In a society where the job market isn’t exactly flourishing, people after graduating high school look at college as an alternative instead of entering the workforce. However, educating yourself and obtaining a degree from a university doesn’t guarantee you a decent paying career. This has caused a debate as to whether college should be free or not. Tuition is expensive and rising rapidly, leaving many unable to afford their higher education, causing them to drop out. I personally believe that the introduction of free education would be a mistake. A burden would be placed on the common taxpayer, education quality would decline, and several people would value their education less. “If we spend billions on free university education there is an
“For one, the policy would certainly lead to overcrowding of public universities, and by extension the degradation of the quality of education offered. Paying students, who are deeply invested in their studies, may be placed into overcrowded classes—or worse, get locked out of them. Whatever the result, free tuition would lead to limited capacity at public universities, and in turn, lower-quality public education” (Eichen, 2015). Allowing university to be tuition free would lead to a larger number of people applying, backing institutions into a corner as they weren’t prepared for something like this. The reality is that these colleges should be selective to some extent because their campus wouldn’t be able accommodate everyone. Sure, having free tuition at college would be amazing but look at England as an example. They’ve become the most overcrowded country in Europe, and this has led to cities like London facing space issues regarding their schools and universities because there isn’t enough room. I’ve seen firsthand what a crowded classroom could do both to a student and the person teaching. It’s very stressful to look over a large group, and with all those people it’s hard to focus because some of them are a distraction. If the United States were to make college free completely, the average classroom size would go up. And at the university level, there’s
Tons of young adults take their college education seriously, as their future is on the line and money is at stake. But if university was free this wouldn’t be the case at all. When you’re paying for college there’s a sense of responsibility, so you’ll appreciate that education much more. Look at the state of our country now, public school up until the 12th grade is free but that doesn’t stop people from viewing high school as a place to socialize and hang out. I know many people who showed up every day and didn’t do one single thing. So why would it be any different in this scenario? Plenty of people would view it as a free ride and wouldn’t challenge themselves academically, and just party on campus and get drunk. They won’t study, so they’ll fail and eventually flunk out. Nobody would benefit in this situation and that would be a waste of time for both the student and the university. And all that money spent would be going down the drain as well. That would cause an uproar, as people are fed up with how much they’re being
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
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
As people attend college, fees build up and students loan 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 adjustments, college should be free for everyone.
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
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
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.
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
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
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. It is not as simple as it sounds, student debt may go down, but how many other people are we putting in debt to make up for the loss of funding going to schools through the tuition that we have
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
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.
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
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.
Looking on the positive side, college students will no longer be thousands of dollars in debt. They will have a higher quality of life by having more money to spend on themselves. This money would also go back into the economy, as their overall spending would increase. While all students would be saving money, free higher education would actually be more beneficial to wealthy families. According to “The Case Against Free College,” there is a positive correlation between the income of parents and the likelihood to attend college. Rich students would be receiving more money than the poor (Bruenig). The families that are sending their students to college can already afford to do so. Meanwhile, the smaller populations of poorer students that decide to attend college already receive enough financial aid and government subsidies to cover the cost. People that obtain a Bachelor’s degree earn more money and therefore are able to pay off their student loans. We don’t need to provide free education to families that can already afford it. Another effect on students is that students will take longer to graduate. Having to pay for your own education is a huge motivator to aim for success in school, as most of us don’t want our money to go to waste. Without that motivation, students’ efforts will significantly decrease. At public universities around 60% of students take
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.