Was college once free in United States, as Bernie Sanders says?

[LiberalArkie]

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are battling for the "most progressive" label in the Democratic presidential primary, and for Sanders that includes his call for free tuition at public colleges and universities.

During the Feb. 4 debate in New Hampshire, Sanders argued that there is a precedent for free tuition in the United States and overseas.

"Now, all of the ideas that I'm talking about, they are not radical ideas," Sanders said. "Making public colleges and universities tuition-free, that exists in countries all over the world, used to exist in the United States."

How common is free college tuition worldwide and did it used to exist in the United States?

Snip
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/feb/09/bernie-s/was-college-once-free-united-states-and-it-oversea/

[Duckhunter935]

1. mostly true

[FreakinDJ]

27. $1 per unit is what I paid when I got out of the military

[Luminous Animal]

2. Public colleges used to be in California

http://boldprogressives.org/2013/03/college-used-to-be-virtually-free-in-california/

Many other states followed suit.

[PowerToThePeople]

6. Gov. Reagan ended that.

[AZ Progressive]

10. California's public universities are still free if you are low income

California's own financial assistance covers the cost alongside Pell Grants.

[PowerToThePeople]

11. I received enough pell grants to cover my tuition at State University.

So yes, for low income people it was essentially free even a decade ago.

[MrMickeysMom]

71. And that has been allowed to dry up... Look at how much has been taken from education..

.. when looking at pell grants

[eppur_se_muova]

95. Yep, and made a lot of other changes as well ...

gave himself hire-and-fire authority over individual professors, and otherwise steered control of UC into the hands of politicians instead of academics.

[Rebkeh]

85. I remember this, I was there

My older brothers were college age in CA at that time (70's) but it had phased out thanks to Reagan by the time I was old enough.

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Many state university systems were very low cost or free.

But that was Before Reagan. 35 years of screwage have made that world a distant memory.

[Nay]

17. My school, a state U, was so inexpensive that I could pay for it and

my rent, etc., with the paycheck from my drugstore clerk job. I had an apt. and a beat-up car. Every year I would skip a quarter to build up my savings, but I essentially put myself through school that way. You couldn't do that now. This was 1972-1977 in Florida.

[merrily]

80. You should be very proud of yourself. I was proud of you just reading your post.

[Nay]

88. Thank you, but really anyone with decent grades did college just that

way. The difference back then was that you DID have to have decent grades, and they didn't water anything down for you if you couldn't hack it. Not everyone was accepted. But of course many kids who had no interest in college could get good jobs out of high school in industry, the trades, etc. And, frankly, you could actually live on minimum wage or a little more -- have an old car, eat meals, go to the movies once a week, etc. Not like today where you have to live in a cardboard box and hit the food pantry.

[merrily]

91. No, not everyone. Some people did not have to worry about taking semesters off to earn money.

Some people without money just gave up and didn't bother with college.

Don't diminish your ambition and persistence. Be proud of yourself.

[Nay]

92. Awww, thanks!

[merrily]

93. That's more like it! Happy to see it.

[CorporatistNation]

73. AGREED, Very Competitivwe to get into but yep... Very inexpensive in NEW YORK State!

Bernie tells the TRUTH on THIS1

[bravenak]

4. No.

[Live and Learn]

18. Wrong again, they were in California at least.

Oh yeah, welcome back.

[bravenak]

20. Is that the entire US? No. United states means states united.

And the schools still had some cost. One free college in the us does not equal free college.

[Electric Monk]

22. Was California in the US at the time? Yes? Then there was tuition free college in the US.

You are entitled to your own opinions, of course. You aren't, however, entitled to your own facts.

[bravenak]

23. Is California the United States?

It is A state. If there are free burgers at the burger shack, does that mean burgers are free? No.

[Electric Monk]

24. In this graphic, is circle B inside circle A? Yes? So if I put something in circle B, it would

also be inside circle A, right? It's not that difficult a concept to grasp.

[bravenak]

26. Does that make the the same exact thing?

[daleanime]

28. Since California isn't 'the United States'.....

does that mean Hillary won't be campaigning there?

[bravenak]

29. Its only one piece.

And, in your dreams! She'll be there. But not everywhere.

[daleanime]

32. Then we had free college in the US....

and thank you, I'm working on my dream. A nation that cares about all of it's people, pleasant dreams to you too.

