Argumentative Essay On Free Community College

Should colleges be free in America? It is a question that is more relevant today than ever before. As education is one key factor that determines the nation’s fate going forward, this question is worth debating. Making free college education may sound good theoretically but requires herculean efforts to make it practically possible. The main question is whether such program be effective in the long run or not? If, yes how long will the government able to support these costs and from where? Are tuition costs only the concern that discourages students from attending colleges? There may arise several skepticisms that can withhold the idea of free colleges. As both colleges and students won’t be benefitted by such plans the college education should not be free.

If we had free community colleges we could then have more students coming through the door advancing careers. The President wants more students to go to college so he made a proposal that all students who want to go to

Community college which is usually paid off by the government through grant and fee waivers for for low-income students is a way of continuing your growth after high school, although these institutions aren’t the very best type of education you can get it is a start. The type of students that usually go to community colleges are either low income and can't afford to pay for any other schools(without help from financial aid) or people who simply didn’t get the best grades in high school but still chose to continue their path of education. In the article “As He Promotes It, Some Question Obama’s Free Community College Idea.” Joanne Jacobs explains to us some of the pros and cons about having free community college. With the cons weighing out the pros, in my opinion, community college should not be free because it would take away the significance of going to college. I highly doubt that college students would want to slack off in classes that they are paying for. It works sort of as like an incentive since money isn't easily earned, so by allowing students to attend college for free would make community college more of a continuation of high school.

The second reason why community colleges should not give out free tuition is because this could actually lower the rates of students becoming successful. According to Andrew P. Kelly from the article “Should Community College be Free”, he said in an interview that “Free community college could actually lower rates of student success; the literature suggests that is less selective than they are academically qualified to attend reduces students’ chances of graduating” (Kelly) (2). Furthermore, this article also shows student’s performances are weaker in free colleges than normal colleges. This means that by giving out free tuition to students will also make them more laid back and not focus on studying as much as they should be. This is a little

The debate of whether community college should be free or not has been going on for many years. For the most part, many students have been able to have free education even if the are low income or high income. Most students are able to have equal educational opportunity to be able to learn for around 12 years. If it has been going on for 12 years, then why not make higher education free as well. In the article written by Joanne Jacobs titled, “As He Promotes It, Some Question Obama’s Free Community College Idea” discusses the main arguments on whether Obama’s plan of making community college free plan can be a benefit or a waste of money. Community college offers the ability to be able to finish one’s first 2 years of their general general education plan at a free or reduced price compared to completing general ed a a 4 year institution. Community college should be free because it allows lower income students the ability to have their tuition paid as well as their books and it allows students to be able to earn their bachelor's at a better rate.

One of the largest reasons many people oppose that college in America should become free for its first two years is the cost. “By White House estimates, the total expenditure would be about $60 billion over a 10-year period.” (Free Community College) Two factors are at question with this kind of money. First, why not use this money in other areas of our nation? 60 billion dollars could be put towards our public high schools to increase education at a younger level. It could also be put towards creating new jobs. Even if America has become more educated doesn’t mean that an abundance of

When it’s time for students in deciding which college they are going to attend, they consider many factors that will go into their learning experience. They take in their housing, meal, and transportation plans, all of which excite students for their college experience. However, the major factor that is a make it or break it deal for many, is if they will be able to afford schooling at a college. Many students take year off or decide to never come back to school due to the fact that college is expensive, even community college. The lack of students from being driven to attend, affects the student population at college. However, if community college were to be free it will cause a more diverse environment for students, causing them to have a different outlook in college. A reporter for US News and World Report, Joanne Jacobs, publishes the article, “As He Promotes It, Some Question Obama’s Free Community College Idea”. Where she is able to provide evidence on encouragement of free tuition. She argues that “with a more diverse group of students, community colleges could gain political capital and the funding that goes with it.” A diverse group of students will help create a new atmosphere for students and help create the college experience they seek. More students who are driven to learn, can potentially lead to new clubs being made, events, gatherings, etc. Having free tuition at community college will not only benefit students academically, but socially as well; which is all part of the development of their character.

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

This proposal would make all community colleges free nation-wide for only “responsible students.” It would also help students achieve half of their bachelor’s degree for free. Obama once stated that by the year of 2020, there would be about thirty-five percent careers that need at least a bachelor’s degree, while another thirty percent expects an associate’s degree. There are separate requirements and expectations for all students, community colleges, and the federal government. Around the same time, President Obama introduced another proposal called the American Technical Training Fund. This proposal is meant to increase students’ education and technical training fields or programs (Hudson). Towards the beginning of January of 2015, President Obama put Tennessee’s free college plan in the spotlight. There was some success when this started. Over three-fourths of about sixty-five thousand high school seniors signed up for this free community college plan. What was interesting was that it included a lot of seniors who before did not want to go to college after high school. Although, not all of the people who applied are going to go to a community college. According to Mike Krause, he thinks that there will be more than ten thousand students who enroll in community college and about twenty percent of these students were the ones who did not want to attend a community college (Kelderman 1). Free community college would help and support a lot of students, but there are always requirements

There were people who stated their insight such as president Stanley from Westmoreland County Community College, David Patti president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Business Council and Laura Fisher, senior vice president with Allegheny Conference who agreed that if students are given the opportunity to progress in school it could mean a better economy in the future. By giving students paid tuition in community colleges it could mean they would go to a university to finish a bachelors in a major that interests them to get a better paying job then with no education at all.

Students will waste a lot of the teachers and colleges time because they will attend community college and then withdraw. Judah Bellin of Minding the campus insists “Making community college free for these students will likely have little to no impact on their success, only about 20 percent of community college students actually transfer to four year institutions”. (Goral 14) Secondly,

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.

Community colleges are meant to be largely funded by tuition localities and states. However, as reported by the Washington Post, this is not the case in Florida (Danielle 2016). In 2008, the counties offered no support to the community colleges because of the financial crisis. This has changed over the past few years, though very little funding is still given to the community colleges by the counties. Since community colleges are meant to offer opportunities to people who cannot continue with higher education, the needs of these students may be higher than the funding that the county offers for tuition. As a result, the community colleges are divided into bronze, silver and gold schools. The largest share is allocated to the gold schools whereas the silver and bronze receive smaller shares or none at all for the bronze schools.

In Panoliopolis, only 52 percent of citizens graduate college with a Bachelor's degree or higher. Our literacy rate is just 91%, and many people with lower educations, and in turn lower incomes have resorted to theft, leaving our city with a distressing crime rate of 38%. Most fortunately there is a way to downsize these problems. The Free community College which we have proposed can simultaneously work to improve all of these statistics through its attempt at assisting our community in secondary education.

College, in our everyday world, is considered to be something that uplifts or elevates a person's opportunity in life and is widely regarded as a huge reward on completion. However, is taking away some of the risk in this achievement, the correct thing to do? Changing an integral part of American society, such as college, could have many life changing and societal negative effects and is overall not worth it. College should not be free the first two years due to a necessity to raise taxes to accommodate the "free college", academic and educational quality being hindered due to more teachers being needed, and apathy among students if college became risk free.