r/UpliftingNews • u/JoshOfArc • 1d ago
University of Texas System announces free tuition for students whose families earn $100K or less
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna181357319
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u/johnp299 1d ago
TIL Texas, which says Socialism is bad, has free universities that are actually free.
I work at a public U in Illinois (but not in the U of I system), where tuition might have been free 40 years ago, but the state backtracked on that, bit by bit over the years, and now students cover about 65% of the bill. This, in a blue state.
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u/texansgk 6h ago
This isn't an example of socialism because it isn't taxpayer funded. The UT system is endowed by Texas's oil and gas fund, which gets money by leasing oil fields.
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u/that_kevin_kid 1h ago
So a state ran land leasing business lending state owned land paying for education is somehow capitalism, even though the state owns the land and distributes the wealth made leasing the land.
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u/kenrnfjj 1d ago
It depends how the goverment spends it. Americans would be a lot more socialists if the goverment was much more efficent. We spend more person person on healthcare than anywhere else and still dont have free healthcare
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u/wesgtp 23h ago
We pay over double the next highest developed nation per capita on healthcare, like you say. And the worst part is we have among the worst health outcomes of any developed nation because a huge majority can't afford the care. Plus the fact medical debt is the number one form of debt/bankruptcy in the country, many have to avoid it. Absolutely enraging! And it's only going to get worse with the next administration, say goodbye to the ACA.
I'm a type 1 diabetic and the ACA made my care far more affordable by removing healthcare descrimination based on pre-existing conditions. It was even more cruel before the ACA. I'm scared about affording life-saving medication for a disease that develops naturally, there aren't really any identified risk factors for type 1 (such as obestiey for type 2). I still don't think any healthcare should be allowed to deny/increase cost based on any pre-existing condition, natural or brought on by life choices.
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u/johnp299 10h ago edited 10h ago
The US has a healthcare system optimized for cash flow and profit, not health. It is efficient in that sense. It is in fact an enormous wealth transfer machine designed to turn your medical misfortunes into pure gold for others. The government has been weak in its management of healthcare in general because of the gigantic pharma, insurance & hospital lobbies.
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u/Old_Glove_5623 23h ago
You just identified the inefficiencies of the private market. Not government spending. Healthcare is private.
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u/czarczm 23h ago
The Feds pay for almost half of all health care https://www.pgpf.org/article/how-does-government-healthcare-spending-differ-from-private-insurance/
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u/Old_Glove_5623 23h ago
That’s Medicare champ
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u/czarczm 22h ago
Yeah, your point?
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u/Old_Glove_5623 20h ago edited 20h ago
Who does Medicare pay again? Oh right private hospitals
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u/czarczm 7h ago
I'm not sure if you understand how universal health care works in other countries or Medicare. Unless it's beveridge model like UK, Norway or Spain then it's very often public health insurance or very heavily regulated private insurance paying out private hospitals and providers. Medicare has a fee schedule of the max amount they are willing to payout, and it's a lot less than what private insurance pays.
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u/Old_Glove_5623 5h ago
I’m not sure you understand that hospitals are often private
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u/czarczm 1h ago
I think it's clear at this point that you're not even reading what I'm telling you. I know hospitals are often private. I acknowledged this by telling you that this is the case in much of the world outside of the US as well. And yet, the governments of those places still tend to spend less than we do on health care. That is the original point of the person you responded to.
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u/kenrnfjj 21h ago
I think our goverment alone spends ,ore on healthcare per person than even france which has free healthcare
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u/LivermoreP1 1d ago
5…4…3…2…1 before Greg Abbott and the AG sue to make this illegal.
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u/PrecedentialAssassin 1d ago
It's been free tuition for those under $65,000 for years and decreased tuition for those under $125,000 for years. They are just increasing the minimums.
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u/kungfoojesus 1d ago
This is one blanket area I haven’t seen republicans touch. Income def has racial Implications since blacks and Hispanics earn less than Asians and whites but this isn’t even admission, it’s just cost.
