Why should we be allowed to have the opportunity to have free higher education or decrease the cost of it? Going to college should be our right and cost of tuition should not affect our decision on whether to go or not. The ability to have free higher education with little or no cost can open the door and create many great different paths for us. The more education we have, the more opportunities grow, but that can’t happen to all of us due to tuition costs or even being in debt with loans for not being able to have the money to being with. With tuition being eliminated or decreased, people would attend college more not saying a lot would, but just the fact that more people would consider college. Germany abolished tuition which provides a model for the United …show more content…
No matter what age or where people are in their life, they would be able to go back to school to start or finish their higher education and fulfill what they have always wanted to do. An article “Why Free College is Necessary” Tressie McMillan Cottom presents the need for free college in the U.S. According to Cottom, “Why aren’t more people going to college? One obvious answer would be cost, especially the cost of tuition” (Cottom/115). Cottom states that basically the main reason why many people are not going to college is because of cost, plain and simple. The job opportunities people would be able to acquire would grow immensely for them, instead of being stuck at a certain job making ends meet. I have come across old friends that never considered going to college after high school because they simply could not afford to go college or even pay for a book. Tuition free colleges nationwide would help many people struggling with their jobs, bills etc. and give them motivation to want to do something better in their life by extending their education, creating new career
While most people want college to be free, the U.S. should not make tuition free for all citizens. There are a number of reasons like taxing families who already have it hard, quality in education, rationing, and if people see that they do not have to pay it may lower the value in which they won 't take school seriously. Tuition free college is impossible because at the end of the day someone will have to pay for all those students attending. For example, “In college I was invested, I was paying,” The former student said, “Once it entails a cost, it’s not easy to just say, Oh, let’s not go to class today. You’re just hurting yourself” (qtd, in Make College Affordable, but Not Free). Student who barely made it
Along with less funding for the lower levels of education, comes a weaker education. So college might be free, but if you can’t even get into college (due to standardized test scores, GPA, etc.), then what is the point of having tuition-less college? As you can see, there are more drawbacks than benefits to free college tuition once you look past the surface of it. Like I said before, at a glance, it seems perfect, flawless. However, take a deeper look and see all of the things that would need to change in order to sustain nationwide tuition-free higher education.
According to Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities “Many of America's top-performing high school students never apply to the most challenging colleges and universities even though they have the ability to succeed at them. They often come from minority and low-income households and end up pursuing more affordable, less-selective schools instead.” College can be a burden to many students in a variety of different ways, but the most common reason is due to funds. Making college free for students will help this problem by increasing jobs in the work industry that require degrees, they should be affordable to all people at all cost, as well as the funds should be completely cut off because it would increase jobs and help America's economy grow.
First, free college can encourage students to go to college to get a degree which leads to a high paying career. It can fulfill those students that are having a hard time financially, and fewer students will be in debt. Second, with free college, colleges will be more likely to help students that need the guidance to stay on track and get a diploma. Clayton and Bailey mention, "If we want to significantly improve educational outcomes, we need to make college more affordable so more students can enroll, and make the reforms needed to en-sure community college students can succeed in their courses, complete their program, and grad-uate within reasonable amount of time" (Clayton and Bailey). Finally, free college can help the U.S. catch up to the rest of the countries with higher education. For example, it can help the United States surpass Russia, where more than half of adults have a diploma. Frohlich explains, “More Than 53% of Russian adults between the ages of 25 and 64 had some form of higher edu-cation in 2012, more than in any other country reviewed by OECD” (Frohlich). Although free college is an attractive idea, it will leave the United States in a bigger debt which will be hard to recover from and more students will be unmotivated to
As Bernie Sanders, a presidential candidate for the 2016 presidential elections, claims he can make college free, the subject of tuition for secondary schooling has become a “hot” topic. The New York Times, on January 20th, released a “Room for Debate” titled “Should College be Free?” where many journalists such as Andrew P. Kelly and Sara Goldrick-Rab voiced their opinions on college tuition. “Just one-third of students from the bottom income quartile, who started at a community college in 2003 finished with a degree or certificate by 2009,” wrote Kelly, showing that the poorer find it hard to finish college with a degree. He believed that indigent students would likely not graduate with a degree due to college cost and because they are not motivated enough to get through six years of college. Although it is unpractical to create an educational system where college is absolutely free, creating organizations dedicated to encouraging the needy to get through
There is no doubt that college is expensive, price tags for some universities go over a quarter of a million for just a bachelors degree! (That’s if you graduate in four too). The extravagant price for college is no doubt crazy. Trying to better yourself and your future shouldn’t cost $250,000 plus. If public universities were to be free a plethora of problems could be solved instantly. According to Forbes the National student loan debt has surpassed 1.2 trillion dollars (Denhart )! This number is growing exponentially as more students enroll in to college. Why question then whether college should be free? Well, this number is the total amount of student loan debt from all students that have exited college. Some of these students are freshly graduated while some are aged with the wisdom trying to pay their loans back. If public universities were to be free and funded by our federal government, our government would pay this amount within ten years. Relatively a short amount of time considering that the student loan debt is an accumulation debt from students that have graduated more than ten year ago, also this also greatly increase with the following years as well.
