The future of funding for public higher education is becoming more uncertain. The Campaign for the Future of Higher Education is aiming to change the uncertainty by trying to create new ways to fund education.
On Tuesday, the CFHE, whose goal is to protect higher education funding, released three new papers on ways to fund higher education. The authors of those papers conducted a conference call discussing the details of their individual papers.
In his paper, "How to Invest in Higher Education: A Financial Speculation Tax," Rudy Fichtenbaum, economics professor of Wright State University in Ohio, said that one way to improve funding is by taxing certain financial transactions such as buying stocks and bonds.
"Imposing very small taxes on all of these transactions could generate a significant amount of revenue that could be used to generate funds," he said.
Fichtenbaum said that much of the trading that goes on in financial markets is based on speculation, which is the practice of making financial transactions that reap the benefits of short-term fluctuations, unlike investing.
"Speculation is like gambling," he said. "The idea of imposing taxes on these transactions could discourage this kind of speculative behavior."
Fichtenbaum also said he believes that imposing such a tax is not as farfetched of a proposal as it may seem.
"It's feasible," he said. "It happens in lots of other countries. In the current, political environment I'm not really sure [if it would happen]. This is not a particularly radical idea."
There is not a CFHE in Tennessee yet, but Alice Sunshine, communications director of the California Faculty Association, said it is important for people to stop believing there is no money available for higher education.
"People think we can't afford it anymore or we can't do it," she said. "We think that's wrong. There's lots of money in this country that can be found."
Sunshine said, instead of thinking negatively about the future of funding, people should take action.
"Change the conversation from one of giving up into one where we're actually trying to figure this out," she said.
While the CFHE's goal is to eliminate hefty student debt, Sunshine said optional financial aid such as loans should still be available.
"There will probably be students who will want to take out loans for various reasons," she said. "We don't want to eliminate student loans."
Sunshine said that middle and working class people understand the crushing blow debt can have to one's pockets, and that college students will have to work even harder to reach middle class stature at this rate.
"You can't be middle class if you spend your entire adult life trying to pay off debt," she said.
Fichtenbaum said if current trends continue eventually there would come a point where education is not affordable for anyone who is middle or working class.
"I think increasingly we're getting to that point. There's no doubt in my mind that if tuition continues to escalate in the way it is escalating, it will be out of reach for a number of middle and working class families," he said.
D'Andre Brown, dual computer and electrical engineering major, said if new ways are not found to fund education, many people will be missing out on opportunities to make their lives better.
"I'd feel cheated," he said. "It really doesn't give you a chance to make a decent living for you and your family in the future."