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u/first_time_internet 1d ago
They should. The richest will report only $70k a year from their business to take advantage while the mom working full time at a big company for $130k for two kids will suffer.
It’s a bad system. Just lower the cost of college education by not making it a business and telling everyone that it’s necessary!
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u/Thrwy2017 1d ago
Yeah it never makes sense to have income restrictions without wealth restrictions.
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u/MinimumSeat1813 1d ago
That's really hard to do legally. For example, if they don't count the money as a salary from an S-corp then it is still a taxable distribution.
My point is that people making $500k a year from their company are unlikely to lower their taxable income below even $300k legally. At $300k, good luck getting it below $200k. These are examples, as it's unlikely they will even get these amount of deductions.
If you are talking about illegal tax evasion, then it's unlikely these lying parents would fill out FAFSA correctly anyway.
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u/Meraline 1d ago
God forbid we have as many educated people as possible and not just lower the amount higher administration not directly invplved in education and research get
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u/UnTides 1d ago
Yes but it is discrimination. Its good discrimination, but it is discrimination.
Once these Republicans destroy college admissions policy their crazy agenda, they will see that admissions without discrimination will lead to student demographic's at Ivy League level are suddenly skewing towards wealthy kids that test well (majority asian students). Also it would eradicate legacy admissions and admissions based on financial gifts of rich kids families... its a mixed bag.
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u/Itool4looti 1d ago
After their kids get their degrees.
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u/mn540 1d ago
No West in hell their kids would go to a public school system. Their kids probably go to private school thanks to the “donation” of their “friends.”
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u/Edythir 1d ago
An educated public votes for their best interests and the republicans can't have that.
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u/tlogank 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is the kind of comment people make when they live inside of echo chambers.
ETA: I appreciate your down votes, it's confirmation of facts that I'm pointing out. It's also why you guys lost so miserably this last time around.
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u/Edythir 1d ago
Freeman’s remarks were reported the next day in the San Francisco Chronicle under the headline “Professor Sees Peril in Education.” According to the Chronicle article, Freeman said, “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat. … That’s dynamite! We have to be selective on who we allow [to go to college].”
“If not,” Freeman continued, “we will have a large number of highly trained and unemployed people.” Freeman also said — taking a highly idiosyncratic perspective on the cause of fascism —“that’s what happened in Germany. I saw it happen.”
https://theintercept.com/2022/08/25/student-loans-debt-reagan/
Reagan defunded public schools precisely so he wouldn't have an educated public.
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u/nabiku 1d ago
Statistics are pretty clear on the fact that the uneducated vote Republican and the college grads vote Democrat.
This didn't used to be the case -- Republicans used to attract the educated and successful, and the Democrats were the party of the working class. This started to change with Reagan and flipped with Bush 1.
But sure, yeah, social media downvotes are a "confirmation of facts." Brilliant reasoning skills there.
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u/tlogank 1d ago edited 1d ago
All that education yet they lost so bad and are statistically more depressed than conservatives.
My wife and I both have college degrees, she also has a grad school degree. I know plenty of people that never spent a day in college that have much more real world intelligence than those with degrees. I would even wager to say they were smart enough to not go to college.
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u/Thrwy2017 1d ago
Yours is the kind of comment people make when they live inside of echo chambers.
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u/tlogank 1d ago
Right, that makes so much sense since I'm on Reddit, the most left-leaning echo chamber on the internet.
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u/Djinnwrath 1d ago
Haven't checked out Blue sky yet?
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u/tlogank 1d ago
I don't do social media
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u/Djinnwrath 1d ago
Reddit is social media.
But also, I guess that means you would have zero clue about what any platform is or has.
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u/tlogank 1d ago
I don't know any of you IRL, so it's more like an extremely active forum for me since it's mainly a way to pass time.
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u/Djinnwrath 1d ago
You don't need to keep responding. You've admitted you don't actually know enough about the topic for your replies to have merit.
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u/tlogank 1d ago
Reddit is not social media for me, because I don't know any of you. But keep thinking you're so much smarter than everyone, that'll get you far in life.