[bravenak]

35. There were some costs

As i said. Fees. Books. Supplies. Activity fees. Library fees. Ditto machine fees. Not free. And it was only in very few locales.

[SusanCalvin]

37. Yes, but not the major ripoff it mostly is now.

I finished four years debt-free with a housewife (not that she wanted to be, but that's another story) mom and retiree dad. I want the same for today's students.

[bravenak]

41. I get that but free means kostenlos to me.

Not basically free. I grew up poor. The books would have prohibited me from attendance as would the fees.

I think some folks see low cost as a different amount than others. Many could not afford that free college at that time, they were helping out with the family finances. It woukd have needed to be actually free to matter. Hell paid, really.

It really depends on perspective.

[TheBlackAdder]

68. Dang! And I thought my kids always had to get the last word in. nt

[SusanCalvin]

69. True, but even with

loans or part-time jobs being necessary, it was way more do-able then than it is now.

[Live and Learn]

58. Bernie's plan only entails free tuition. At most schools you can rent books fairly cheaply.

It wasn't just California but I do know that the entire State and UC colleges in California were free until Reagan changed it. You are just plain wrong.

[bravenak]

65. My school rents books for alot because are not connected to the lower 48

My point was not that it was no cheaper. Just not free. There were costs. People hear free college and do not realize that the costs attached can be just as much as tuition. It is prohibitive. Most people on my block cannot afford my paints and supplies just for one class. It was more than the class costs. Way more.

[Live and Learn]

66. He promised free tuition not free everything. But there will still be Pell grants and state grants

to help with supplies and boarding costs. If they don't have to pay tuition, supplies could be afforded much easier.

[merrily]

81. Oh, please. "In the US" does not equal "everywhere in the US" except in a

desire to pretend Sanders is untruthful.

[SusanCalvin]

36. It did exist in some parts of the US (CA being notable)

And was in most if not all places way cheaper than it is now, even adjusting for inflation. I wish for those times to return.

[bravenak]

42. I know you do.

I feel bad cause I know they wont until we are dead

[Live and Learn]

59. Not with your Can't Do attitude.

I feel bad for you because you had a chance to help make things happen and make history and instead you chose status quo over some sill vendetta. You will have to live with that decision.

[bravenak]

64. History is made either way

No need to feel bad for me. I do that just fine myself when I'm maudlin.

[SusanCalvin]

70. I'm usually a pessimist,

but I hope things are looking up, both in general and in particular.

[bravenak]

75. Maybe

I wrote you a post but it was too helpful so I'm gonna not say it. Fire Divine mark my words that man has no idea how to win in america.

[SusanCalvin]

101. Aw, I would have liked to hear it,

But you don't hafta, of course.

[bravenak]

102. Ha!

Yesterday was my be nice and helpful day but I dont want him to WIN. I have to shush.

[slipslidingaway]

44. Wrong! I paid for my husband's tuition at a state university, it was doable on my salary ...

one of my relatives told me years ago when my daughter was born that college would be about 40K per year. I thought he was crazy until we were faced with the bill.

Med school in NY was about 3 or 4K.

You can argue the numbers but if we want a strong country then we need to make higher education more affordable for all those who work hard.

[bravenak]

45. How is that free? You paid money.

[slipslidingaway]

48. The amount of money was trivial, how much do we spend on care of veterans for ...

stupid wars that have led to the rise of terrorists?

Factor in those costs and it could be free, or close to it.

Destabilizing the Middle East was a big mistake! Thankfully we have a candidate that can make the correct call the first time instead of trying to mitigate the consequences of their mistakes.

Clinton has now said invading Iraq was a mistake, really! We do not need a leader that cannot see the consequences of our actions. We need to care for our vets which will cost hundreds of millions n the years to come.

[bravenak]

50. Trivial to you is alot to poor people.

Just taking off work for class can get them behind. Not free.

[slipslidingaway]

60. We were never rich, I started working full time at the age of 17 and paid my way for night school

and also paid the last year of my husband's college tuition. It was not easy, but it was doable.

Now if you want to speak of fees that can bankrupt a family then we can speak of medical costs. We worked and saved for retirement, paid in full for two kids through college at about 40K per year, then the ball dropped when my husband was diagnosed with MDS that led to acute myeloid leukemia, needed a bone marrow transplant and then relapsed 4 years later. He had another transplant last year, was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve and had a transplant on New Year's Eve. Pardon me if I am not so moved for missing a class, I know it is hard to make up, been there done that, but HC costs can really destroy a family. We are lucky that we had saving and family support, many others who do not have insurance and who cannot afford the out of pocket maximum just die.

