Thread: Does every US citizen have the right to a college education? Why or why not?

The simple fact is; not every American is smart enough to successfully attend college. Here in California, 60% our high school graduates have to take remedial mathematics and English once they enter college.College is something everyone should have the opportunity to attend, but it is not a right.

I think college is not the same as high school in terms of a lot of different things. For one, you need to meet academic standards to get accepted (either that or have the money/influence to get into a private school). Another thing is that you need to be able to support yourself and pay for school after you get accepted. I think not everyone should be accepted. America has a great university system and I think it's that selectivity that enables it. Competition with the world on an academic level is challenging and not everyone is up to it. That said, financial considerations should never be a barrier to someone. How would it have been if Einstein or Dirac had not had enough money to go to college? The world would be a very different place (a lot less developed).

No, they do not have the right to a college education, but they do have every chance for one depending upon their drive. Reading some of the answers and seeing so many say that every US citizen "should" have every opportunity to go honestly made me laugh. Those opportunities already exist, but few want to work for it, or have the drive to do what it takes to accomplish it.

If everybody has the right to an education (at school) everybody should have the right to a college education.

Not unless nationalize education happen over winter break.

a right to chose to go at their own expense yes, for a free one NO! If they are willing to earn one either as part of the GI bill or working while in school yes but off of the tax payer's kindness no way

Becoming educated is something people must do for themselves by putting forth effort, but if we want to live in a society where everyone has an equal opportunity, then no one should be denied a college education because they lack money. There is nothing magic about the number 12, and the decision that the government should provide free education for 12 years and no more was made at a time when less than 10% of the people graduated from high school and most jobs were manual labor,

Absolutely not. Some of the greatest minds in the world did not attend college and some of the biggest blundering fools went. College is over rated. I was in the "smart" classes all throughout HS was taking AutoCADD/drafting courses as well as teaching a freshman artclass my sr. yr when a feminazi decided to fail 4 male students our sr year. I was told that I was a shoo in by a very established art school before the incident but later that they would keep in touch.. ha. Well, it turned out okay because even though I had never done poorly in any subject and had to finish summer school to get my diploma, that huge piece of humble pie that I had to swallow gave me a drive to seven years later owning my own plumbing co. and striving to be debt ridden. I can not stand being looked down upon by others who were given their way in society. It really is a hard knock life. Deal with what you are given and make the most of every opportunity. To those who get to go to college due to race... just b/c you did tolerable in school and are of a certain color.. thats okay.. you are becoming used to society handing you everything... like the rest of the country. . . It will stop someday .. just a matter of when.. but back to the ques. No. College should be earned like everything else in this life. If you are an idiot in HS then you probably will be an idiot in college and waste yet even more of the taxpayers money. Geesh what morons in Washington!!!!

No. I suggest a few reasons.It can not be consistently applied in all circumstances. Suppose that a disaster struck and society was struggling just to feed itself. There would not be enough resources to devote to education.It may violate rights to property and liberty. Educating a person at a university requires resources and labor. To guarantee an education may force some people to surrender their property to pay for it. Theoretically, it could also require the teachers to be enslaved to do it without pay.An education is a desirable thing, and we should endeavor to educate everyone. In this spirit, we find many endowments, scholarships, and other voluntary efforts to broaden access to education. You may rightly complain that educational opportunities are not widely enough available. Do you really endorse violating other rights to attain it?The only basic right that I endorse is the right of a person to own him or herself. From this right spring the rights to life, liberty and property [1].