Liberal Forum

College tuition , with respect to inflation and wages, in the good old days was manageable. I was able to pay my own way, but the cost of living and wages matched inflation reasonably well. These days? Forget it. Our beloved upcoming generation has no hope of privately paying, unless they have a rich famility member. 

Obviously a lot of problems come with that. 
In 1990s, the ratio of Americans vs foreign workers in STEM was 8:1. 
2000: it was 5:1.
2010s, it was 4 : 1
2019: 3.3 to 1
2021: 4.3 to 1. 
Today: 3: 1

We went from 8:1  to 3 : 1. Now I am sure we can blame labor costs. That it is cheaper to hire foreigners. However, that doesn't add up. The data I provided are STEM industries in the United States, not overseas. I would argue that he reason is because of cost. The average American are not millionaires. They cannot afford college. Many of these foreigners have rich families back in their homeland. 

So, wouldn't it make more sense to offer free tuition to Americans for STEM degrees? We have the talent. So let's find them and get them in the industry.

Also, we should make 19th Century Russian Studies 100% free. I can't think of a degree that is more beneficial to the tech industry than that.