We have lived at the ACS Hope Lodge for over 6 months and have met so many great people, pardon me if your missing a class seems trivial.

The for profit HC system totally sucks! When my daughter received her contract as an internal medicine doctor two years ago and the contract stated that her future salary was not only dependent on billable hours, but was also dependent on collections it was another wake up call.

Education and HC need a revolution, even my daughter, whose salary is dependent on the for profit HC system agrees. She changed parties to support Sanders.

[bravenak]

63. I am very sorry for the pain and exhaustion

My cousin just had a pancreas and liver transplant and is in failure. He came up so we could take care of him before the surgery, it is horrible.

Fact is, I understand medical costs very well. I spent nine months watching my daughter die from Zellwegers Syndrome and the bills never stopped. Feeding tubes, life support, and then after all that, shes dead and I have bills. Bills I could not dream of paying. I had to call and beg hospitals, billing offices, cry on the phone for years to get those fees discharged. And i am lucky. Most cannnot beg like I can. I lost my pride with my child.

Yes. For profit sucks. But we have what we have and need to find fixes. Our nation does not do big things unless there is total collapse. We move slow. It was designed that way.

Education needs a revolution no doubt. But free college will not help many. As you said our education system is bad. Kids in bad areas get bad education and will not do well in free college. So, it will help those already doing decently more than those it needs to help most. We can do ut. But we have to deal with each other. And compromise. Big tent means conservative and moderate dems are needed in every battle. They have to be convinced. And their jobs might depend on not being convinced because of the lean of their district.

[slipslidingaway]

67. Thank you ...

and I cannot imagine losing a child, I am so sorry very, very for your loss. I cannot imagine living through that horrible time.

We all lose our dignity when begging for relief from bills, but it should not be so. We have been doing so for the past seven years, it takes a toll. That being said the bills take a backseat to the constant worries of their health as that is the most important item. We live for the outcome of the next blood test which has been done every other week and then the bone marrow biopsies which reveal even more. The for profit system sucks, a day visit with lots of tests in December was over 26K billed, still sorting it out.

I guess we disagree on how fast things can change, as a 60+ year old woman, we need to move forward. I am tired of incremental changes. I do not care if the next president is male, female, white, black or blue and do not care of their religion or sexual preference.

College is not for everyone, but it should not be so expensive and many are disadvantaged, that needs to change. But we need to change the expectations and lift as many people out of poverty as possible, it might be slow progress. That is what many in the Hillary camp are suggesting for HC, not sure how long we can hold out before we become a statistic.

Again I am so sorry for your loss.

[SusanCalvin]

72. I am so sorry for your loss. nt

[Orsino]

89. Well, your hasty reply does underscore how successfully the concept was buried.

But yes, free schooling has been implemented successfully in the US, and could be again.

Or surely something close to free, widely if not universally available.

[bravenak]

90. There were fees

[DaveT]

5. Not quite free but close

Tuition and books at The University of Texas in 1972 came to less than $200 per semester. Anybody could work their way through college if they just put out the effort.

I got two degrees without having to borrow one cent. My class mates who did get loans all paid them off in a matter of months after graduation.

[Live and Learn]

19. Bernie is only talking about tution and it was free. nt

[Avalon Sparks]

57. My tuition at Southwest Texas State in 1984-1989 was....

About $350 for 15 hour semesters. about $120 total for all the books, notebooks and a t-shirt or other School logo item per semester. Now it's three times that per class. I think I've heard just one book can cost over 100 dollars...

[Blue_In_AK]

98. That's how it was for me

at University of Houston a few years earlier. Eminently affordable.

[HereSince1628]

7. I paid $5 per graduate credit at Texas A&M in 1983.

Very affordable.

[RiverLover]

21. Yep. I was there late 80s in TX, at UT.

Was able to put myself through by waitressing. No debt when I graduated.

We were blessed.

Kids today should be as well.

[elleng]

8. WHEN TUITION AT CUNY WAS FREE, SORT OF

'CUNY was for many years associated with free tuition, so much so that people still refer to a time, not so long ago, when everybody attending New York City’s public colleges did so without paying a dime.