Everywhere else in the world college is free but the United States. I believe that people would feel more obligated to go to college if it was free. College is the main reason Americans are having to live such a hard lifestyle. My father did not go to college and makes eighteen dollars an hour. On the other hand my aunt did go to college and make twenty-four dollars an hour but is still paying back student loans so after paying all of her stuff back she only makes around fifteen dollars an hour that she gets to bring back and that doesn’t include taxes. That is why I do not think college is a good choice to make in
Their claim might be that in having free-tuition colleges and universities the education system will lose its value on students. Whereas, knowing that students are paying for class course they are more focused and determined. They don 't want their money to be a waste. And I agree, however there are other ways to approach this. In Germany one still has to pay for their education, but with a small tuition fee and their own living expenses. In fact, international students at Germany have to pay an annual of approximately $6,300 in tuition and living expenses where 90 percent goes to paying one’s living expenses and the other 10 percent goes into university fees. After all in the U.S, the average annual cost for attending college is about $35,000 where about only 30 percent of that money goes to living expenses; compare that to the 90 percent in Germany. We should consider lowering the prices of tuition where students still feel the need to focus since after all they are still paying for the college classes. The ultimate goal is not to be free-tuition but to lower it just enough that individuals who want to pursue a career will be
Student then wouldn’t have to stress about working at the same time just to pay tuition fees. Students today over work, using the rest of their money to get energy drinks keep going from doing homework and attending college courses daily. According to the New York Times Article “College for the Masses”, studies have claimed, “Enrolling more students in community colleges may well make economic sense. So, in all likelihood, would create more and better vocational training, for well-paid jobs like medical technician and electrician, which don’t require a bachelor’s degree.” This makes students pushed harder to focus on any college that will be offer free. Thus, it wouldn’t take them longer than the average 4 years, due to them working full time as well as schooling. With fees out the way parents don’t have to worry about not making enough savings for their child to be able to attend for college. Students would be more focused on any subject in school as they strive for their
Free higher education will help education live up to the reputation of leveling the playing field and providing opportunity to move up in society. It is something that will reward hard working kids with no debt and set them up for the future. It will allow students to focus on their school work and will eliminate the need to have to work to pay for school. This will help their success rate and help people graduate on schedule. Free education will also stop the student loan crisis that has now surpassed credit card debt. Free education is something that is very important for our people individually and as a whole. Our country will end up as a smarter, more powerful society. It is up to us as a country to take responsibility and look out for our country. We need to keep up with the country’s that are passing us in education and build a brighter
Free higher education has several economic benefits for students and for the government. According to Thomas Mortenson from the American Council on Education, tuition has risen 230% at state universities and 164% at community colleges since 1980. Student loan debt has reached 1 trillion dollars. As stated by Scott Hines, the founder of the World Education University, “the return on investment just isn’t there.” Many students choose to drop out or skip college altogether because of the high costs. These issues will be resolved if the government funds colleges and more people will be able to graduate. Currently, the government spends billions of dollars on academic programs with very low graduation rates, around 30% (Samuels). This is because colleges spent too much money on luxuries and amenities, and as a result, they raise tuitions while the quality of instruction remains the same. If higher education were government funded and caps placed on tuitio...
Ultimately, the United States should bring forth a free, government subsidized, higher education, because of its benefit to the economy, creation of equal opportunity, and the resolution of the student loan crisis. Even though it will require funding, there are certainly innocuous alternatives that could provide this rather than putting the extra stress on average American taxpayers.
Many Americans today still debate whether or not out government and country should fully implement free college. Those who are opposed to this idea are concerned with quality and accountability of education for all. For those in favor of the expansion of education, free college represents one of the great hopes for a better world. Even in the poorest nations, people believe and support in the funding of the expansion of universities and other higher learning opportunities are wise investments. Being a college student, I disagree with the idea that the U.S. should implement free college for all U.S. citizens. Free college in the United States is an unrealistic dream that cannot and should not
A college education is necessary today in society. Students can focus on their academics and try to get a high score. The cost of education for each student has become more difficult to afford. Thus, many students and teachers wonder if free college tuition must be granted. Free education must be responsible and funded by the U.S. government because it will help students focus on their studies, and encourage them to work harder in school. Even thought many people think that education must be free, it is very important for many reasons such as the economy, quality of education, and value of a college degree.
Clearly, the merits of having free higher education outweigh the drawbacks in immeasurable ways, benefiting the individual learners, states, and the nation at large. Having education in higher education free to all would ensure that every citizen get an equal opportunity in life regardless of their social status, it would allow people to concentrate on nation-building rather than loan payment after school, it would make the nation skill-sufficient and all citizens be more productive. Most importantly, education is a basic right that everyone deserves and money should not be a hindrance, thus, education should be free for all.