Socialized Education: The Next Political Battleground

The 25% of India's population with the highest IQs...Is greater than the population of the United States

news.northxsouth.com...

Much of the news on this website talks about the creative ways that developing countries are using open source technology to build educational initiatives that are impressive when compared to education policies in the United States, which is much richer and could easily afford to replicate these outstanding programs in countries like Brazil.

www.freehighered.org...

The United States has become a nation of educational haves and have-nots. Tuition costs are skyrocketing while real incomes have remained stagnant. Aid programs based on financial need continue to decrease. Students borrow money and then face unmanageable debt when they finish college. Higher education should be available to everyone; it should not be limited by financial considerations.

www.mint.com...

While it’s been said you should never underestimate the value of a college education, neither should you underestimate its price. Without proper financial planning, you could be paying off those student loans for the rest of your life. College tuition costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation

www.edutopia.org...

Think America is No. 1? Think again, says a new study that compared the math and science scores of U.S. students with those of their peers throughout the world. The American Institutes of Research reports that American eighth graders lag far behind their counterparts in countries such as Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan, inspiring fears that our country will soon lose its economic dominance to our better-educated foreign competitors.

Could other countries with higher populations like India or China, or countries with better education programs like Japan soon surpass the United States economy and technological prowess? By the looks of it, I think it could be a very real possibility. Is increasing the availability of Federal Loans doing nothing more than driving up costs while not significantly increasing the number of college graduates? Could free higher education be the "necessary evil" for the continuum of America's superpower status?

Cuba is currently the country with the highest literacy rate on earth.

Norway has the number one spot in the annual United Nations human development index.

These are the four questions I am asking:

-Do you think other countries may soon surpass the United States economically/technologically?

-Do you think free higher education could be next on Obama's agenda and the next hot button issue in politics?

-Would you be willing to pay higher taxes so others would have free access to higher education?

-If not socialized education, what other solutions could be taken place to preserve America's standing in the world?