The reality, however, is more complicated.'

http://www1.cuny.edu/mu/forum/2011/10/12/when-tuition-at-cuny-was-free-sort-of/

[bettyellen]

14. SUNY and CUNY sure weren't free in the early eighties.

[bklyncowgirl]

76. Tuition was imposed at CUNY in the late seventies.

I was one of a large contingent of students who went up to Albany to protest. One of our buses broke down and we missed the main demonstration. We ended up storming the state house and for a couple of hours took the place over. The governor, Hugh Carey, and the legislature were forced to go elsewhere but it was a pyrrhic victory. Tuition was still imposed and that was unfortunate.

[bettyellen]

96. I remember it resulted in lots of families that valued education moving west, yep.

Thanks for protesting!

[Go Vols]

9. your link says so

However, there are examples of some colleges or universities offering free tuition decades ago, especially universities established through federal land grants starting in the 1860s.

"Public colleges and universities were often free at their founding in the United States, but over time, as public support was reduced or not increased sufficiently to compensate for their growth in students and costs (faculty and staff salaries, utilities etc.), they moved first to a low tuition and eventually higher tuition policy," said Cornell University professor Ronald Gordon Ehrenberg.

For example, California offered free tuition to in-state students until the 1970s, although it charged an "incidental fee" starting in 1921.

[exboyfil]

12. In 1920 less than 5% of the 18-24 population was enrolled in university

Here is a table showing enrollment rates by year.

Look at pg. 31.

http://www.nber.org/chapters/c6079.pdf


Here describes tuition at UC Berkeley over the years. The California systems had historically low tuitions.

http://www.dailycal.org/2014/12/22/history-uc-tuition-since-1868/

Here is another article describing tuition over time.
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/03/05/is-college-for-everyone-an-introduction-and-timeline-of-college-in-america/

[closeupready]

13. Ohio famously paid for every Ohio resident's state tuition.

CA, TX were two others where it was free.

[bettyellen]

15. not in every state- NYC wasn't free and I know people who moved west just to get their

kids educated because it was free longer in Cali. If NYC colleges were free, it was before the mid seventies. But it was cheaper!

[tularetom]

16. The University of California was virtually free back in the 60's

There were some nominal fees but they were insignificant.

Still had to provide yourself a place to live but even that was relatively cheap in those days.

I was able to swing the whole thing on GI bill, part time jobs, working wife and an $1800 loan from my dad when my wife had to quit work for awhile after our daughter was born in 63.

[kwassa]

25. Prop 13 killed education in California.

Before that, I took college classes for $2.50. Total cost.

[JDPriestly]

30. Yes in California, I believe.m

[SusanCalvin]

34. You are correct. nt

[flamingdem]

31. Cheaper, not free. Free for Europeans on scholarships

at California Universities. That fact lead to my existence as the progeny of one of those who got his doctorate at Berkeley for free a long time ago.

[SusanCalvin]

33. Close enough when I was in college in the 70s.

About $160/semester for tuition, IIRC. Even adjusting for inflation, pretty cheap.

[SheilaT]

38. Other than in California, and perhaps a couple of other states,

college was never free in this country. Yes, it was vastly cheaper, but not free.

And the public colleges and universities in the west tended to be much cheaper than those in the east back in the day.

In 1960 my older brother chose to attend New Mexico State University rather than any of the schools in New York State, where we lived at the time, because NMSU was much, much less expensive, even though he had a Regents scholarship in New York.

A few years later we'd moved to Tucson, Arizona, and I attended the University of Arizona, and I met any number of kids from New York and New Jersey who'd come to Arizona because it cost a lot less.

The essential problem is this: States used to underwrite that majority of the costs of their public universities, and at some point (maybe the mid 70s? I don't really know) they started shifted costs to the students. That continues down to this day. It's criminal.

[Art_from_Ark]

49. Tuition was free for graduate student TAs

at the University of Arkansas when I was there. I don't know if that's still the case.

[SheilaT]

54. Grad students are a special case, I think.

I have a son who has applications out for grad schools, for astronomy. I've been told any number of times that in the hard sciences a grad student should not be paying tuition, and should be getting some sort of stipend in addition, to live on. In fact, one astronomer I was talking to recently said that if he gets an admission offer from a school, but they don't offer him free tuition and money, then they don't really want him, and he shouldn't go there.