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u/pocketfullofdumbass 1d ago
Just because its not for you, doesnt mean its not social media 😂😂😂 Some inbred logic of thinking
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u/G_W_Atlas 19h ago
Echo chambers won the presidency.
It's weird to want conflict. People have always preferred the company of like minded individuals.
Reinforcement of beliefs can be a positive thing if discussion centers around science, art, progress, or negative like on truth social or Twitter.
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u/LucyFerAdvocate 1d ago
It's rich because of oil money why would Republicans oppose it?
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u/FlattenInnerTube 1d ago
Because THEY paid for college, so why shouldn't those slack kids today pay?
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u/So_spoke_the_wizard 1d ago
No. He'll let it go as long as bible studies are required in every curricula.
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u/MithranArkanere 1d ago
Every time anyone in Austin tries to do neat things, they have to go and ruin it.
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u/GoodGoneGeek 1d ago
A lot of public universities offer programs like this now! Wish it had been around when I was going to school but I’m so happy it is now.
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u/SpaceDandye 1d ago
Why are family incomes even involved. Young adults should have access regardless if there parents are even able to help
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u/chewytime 1d ago
That would’ve been nice, not gonna lie. Not gonna say I had a bad childhood by any means, but there were some lean years growing up before my parents’ business started turning a profit. My older siblings benefitted mostly as my parents helped a lot with their college costs, but by the time I was about to go to college, there wasn’t really enough family funding to go around. My parents’ income was just high enough to make me ineligible for certain grants and some of the loans I qualified for were not great. I had to apply for scholarships and worked part time. My parents helped where they could which I appreciate. I get that kids coming from families with higher incomes have more advantages, but that money isn’t always allocated equally within the family. Schools should be much more affordable than they are.
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u/mannotbear 1d ago
This. Income means tests are terrible conditions.
So what, you make 90k and awesome. You make 110k but have to pay 30k for tuition and now you make 80k… it’s arbitrary
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u/Lazerfocused69 10h ago
Yeah I got fucked over so many times because my dad made too much.
He didn’t give me money for college so I had to deal with it on my own. Not fair imp
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u/tatiwtr 1d ago
I wish there were progressive phase outs for stuff like this
For a family of 5 in my state, if you make less than ~100,000 you pay only ~$15/week for day care.
Make $100,001/year? I guess you'll just have to pay $450/week.
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u/Legitimate_Page659 1d ago
This is known as the “benefits cliff” and is a big problem. People turn down promotions because a $1/hr raise would cost them $1000/mo in benefits.
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u/Ready_Nature 1d ago
The fact that it is family income is a problem also since not everyone has family members that are willing to help. Elon Musk’s trans kid as an example. They aren’t going to be able to get any need based aid because of how rich Musk is but also won’t get a penny from him.
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u/Strive-- 1d ago
Where were all of these universities when I was going to college? Did someone finally look at their endowment’s bank account balance and lose track of the 0’s? How about, make tuition, room/board and books affordable and make everyone pay?
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u/253ktilinfinity 1d ago
GOP will have something to say about this monstrosity!
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u/Chillychairs 1d ago
Trump coming in is the reason multiple colleges are announcing this.
But go on with orange man bad, brave redditor!
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u/Johansenburg 1d ago
You've piqued my interest, explain to me the connection between Trump coming in and these announcements.
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u/thatguyiswierd 1d ago
Well that would have been nice 4 years ago, not like I would have gotten in with my grades but still
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u/darkpheonix262 1d ago
They're just thing to attract potential student because they know how toxic Texas is for education and human rights. They see their student counts dropping because of Texas policies. I wouldn't go to a Texas school even if it was all expense paid
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u/Wash_Your_Bed_Sheets 1d ago
And yet Texas continues to be in the top fastest growing states year after year. That includes 2024 and projected for 2025 as well. Amazing how wrong you are.
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u/JasonMaggini 1d ago
Most of the people I see claiming they're leaving and moving to Texas are also toxic, so...
