I chose the concept of free college education as my topic because the price of school has been on my mind a lot lately. College is expensive, and attending a private university is even more expensive. I’m lucky enough to have my dad pay for my education, but for a lot of my friends that is not the case. I have seen through their lives how college funding has impacted their college education. I have one friend who is very intelligent, but chose to go to a community college in our home town instead of a big university because of funding. I also have a friend who is a full time student and working two jobs just to pay for her college education and not drown debt. I decided to have my research question focus on the positive and negative implications on free college education. Before I …show more content…
Her main point is that there are two reasons why people choose to not attend college; one is the cost, and the other is a low mental capability or no motivation. She states that free education will only help if you can’t afford it. College is expensive which draws many people away, so free education would help students in that situation. She claims that free education will not help those who do not have the mental capability or drive. According to Cottom in order to go to college you need “cultural and social, not just economic, capital. This means you will navigate advanced courses, standardized tests, and forms” (116). She says that free college is great for people who can’t afford it, but what about the class of people who are at a disadvantage because they lack the mental capability to learn and the motivation to finish or even succeed. She said that the government would end up losing money if they let anyone attend college for free. Many students will sign up thinking they can handle it and drop after only a few semesters. That is literally money down the
Bayer, Casey. “What Does Free College Really Mean?.” Harvard Graduate School of Education. President and Fellows of Harvard College, 17 January 2017. Web. 20 March 2018.
First and foremost, Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities states, “After all, more and more of today's jobs are knowledge-based or require advanced technical skills. So a better-educated workforce would help fill many of the skills gaps that prevent America's economy from growing faster.” If more people attended college then there would be more jobs to fill in America’s economy. There have been droughts in America’s economy, but with free college tuition, droughts would decrease. It would not be fair that someone who could be successful at the job would not be granted the ability to get the job because they don’t have a piece of paper with a signature on it compared to someone who does average or mediocre at the job and had the opportunity to go to college. Making college free also comes with consequences. So graduation numbers might drop, or the people who do graduate might not be as well prepared for the workforce. Also, with more people choosing to attend public colleges because of their tuition-free status, many schools might have to create wait lists or expand the ones they already have. State budgets could become strained, which might lead to cuts and decreased access to the programs that students want to take. Here is the weakness, although it benefits many students, the nation's existing
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
The idea of freedom and equal opportunity that America was built on has sadly been lost and replaced with a system of quality education only being accessible by the wealthy. In-state college tuition should be free for all students meeting admission requirements, allowing students from the full spectrum of economic backgrounds to have the same opportunity to receive the same education. The incidence of poverty in the U.S. is directly linked to educational level. When a college degree is earned, income levels rise (College Board). The best use of federal government anti-poverty funds is not another welfare or assistance program; it is to make college education affordable for everyone.
When the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony founded the first college in America, Harvard, in 1636, it marked the beginning of college as the backbone to the American Dream (“About Harvard” ). Around the world, America is coveted for the “American Dream” in which someone can go from deep poverty, to unbelievable wealth, all by getting an education which allows a person to obtain any job and reach any economic level. The article “Peter Thiel Thinks You should skip college, and He’ll Even Pay For Your Trouble; The famous disrupted says overpriced universities hold back innovation, and what's to rewrite education to his liking” by Tom Clynes argues people should not attend college because it is a hindrance to innovation, while the article
Pharinet also goes against what she wrote, she says, “There is no doubt that every person has the right to an education.” Then she says, “But not every person should attend college.” She says that everyone should get an education, but everyone should not attend college. Pharinet contradicts what she said. Pharinet has some good points, but I think she could have given us some more
Throughout her text she gives different reason as to why she believes college is a waste of time and money. She first gives the example of what would happen if college students were to put all the money they spent on school into savings. They would have ended up having more money than someone who went to school and that they would also be learning
