what it really is: wrong. The campaign for free college is a matter of total government control,” she said, according to the report.
“Make no mistake: It is a socialist takeover of higher education,” she continued. “Now, depending on your personal politics, some of you might not find that notion as scary as I do. But mark my words: None of you will like the way it will work.”
She added what she forecasts would happen if universities and colleges were free. According to DeVos, not only will the quality of educational institutions decline, but the economic fallout would also be drastic.
“If the politicians proposing free college today get their way, just watch our colleges and universities begin to resemble a failing K-12 school, with the customer service of the DMV to boot,” she remarked to The Hill. “Somebody, somewhere, pays the bill,” she said. “And the bill is coming due. What we do next in education policy and in public policy writ large will either break our already fragile economy, or it will unleash an age of achievement and prosperity the likes of which we’ve never seen.”
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She doubled down on her comments during an appearance on Fox and Friends and added on her stance against student loan forgiveness.
“When you think about the fact that two out of three Americans don’t pursue a 4-year college, why should any of them be asked to subsidize and pay for those who do choose it?” she questioned. “Also, those students that have faithfully paid their student loans… why would they be asked to also subsidize and pay for somebody else who didn’t make those good judgments and choices?”
DeVos shared the clip on Twitter, writing “We know what “free college” means: a government takeover. Nothing is truly free & the 2/3 of Americans who don’t pursue a 4-year degree will end up footing the bill for the 1/3 who do.”
As theGrio reported, President-elect Joe Biden is expected to repeal many policies implemented by DeVos during her tenure in the Donald Trump administration. According to the report, the incoming commander-In-chief has proposed a college forgiveness plan and investing hundreds of billions of dollars on education from preschool through college.
According to the New York Times, Stef Feldman, Biden campaign’s policy director, said the new administration would “be able to get some big, bold education legislation passed and certainly immediate relief for our schools and our educators, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not also going to take executive action within existing authority.”
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