Here in New Mexico I know that lottery money is used to pay at least some of tuition costs at the public universities for kids who go straight there from high school. I think there's some requirement about being in some particular upper percent of your graduating class, and to maintain some specific GPA. I'm not real familiar with it as I didn't go to school here, and lived in a different state when my own kids were in high school.

There are a certain number of decent deals for kids at public universities, even today. It's just that it's quite a hodge-podge of programs and plans, and the majority of students are paying a lot more then they used to.

[ScreamingMeemie]

39. UW Milwaukee 1963. Cost of books.

[slipslidingaway]

40. Mostly true, tuition was something you could pay for with a summer job if you worked hard ...

and then you have to look at how much we spend to invade other countries and how much we will spend to defeat the terrorists WE helped to create. Just today we heard of terrorists plans in the US, we cannot kill other people without expecting backlash. That is a major component to recruit others to fight us. Sanders recognized that years ago as many did, Clinton said I made a mistake. The chickens have come home to roost, we need someone who cares about others and who recognizes the consequences.

We would not be in this mess if some of 'leaders' believed that ALL lives matter. And yes those are also the kids that pick up cluster bombs in other countries and those who we bombed and called 'collateral damage.' You cannot do this without expecting some backlash.

ALL people matter, throughout the world!

And then we have to look at money we will need to spend, and rightfully so, to serve the needs of wounded vets. We asked them to serve and they did, we should not turn our backs when they need, especially when they put blind trust in the leaders of our government. My father was a marine in WW2 and I later found out that he told my male cousins that he would help them avoid the draft during the Vietnam war, he eventually came around to believe that 'war was a racket.'

We also turn our backs on the 9/11 rescuers who are still fighting to have their health care needs met. People are not disposable and people have memories, from those who were harmed with overthrowing their elected leaders decades ago to those who 'served' in NYC and beyond.

People matter, that is the bottom line.

[Art_from_Ark]

43. I think that a semester at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

was less than $200 for in-state students back in the early '70s. By the late '70s, it had gone up to around $300, I think, but a Basic/Pell Grant would usually cover that. Now I've read where a semester's tuition can be $3000 or more, even for in-state students. That is mind-boggling to me.

Graduate tuition was waived for TAs in the '80s. I don't know if that's still the case.

[aikoaiko]

46. CCNY was free for a while on a merit based system

[FuzzyRabbit]

47. Bernie's idea of graduating from college debt free is not pie in the sky.

We've done this before, and for many years. I went to college in the 1960s and very few students went into debt, even at expensive private universities. Nearly all students graduated debt free in Washington state in the 1960s, and before that during the 1950s.

As I recall, tuition at state schools was about $200 a semester. I went to a private university. Tuition, books and supplies cost me about $750 a quarter.

Back in those days, people valued education and believed that a well educated society provided benefits for everyone, not just the educated. Nowadays that is a "revolutionary" idea.

[slipslidingaway]

56. "..people valued education and believed that a well educated society provided benefits for everyone'

and that is the idea we are missing in our society today.

It is not about one class vs. another, it is about lifting as many people as possible in our country.

But we need someone to say WE CAN ... as opposed to someone who says we cannot.

My children grew up in a town that was dominated by Asian families, guess we all were drawn to the town because of the good schools.

A rising tide lifts all boats.

It should not be a revolutionary idea now, it is just what is needed to move forward.

[bkkyosemite]

51. I am from CA and yes it was.

[hollysmom]

52. when I went to college, I went on a state scholarship, almost everyone I knew

at that college was there on a state scholarship. They used to be given out like candy at halloween. This is no longer true, although I will say the college is still sort of affordable, 11K a year.
Community college is still affordable, my niece when that route for the first 2 years, not free, but not that expensive.

[HassleCat]

53. Pretty much

Public universities, even some highly regarded schools, had cheap tuition. When I first went to college in 1970, I paid about $80 a quarter, the equivalent of $120 a semester, and my books were provided. When I got put of the military in 1978, tuition was up to about $350, if I remember correctly, but I was getting $450 a month from the GI Bill, so I was squeaking by with some left over for ramen noodles. I remember students telling me the California system did not even bother charging tuition. And we had Pell grants, so not many people went deep into debt for college.

[Cleita]

55. It was tuition free in California when I went to college.

Still had to pay for books and lab fees.

[ecstatic]

61. My parents said community college in NYC was free

or nearly free in the late 70s. I'll ask for clarification tomorrow.

