Analysis Of Free College We Can Afford It By Katrina Vanden Heuvel

College tuition is very expensive and many people are unable to attend due to the overall cost of tuition, books, room and board. The high price of a college education is unfair to the bright students who have limited resources. These students are at a disadvantage because of lack of funds. The United States should find a way to provide free tuition to all students who want an education.

During one of his campaign programs, Presidential-candidate Bernie Sanders stood before a thousand applauding and cheering people. This man just announced, as hopeful future President of the United States, that he planned to make college free for every US citizen. Many young adults favor Bernie Sanders, and other political leaders, idea of free tuition because they believe that it will open more doors for them and allow them to not worry about the burden of student loans. However, there are many reasons that regulating free college education could hurt our society and economy that people don’t often realize. College education should not be free because it would raise taxes, it would devalue the worth of a college degree, and it would pave the way for more welfare dependency.

Universities used to be a privilege for most academic students to attend and it was very affordable, but currently the price per year to attend college has drastically increased. For instance, in the “1970’s the average cost was 10,000 dollars a year and today the average cost is 30,000 dollars a year” (CQ Researcher). This is a triple increase in the price per year to attend college. Allowing this increase on college tuition has impacted the student’s attendance rate. This is a significant financial burden for college students and their family. Some believe that college shouldn’t be free because we are risking the value of college education, while others think it should be free because we are trying to avoid having our upcoming generation

First, free college may not benefit those most in need. As Matt Bruenig, a writer who researches poverty and welfare systems, in his article “The Case Against Free College” argued, “The main problem with free college is that most students come from disproportionately well-off background and already enjoy disproportionately well-off futures, which makes them relatively uncoupling targets for public transfers…At public colleges, students from the poorest fourth of the population currently pay net tuition at either two-year or four-year institutions….Richer students currently receive much fewer tuition and living grant benefits”(113). Free college should benefit poorer students, but actually could end up helping wealthy students more. Low income

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.

Iris Palmer, the senior policy analyst with the Educational Policy program at New America, notes in her article The False Promise of “Free College” that there is no denying the appeal “free college” offers to students pursuing a college degree. In this article, Palmer discusses several reasons why presidential nominee Hillary Clintons’ plan for free college would not have been beneficial to the United States, or to students hoping to earn a college degree. Although the articles main focus is about the plan created by Clinton, it ultimately can be used to form an argument against the general plans for “free” college tuition as a whole. The article lists several reasons why “free” college tuition would not solve the problem of the lack of students

College should be free to attend due to the fact that people who may be smarter than others may not be able to attend college because of their lack of income. In 2010, the average college-tuition bill ate up nearly 40 percent of median earnings in the United States. In 2001, it accounted for less than a quarter of a family’s paycheck.(“Tuition Remission: Costly for Colleges.”). College tuition has skyrocketed the last few years, from 2001 to 2010 the cost for college has gone up 15 percent. Therefore college is becoming unaffordable for the common citizen. ”Every student should have the opportunity to pursue a college education and realize their goals and ambitions,” Owens President Christa Adams said.(“Owens Expands Free College Program to Whitmer Grads.”). If college was free to attend people would realize their goals and ambitions and it might encourage them to achieve their goals. People and parents of kids who pay taxes should be able to attend college free of charge.

Dreams are not cheap. I have dreamed of having a college degree for twenty years, one of the hurdles that I struggled with overcoming was the shear rising cost of higher education. In the articles, The Problem with Obama’s “Free Community College” Proposal and Obama’s Dream of Free Community College is Headed to Congress, high dropout rates and low percentages of students earning a bachelor’s degree are touched upon. While reducing the cost of college or providing free community college may not be enough to raise the dropout rate, we need to look at the other non-quantifiable costs of getting an education. If we want to enable American’s to earn that dream, we need to address the whole needs of the student and not just throw money at them.

If college were to be free for the students who can’t afford much, then they could pay for those expensive books without worrying about finances. When state citizens think of free college, they see problems

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

There are a handful of students who work hard everyday in school, but has never had the chance to go for a degree. The lack of money should never stop a student from achieving success in any school. Free tuition will allow underprivileged students to work hard in community college for the possibility of scholarships when they move into a four-year college. The only way they can prove themselves is by first attending a community college. ("Three Reasons Why Community Colleges Should Be

Free college is a commonly accepted idea, as a crucial part of society's advancement. Education is the foundation for building a strong country, as knowledge is what allows for productivity in all areas of life. However, the cost and accessibility to standard higher education limits many people's availability to a quality schooling. Some may argue that public colleges should continue to charge tuition, as the federal government can not afford the cost nor will creating higher taxes to enable the program solve the crisis. However, ultimately, higher education should be free as it would stimulate economic growth, remove the primary deterrent for not attending college and decrease dependence on government aid.

The words “free college tuition” spark interest in any college student with accumulating debt. In fact, this topic is so incredibly supported that Bernie Sanders implemented it as a core interest in his 2016 campaign. Once Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee, she decided to take it on herself with an extensive plan that guaranteed students free tuition. Unsurprisingly, free tuition resonates extremely well within the student demographic. To forty million Americans, free tuition eliminates the largest problem for students: debt (Hess, 2017). However, free college tuition generates the inverse of what these low-income and middle-income students believe. In fact, free college cripples them from multiple perspectives; students will end up spending more financially, will be less likely to graduate with a degree, and will be subjected to more inequality and less exposure.

Many European countries such as Germany, Sweden and Finland all have free higher education. Recently democrat leaders in the US have proposed plans for debt-free college. While it sounds very appealing to the general public, such financial plans should burden taxpayers with a significant increase in taxes. Christopher Denhart wrote an article in Forbes, “There Is No Such Thing as a Free College”, discussing the unintended negative consequences of free education. He talks about how Germany had enforced free education and it lead to various unseen problems. He also writes how free education might have a negative impact on the United States. In her article, “'Free' college in Europe isn't really free”, Abby Jackson speaks about how a proposed free higher education in America should not be compared to the free education in Europe due economic differences. While both authors speak about how there is more to lose than there is to gain

Over the years, college fees have gradually risen for high school graduates. It’s been said that most jobs with a college degree earn almost double of what a high school graduate would earn. Many people all over the country have been unable to go to college because of these high fees for education. Some people think that your future shouldn’t be controlled by the amount of money you pay. If these fees continue to increase, then no one will be able to attend college. Higher education for free will increase productivity within students because they can get a good job, college is now a prerequisite, and college worthy jobs have great salaries.