Ronald Reagan phased out tuition-free higher education as Governor of California in the late 1960s and 1970s to curb widespread student protests, balance state budgets, and shift the financial burden from taxpayers to individuals. His administration argued that free college subsidized wealthy families and risked creating a dangerous “educated proletariat”.
Conservative political strategists explicitly warned against allowing too many working-class individuals to attend universities. They feared that a highly educated working class would be politically dynamite, becoming too organized, critically minded, and active in challenging the economic status quo.