The $10,000 college education

Some  interesting points of view at the  NYTimes on Rick Perry's plan for a $10,000 college education. Reading the first opinion from Anthony P. Carnevale uncovered some facts about the two-tiered college education system currently in place today:

It is tempting to say his proposal is neither feasible nor fair. Even the cheapest online bachelor's degrees, offered by the Western Governors’ Association, currently cost $20,000. And in a world where there are $10,000 degrees at Rick Perry University and $240,000 degrees at Harvard, we know who will go where.
Inevitably, Governor Perry will be accused of "tracking" — putting affluent students on a track for America's elite schools, and poorer students on a track for his less desirable "discount" institutions. In fairness, though, the nation already has such a system. Today, America's selective four-year colleges educate half the students, who are increasingly affluent and white; two-year colleges and the least-selective four-year schools educate the less fortunate, other half -- who are increasingly working class, Hispanic and African American. Elite four-year colleges enroll only 4 percent of students from low-income families, 6 percent of Hispanics, and 5 percent of African Americans.

At the current school I attend for my graduate degree (luckily, the dept pays for my tuition, otherwise I wouldn't even dream of attending here) the undergraduate tuition costs $20,740 dollars per semester. And if the type of car is a fair barometer of a person's income, then at least some of these students come from families that are probably doing pretty well for themselves.

But if America wants to be competitive economically, then there needs to be a way for college to become more affordable. So while I probably won't be voting for Rick Perry, like commentator above, I'm intrigued by his plan.