America 's Expanding Community College Access

The reason behind making tuition free at community college is to allow those with financial struggles to receive an education, but it’s proven that those who need help are already covered. If tuition is made free then then that means even people who can afford to pay it, will no longer be contributing to the development of the community college system. Another reason community college should not have free tuition is the population it will rise. The $60 million dollars that will be used for this project will be to fuel this project is solely to help tution become cost free, not to improve the current standing of the campuses. The articles puts emphasizes on the ideas that if this passes, more people will be motivated to attend college, but the state will not expand campus capacity cause an overflow of students on waiting as well as even more crowded classrooms. Even if community college is free, would you want an education that where you don't get the right classes you need? Community colleges should not be free because if so there will be major problems with the student’s

Free tuition for colleges is a topic that has come up a lot lately in the United States. Especially in the beginning of this year, when the democratic race was in place, Bernie Sanders started making tuition-free colleges one of his campaign points. While there are some that seem to neglect the idea of free tuition, the majority will agree that if not free at least it should be affordable. This topic is a very interesting one because it provides fascinating facts on both sides of the spectrum. One thing people argue against free tuition is that the United States has around 300 million people in population and it could not possibly keep up with the increase in college attendance and cost. On the other hand free tuition in colleges is relative common in almost every first world country around the world and even second and third world countries. Which leaves us to determine that it is not only possible for government to be responsible for education but it seems to be the norm around the world except in the United States. I think that colleges should be tuition free. Community colleges should be funded by the government and the government should not only be responsible in providing free tuition to its citizens but take pride that its citizens have access to free education, making its society an educated one.

Since Obama’s announcement of his idea to provide free community college an uproar of an argument has arose with two distinct sides: community college should be free and community college should not be free. The idea behind free community college is to help individuals reach towards a college degree just as people are easily set forth to reach for a high school degree. The hope is that by deleting the financial barrier that comes with community college more people are willing to aim for an associates degree and possibly higher. There are states that have decided to take the matter into their own hands and are planning to implement this idea. However, the idea of having free community college implemented throughout all states is still questionable

In the article titled “Should Community College be Free?” written by Joanne Jacobs, the author talks up the argument about whether Community College should be free and presents both sides being that Community College should in fact be free for the many students who cannot afford it which will increase, “the number of people with degrees”, according to past President Barack Obama. The other side argues that making Community College free will only help those whose parents make too much to afford Grants stating that those who can afford it will be taking advantage of the free cost and making the schools overcrowded.

The few people who stated their supportive thoughts on this matter were encouraging about wanting free tuition for community colleges. "I think any time access to education is increased, it is a positive step forward in economic vitality, Stanley said.” (Obama 's free community college tuition plan raises doubts). I agree with what Stanley stated when we take the initiative to realize there is a problem in our education system with furthering our education it’s a good leap forward to more people getting the right education needed to get better jobs and provide for their families. Even David Patti who is president and CEO of Pennsylvania business council also suggested cost of tuition wouldn’t need to be very high in cost if companies donated equipment and computers necessary to the schools. Laura Fisher who is senior vice president with Allegheny business council stated a good example such as there are

Although the suggestion of community college being free for everybody sounds like something that everyone would be all to willing to agree with there are many people who oppose the idea for several reasons. For Republicans this plan going into action would be too expensive for the United States to afford (Glum, 2015). In the graph (see Figure 1) provided by Archibald and Feldman (2014), 2 economists at the College of William and Mary the amount of money per state to make community college free is very expensive. Not only are states going to have to deal with this financial burden, the federal government has a greater portion to pay for this proposal if this were to become

Many people believe that making community college free is a step to bettering the country. The article “As He Promotes It, Some Question Obama’s Free Community College Idea” by Joanne Jacobs, gives us insight on both sides of the argument and allows us to form an opinion based on what we read. After reading this article, I had to agree with not making community college free. Although it sounds nice, and other world countries have free college at the price of higher taxes, I feel it best to keep it at a tuition basis. Instead, I believe that we should work towards lowering the costs of private or public four years for those low income students, and also think about how making community college free could impact the enrollment at these campuses,