Over the past years of getting a college degree was the pathway to get a settle career. College has been a reason for people to carry on after high school. Now that tuition has been raised, getting a degree seems to drain students with more loans and could be in debt. College has been raised to the point where people rather start working at a minimum wage than continuing with school. Working on a part time job would be an easier choice rather than pursuing towards their degree. As people attend college, fees build up and students loaning money and possibly be in debt. Not only that, some may say college isn’t worth it, but it is. Getting a degree pays off at the end going towards your career path, making twice as much as you would work at a regular job. Students who have received a degree are slowly declining. To make adjustment, College should be free for
Calling a college education “free” is a contradiction because nothing in life is truly free. Someone will be responsible for paying for this education, even if it is not the person receiving it. To support this flood of hopeful college students, the American Government will have to heavily tax the working and upper classes. Taxes will have to be inflated to compensate for the price of college, and in some cases, may become outrageously high. If the upper class becomes constantly taxed, what keeps them from dropping down a class? What keeps the middle class from becoming the lower class? In an extreme situation, if the middle and upper classes were constantly taxed, there risks a problem of creating a bigger class divide. Maybe the plan to pay for college education starts out with only the rich being taxed. In America, there are roughly 324 million people. This number increases every eight seconds, so there is a constant increase of citizens. Imagine if half of that number decides to go to college. College education is free for them, but their tuition is paid for by the upper class. Now, average college tuition runs for about $9,410 for State Universities, and around $32,405 for out of state students. This amount of money, per student, is paid for by the upper class’s taxes. Taxes are raised higher and higher to pay for all these students until they cannot be raised any further. The upper
Sometimes I think about how America’s founding father’s intended to guarantee everyone a free education; not a professional education, but the basics anyone needs in to be accepted in society. Unfortunately, I think the standards have changed. College is now just as necessary as high school. Does that mean it should be free? This has been a quiet issue going around in America among our youth because they the financing of college. Lowered, yes. Free, no. College is a privilege, not a luxury. It is only mandatory to get a high school education for most basic jobs that should be able to let you survive on your own. Today in our world, parents put a huge emphasis on college and its benefits but no one is willing to lower the price or allow a full ride as in high school. Society wants us to go to school but they continue to raise the price which doesn’t make any sense.
In the film, Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore brings up many issues but the one that stuck out the most was the idea of free college and how it worked in other countries. From the film, an individual could come up with a reasonable conclusion, that free college brings more benefit than harm. What is usually meant by free college is in fact the idea of free tuition. Instead of having students be in debt for most of their lives, they can focus on studying and not have to work at multiple jobs. Even after completing college, most students find themselves accepting jobs that do not involve the degree they had received. If the majority of the population received free college, more people would take advantage and therefore,
For most young Americans, college has always been preached to them as being a vital part to their success in the adult world; but as they reach this educative rite of passage many find they must take out inflated loans, work part time jobs, or even become dissuaded entirely due to the exorbitant costs of higher education. We must forsake this current antiquated system in favor of government subsidized tuition. Therefore, college education must be free because of its benefit to the economy, creation of equal opportunity, and the resolution of the student loan crisis.
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
Independent.Leadership.Equality. All of these are three characteristics as to what free university education can provide to citizens.Higher education should be free of charge for the citizens of the United States.In the US the average cost for colleges per year is $8,893. Many middle class and under class people cannot afford such costs. It is true that the government will give you grants but most of the time students never get funding from them (Emmons 3). Most people of today can hardly afford a car let alone the fees and tuition of college. Also, it could provide equality to all people. Allowing everyone an equal opportunity to go to college and make something of themselves. It provides a way for poorer families to break free from their social strata that they have been put into (“This House Believes University Education Should Be Free” 4). This is why it is important to make university education free.In the end citizens of the US would benefit from university free education.
This has sparked the debate as to whether higher education ought to be offered free of charge or not, with many rallying for the former. In order to level the playground for all Americans and offer equal opportunities in life; higher education should be offered free of charge to all. This paper seeks to make a convincing argument regarding the importance and need of having free higher education. At the same time, this essay seeks to cite some of the opinions of those of a contrary opinion, giving them a different viewpoint. In the end, this essay will weigh the benefits of free higher education against the drawbacks and probably, convince everyone that the benefits are enough to guarantee free higher education.