[Petrushka]

62. Politfact says "Sanders' statement is accurate but needs clarification. We rate this statement . . .

. . . Mostly True.

http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2016/feb/09/bernie-s/was-college-once-free-united-states-and-it-oversea/

[bklyncowgirl]

74. I went to Brooklyn College tuition free in the early 70s.

The City University of New York was free up until the late 70s. State University of New York charged tuition but it was still inexpensive.

This was essential for me. My parents had put aside some money for my education and I had saved some of my own earnings as well but in my senior high school year my father was part of a mandatory buy out at the NYC Department of Sanitation and our family income dropped. Bottom line I wasn't going to be able to go away to college as I'd planned.

My grades were good enough to get me into Brooklyn. I started out in Pre-Veterinary Medicine but flunked chem and calculus and switched majors. I graduated with a four year degree in Art History which unfortunately turned out, in the Reagan years to be profoundly unmarketable, but I had money in the bank, a job in a comic art library and within a year of graduating had my own apartment and was living the dream, more or less.

Today I look at kids coming out of college with no better job prospects than I had but also loaded down with debt. How in the name of God are they going to ever get on their feet?

That's one of the reasons I support Sanders.

[liberal N proud]

77. This is the lie that Bernie is using to get the young people to vote for him

What he is not telling the young people, is that free is never free and someone will have to pay for it through higher taxes.

And getting that past the cons in this country is simply not possible.

I recall another presidential candidate that promised the youth of the nation something, then we got Reaganomics, which we are still paying for! Revenue enhancements anyone?

[Sanity Claws]

78. City University of New York used to be free

Many famous folks, many of whom were immigrants or children of immigrants, graduated from City College in upper Manhattan.

[merrily]

79. A relative went to a state college early in the 1960s.

Tuition was $75 a semester, with another $50 or $75 for "fees."

Not exactly free, but close, even in 1960 dollars.

I believe California had free college for California residents because there are court cases trying to decide who is a resident and therefore entitled to the free tuition.

Sanders never said free tuition was available all over the US, so I don't know why politifact had to go there. They always try to throw shade on Sanders' veracity for no apparent reason.

[LynnTTT]

82. Private colleges were reasonable also

When I went to college in 1966, my Dad worked for the Social Security adm and made $21,000 a year. The private college I went to in NC cost about $2,100 a year (tuition and room and board) or about 10% of his gross income. Now that college costs about $46,000 a year. My Dad would not be making $ 460,000 a year.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

83. I have a framed coupon for a free college education at Miami University from the 1800s, iirc.

Miami in Ohio, the FIRST Miami University. Was a gift from an antiquing relative who knew I went there. Apparently one of past presidents of the university had them printed up, although I'd have to go read the printed-out sheet that came along with the gift to see how extensively they were used or distributed.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

84. This goes a long way in explaining the great divide between...

young and old women. Older, white women had sexism to overcome, but college was affordable and the American Dream was within their reach. Today, young women of all races have greater opportunities, hypocritically. They are facing a different obstacle: indentured servitude to banksters. It's important to both old and young women that they see a woman president in their lifetime. Older women are running out of time. It's not the #1 priority for younger women, suffocating debt is.

[LWolf]

86. My AA was free.

I got it at a community college in CA. I paid for my books, but tuition was free.

By the time I transferred to a 4 year university, that was no longer the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/28/science/california-weighs-end-of-free-college-education.html

[Vinca]

87. Many schools were free or very, very affordable.

A student could enroll, work a part time job and come out the other end debt free. I can't imagine how it's gone from 0 to $40,000 or $50,000 a year. Greed, I suppose.

[s-cubed]

94. I entered college in 1963, to Rice Universaity, a very good private university.

I paid about $1000/year room and board, no tuition, and about $200 in fees. Now, Rice was barred by its endowment from charging tuition, but I could afford to go.

[Blue_In_AK]

97. Mostly true.

I paid $50 a semester tuition at the University of Houston in 1964-68, excluding books, and that was for full load, 15-18 credit hours/semester. I was able to easily cover tuition and books with my summer job income.

[Le Taz Hot]

99. All Community colleges were free in California.

Unlike "Jr. College," which is sort of like a prep school, California's community colleges are actually the first 2 years of a 4-year degree. From there, the California State University System was free or virtually free so yes, it was very possible to end up with a 4-year degree with absolutely no debt.

We did it before, we can do it again.

[NobodyHere]

100. Free and tuition-free are two different concepts.