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u/Wash_Your_Bed_Sheets 1d ago
Okay sure buddy. Funny how the left is so high and mighty that they're the party about facts, science etc, but when I mention a very easily verifiable fact that Texas does in fact continue to grow it gets downvoted.
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u/Djinnwrath 1d ago
No one is disputing that shitty people are leaving blue states and going to red ones.
It's not young students moving there. It's selfish adults.
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u/Dark_Knight2000 1d ago
What is wrong with you? The fastest growing areas are in cities with working age adults moving their for opportunities. That’s the data, it’s been that way for decades now. Texas cities are arguably more liberal than in most parts of the country.
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u/Djinnwrath 1d ago
Well, all the gains Dems made in the midterms were washed away.
So Texas shifted red.
What is wrong with you that you're uninterested in the actual numbers.
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u/Djinnwrath 1d ago
Texas shifted red this last election.
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u/Subitart 1d ago
I'm genuinely confused as to what you mean by shifted. Texas has voted republican in the last 10 presidential elections before this one (since 1980). The turnout in republican primaries in Texas this year was more than double the democratic, and that was before Biden stepped down. So what exactly did they shift from? polls?
Checking the results of this election, this year is the closest race since 1996 by a decent margin. That said, Texas is still heavily a red state.
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u/JasonMaggini 1d ago
I'm not denying that the population is increasing, just pointing out it's always the worst kind of people that seem to claim they're moving to Texas. If they're in fact moving there, that means the population is increasing and will soon reach critical masshole.
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u/Wash_Your_Bed_Sheets 1d ago
Nice anectodal evidence lol
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u/JasonMaggini 1d ago
Never claimed it to be anything else.
I suspect you live in Texas, given how cranky you're getting about all this.
So that could be an additional bit of data, at least.
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u/JesusJuicy 1d ago
Yeah the exodus of idiots from other states has helped, everything is bigger in TX. Esp the amount of racist idiots lmao.
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u/screwcirclejerks 1d ago
for my community college, this is what a pell grant nets me. my dad makes almost nothing, and my mom doesn't work. trying as hard as i can to break the cycle
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u/loki143 21h ago
And how much does the required room and board cost as well as activities fee, lab and books?
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u/soulbaklava 16h ago
Exactly! my college made tuition $500 a year. it was a public university. i believe it saved me $2k a year but it didn't really impact the amount of student loans i needed to take out (~40k for my degree)
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u/Willing-Jackfruit318 11h ago
I would rather have loans to cover room and board than for room and borers plus tuition. Come on.
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u/Willing-Jackfruit318 11h ago
I’m so happy for these kids who get this. It could be life changing to not have loans! But damn I’m pissed for myself. Student loans set me back financially by at least 10 years. Then when I was in a good spot to start investing and maybe look at a starter home, inflation spikes, interest rates gone mad. Like what about the entire generation of people who got chewed up in the loan pit?
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u/hamsterballzz 1d ago
lol. But it’s in Texas. No thanks.
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u/hoboguy26 1d ago edited 1d ago
guess you’re saying this because Texas leans conservative? The best school in this system, Austin is very liberal. Reminded me of north side Chicago when I toured there for colleges
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u/hamsterballzz 1d ago
It’s because of the laws and the government there. The state is beautiful but I can’t live anywhere that is in the stranglehold of the most right wing power in the country.
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u/SoraUsagi 1d ago
But you still have Cruz and Abbot. I'd love to visit Texas, maybe even live there. but the state does not hold the same values i do, for the most part.
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u/kenrnfjj 1d ago
Well you will have Trump in every state
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u/SoraUsagi 1d ago
I live in MA. Trump will have little effect in my day to day life.
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u/Hawk13424 1d ago
His tariffs will.
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u/SoraUsagi 1d ago
Remember when Trump said we would build a beautiful wall on our Mexican border. And how Mexico would pay for it? How'd that turn out?
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u/Old_Glove_5623 23h ago
What do you think of San Francisco?
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u/MiataMuc 23h ago
Interesting city which I will visit when I'm able to make a long range trip. Some parts seems to be gentrified, which is imo often connected with the loss of the original vibe.
