HIGHER EDUCATION: Lack of funding means China will win

I realize this AP article is intended as a fire starter. It is a dangerous shift when the advanced education of our populace is strangled by ignorance and politics. Other less wealthy nations like India, Turkey and China support advanced education on an affordable level with high standards. Most countries recognize the fact that an educated populace raises the standard of living for ALL citizens.

Higher education in Colleges and Universities is NOT about JOB TRAINING. There are plenty of workforce centers and on the job training opportunities out there. It is about advanced thinking and knowledge.

Two- and four-year colleges, universities and scientific institutions are centers for our future doctors, physicists, economists, lawyers, architects, engineers, technology innovators etc. that we need to keep up with the rest of the world. Thinking that our next drugs to treat cancer, business development leaders or engineers of our space station can come cheap right out of high school is ludicrous. Colleges are the stepping stone and make the unaffordable within reach for many.

The cost of higher education has far outpaced all other living costs in the past 50 years — even food and rent. Higher learning has not been funded well in the U.S.A. for decades. Only the wealthy or highly gifted get advanced education because of underfunding by the states. Leaving with an MD., MBA or PHD can be a million dollars. Supposed indoctrination of students is a red herring by politicians for continued miserable funding.  When we have no veterinarians, doctors, engineers, researchers or mathematicians we will watch China replace the USA functionally and economically.

LYNN FLEMING

Coeur d’Alene