Without a college education, it is nearly impossible to get a decent paying job that can support a normal family household. Yes, you can get a job with just a high school diploma, but there is limits and restrictions to that. Many middle and lower class citizens only have high school education and they're working day and night, everyday, just to stay up float. But, with a promise plan of taking out community college intuition or even just significantly lowering it, it can provide a gateway to those families that struggle to stay up float. It can give them a better chance for their future and continue for succeeding

America’s community colleges are highly valuable for many reasons. They enrich the lives of students by raising their lifetime incomes and helping them achieve their individual potential. They benefit American businesses by increasing consumer spending and supplying a steady flow of qualified, trained workers into the workforce. They benefit society as a whole by improving the economy and providing a variety of savings through the improved lifestyles of students. They benefit federal, state, and local governments through increased tax revenues across the U.S. and a reduced demand for government-supported services. Obama’s plan to make community college more accessible is a great investment in America’s future.

President Barack Obama made a proposal on January 8, 2015 to make community college free for Americans. The proposal is made with stipulations, being that students are required to attend at least half time, maintain a 2.5 GPA, and make steady progress toward completing their program. With Tennessee already at a successful head start with their free tuition program, President Barack Obama wants the remaining states to progress as well. Now President Obama wants every American to receive two years of tuition free education in a community college. Upon completion of a community college major, students will receive two years of free education. The plan states that the federal government is to pay three-fourths of a student’s community college tuition if states agree to pay the remaining twenty-five percent. With rising student loan debt, students will finally have the necessary recourses to afford college and go back to school. The two year community college proposal should be mandated, but only with the stipulations previously stated.

George Leef discusses several important points in his article “You Will Pay for “Free” College” (n.pag.). Leef first explains that college will never be completely free (n.pag.). In order to have one thing we must give up another and there is no way around that (Leef n.pag.). Leef clarifies with his readers that all the government can do about college tuition is transition the cost from students to taxpayers (n.pag.). George continues his argument with his point that free college tuition will influence colleges in a negative way (n.pag.). A move from students to taxpayers will not only result

If free college tuition was ever an idea in general, many believe this would lead up to a requirement where many would have to play a part and provide for the students who choose to go to college, including those who chose to not attend college. As David H. Feldman and Robert B. Archibald claimed in the Washington Post, “This will require tax increases, or it will force states to move existing resources into higher education and away from other state priorities like health care, prisons, roads and K-12 education”. Along with that article how will we be so sure all of the states would be willing to participate in this? As Andrew P. Kelly said in the New York Times, “First, free college isn’t free, it simply shifts costs from students to taxpayers and caps tuition at zero. That tuition cap limits college spending to whatever the public is willing to invest”. Also why is it okay to take away from other important priorities like health care, and prisons over school education? If college becomes free the money has to come from somewhere, and taking the money away from other important priorities would surely lead to protests and other out brakes

The American Community College system is an essential institution which provides not only education for all types of learners, but also outreach and community service for the region each individual College serves. Each Community College strives to create an environment where both academic achievement and quality of life of each student can improve. Community Colleges also carry outreach programs that seek to improve quality of life for an entire region, including individuals who may not be students at the College.

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, college tuitions have climbed 1,225% since 1978, and greatly ascended above the expenses of medical care, shelter and food. With such high tuitions, some low income families have no way of affording the debt of higher education, and therefore not looking into sending their high school graduate to college. Instead of making all college free, the government should liquidate the tuition fee of community college and offer a discounted tuition for low income families.

As the number of students that enroll into community college increases, the more the idea of government paying for that college increases as well. The United States Government should not pay for Americans first two years of community college because the creation of job competition, the decrease in student motivation, and the cut in educators’ pays.