Why include only public colleges and universities?
There are several important reasons we have not included private universities in this proposal: (1) targeting public institutions covers 83 percent of all students now attending college; (2) covering the remaining 17 percent in private schools would make the program nearly twice as expensive; and (3) the Labor Party has always supported public schools and if education is to be considered a right, it should be anchored in public institutions. If, as the campaign develops, there is a popular groundswell for extending eligibility to private schools, that could be considered. Some object that excluding private institutions might jeopardize small, tuition-driven non-elite private colleges. If that occurred, many of these institutions could and would find ways to adapt; possibly even by becoming state institutions, which has happened frequently in the 20th century.