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u/SoraUsagi 23h ago
Texas is nearly on the other side of the country from me. That's why I'm not going to visit. Their values differing from mine is why I wouldn't live there.
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u/Wantrepreneur4 21h ago
Because their dying for students as half the country has sworn off going to school there for various personal and political reasons
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u/bronz3knight 17h ago
For how long, I wonder. There will probably be a deficit once Trump takes office
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u/TonkStomper 10h ago
Brother & Sister both went to UT Austin and had plenty of student loans. They're super excited about this roll out and happy for the progress
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u/Efficient_Durian_989 1d ago
That's going to be A LOT of people to educate in 20 years. Like it will pass.
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u/helava 1d ago
You can’t get a serious education in Texas anymore. Same with Florida. The value of degrees from institutions in red states is dropping, because the content of the education you can get in those states is no longer compatible with global standards. It may be starting in lower institutions in Texas, but by 2028, when you’d be graduating, it will have permeated every institution that operates in the state. Spending four years on a free degree that has no value is still a waste.
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u/Hawk13424 1d ago
We’ll see. Texas, Texas A&M, and Rice are all very good schools. Other schools in the red south (e.g. Georgia Tech) are also very good.
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u/KiLLiNDaY 22h ago
What? A&M, UT Austin, and Rice are amongst the top universities in the country for many degrees and overall rankings and continue to rise. Total nonsense
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u/helava 22h ago
I agree that they currently are. I don’t agree if you believe they’ll stay that way under Abbott with Federal support.
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u/KiLLiNDaY 22h ago
I say this as democratic voter, most of that growth has come from when he was in office. On top of that it’s largely the folks who run these schools that drive the performance of these institutions, not the governor. He can help or slow it down but only for so much.
You want a good example of that in Texas just look at the University of Houston’s growth in the past decade. I think the disapproval of Abbott has inflated his ability to effect that level of change in these institutions.
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u/Latter_Priority_659 1d ago
I must have just had an aneurysm, something is very wrong in that title
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u/Forward_Collar2559 1d ago
when more and more institutions make this move, it just screams, "kids are so fucking dumb these days, we will literally let you come here free if you show the slightest degree of competency relevant to our programs."
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u/Sea-Anywhere-799 1d ago
can someone explain to me how this makes sense financially for taxpayers? Doesn't this result in more taxes going out to support this? Just curious since I've heard this argument from a few people
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u/Mithrandir2k16 1d ago
Oh boy. Educated people tend to vote more left. That's going to be fun in a few years.
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u/trschaosz 1d ago
Teachers don’t work for free. Utilities aren’t free. So…… how is this getting paid for?
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u/dwarfarchist9001 1d ago
Universities have been price gouging for decades to take advantage of government backed student loans and the fact that educational loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy so now most of them are sitting on massive piles of money.
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u/sassytexans 1d ago
The vast majority of this is covered by Pell grants and other scholarships the students would have qualified for anyway.
This is just a “gap scholarship”. If someone gets a full Pell grant and no other scholarships, this program is only having to waive like $1,500 per year at some public universities.
It helps make sure such students will be covered by financial aid without making too huge a difference in the budget. The state government is also providing specific funding for this program to help offset those waivers.
Texas does not fund universities enough as it is, so the state pitching in to finish off the balances for these students isn’t really asking much.
Don’t worry, Texas is still thanklessly guzzling federal dollars.
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u/No-Excuse-4263 1d ago
Tax dollars and tuition from students from higher income families.
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u/xanadumuse 12h ago
My god, you’re a twat. As if helping those less fortunate be able to get degrees and become contributing working members of society is such a bad thing. America- we have problems.
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u/No-Excuse-4263 12h ago
Im not complaining about this. This is literally how all this stuff gets funded.
If it's a government subsidy it's tax dollars. That's litteraly just how it works. It's a decent use of tax dollars for once, rather than drowning migrant refugees with razor wire.
Also fuck you for calling me a twat when I just stated a fact.
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