Debt Free College Education

In “The Argument for Tuition-Free College,” Keith Ellison addresses the matter of free-tuition for colleges and universities in America. The high cost of tuition increasing inequality and the largest personal debt in the country, student loans, are the main two problems Ellison discussed. Claiming that minorities are less likely to succeed in the community is one of Ellison’s ways to support the issue. He promotes his argument with two solutions. In the first one he explains how to eliminate student loan debt. Ellison uses free primary and secondary schooling as an example to explain his second solution.

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

The hot topic amongst people entering college is student loan debt. With the average debt at tens of thousands of dollars, many people shy away from college, or at least do not get a full degree. As a result, many politicians have preached plans to make college free, and thus bring an end to student loan debt. However, those on the other end of the spectrum find themselves hindered in jumping aboard the free college mania, because, after all, nothing is free, everything comes at a price. And as they soon learned, what a price indeed. In fact, in order for the universities to pay staff and accommodate the student body without tuition being on the shoulders of the students, state taxes would have to be increased on the entire taxpaying population.

Education these days is vital for many job titles. It can become difficult for many people to receive a job without a high school and especially a college education. Most jobs in America, from sales manager to registered nurse and even a construction worker in some cases, require an education past high school. With the cost of college, at average ten thousand dollars at state schools, not accounting for living quarters or even meals, it is leaving many students in large overbearing debt. Many have looked for the solution of this strenuous debt and one of their solution is to make the first two years debt free. By making the first two years of college debt free, it would encourage more people to attend college, expand the educational horizons of our nation, increase employment rates of America, and it could be done without causing a larger debt on America.

It is 2017, and the amount of the student debt in the United States is spiraling out of control. 1.4 trillion dollars, those mountains of money are currently owed by 44 million Americans in the federal student loan debt. Moreover, this type of debt looms large all over the auto debt, even more than all the credit card debt, according to the press release of Consumer Federation of America. That is a number that helps to imagine how huge it is. Consequently, many Americans are heavily in debt in their twenties because they strive to achieve a higher education, which leads to many downside effects on the whole country; however, an effective solution to solve this problem would be for the government to give free college to help people be debt-free.

With the shockingly high number of student debt in America, it is no wonder why people constantly look for alternatives to make education cheaper.Certainly, higher education is in need of reformation. However, it should not come at the expense of dollars from people who pay taxes. In theory, free college sounds fantastic, but it must be understood that this luxury is not free. The money would come from people who pay taxes, which is evidently twisted as a majority of people do not value higher education. They should not be forced to pay for something that is optional in one’s life. People will be paying for free college for the rest of their lives in taxes. Moreover, free college removes the incentive of valuing education in high school. There

Student loan debt in the United States is expanding unrestricted each year. There are 36 million Americans today, holding over $740 billion dollars in student loan debt. (U.S. 2013) The current student loan system is intended to open doors to economic prosperity for those who could not otherwise afford to go to college. Research suggests that the unintended consequence of too much available student credit is real people losing prosperity and languishing in debt for extended periods of their lives. Reducing or eliminating the availability of student loans would have a tremendous impact on improving the lives of Americans. If things continue the way they are now, American’s will soon find college, and its implied ticket to economic

Colleges are noticing a drop in students’ interest in a higher education, because it forces them to fall into poverty. Obtaining a higher education is a dream of many working class citizens, but the price to go to a choice college is not available economically. The majority of students use some type of student loan, they have become the norm for attending college (Johnston, Roten 24). College is becoming unaffordable to many lower class students. With tuition prices this high, students are backing out of school and looking for jobs that only require a high school diploma. Student loans should help people, but it is only hurting them because they feel like they can never repay it. Especially since student debt continues to rise. “Student loan debt rose by 328 percent from $241 million in 2003 to $1.08 trillion in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York” (Johnston, Roten 25).

Back before the 18th century a majority of jobs were in farming so there was not a high demand to go to college because there wasn’t really a need for it. During the industrial revolution manufacture and service jobs still became more popular but it was about a 50/50 split between them. Jumping forward, before WW2 not a lot of people were attending college because for most jobs a college degree was not really considered necessary. This along with the attitude pre-war “fears among national elites of the wider population becoming “over-educated” were widespread.”(the conversation.com, Valerio). This attitude, added to lower college rates. However, after WW2 America slowly started pushing to be more of a service economy and now in today world services jobs make around 79% of economy. These services were where higher paying jobs were and this meant that universities became widely popular with the trend that a higher education is “essential for economic

It’s an idea that pops up every now and then. Every year many young people work hard to pass their school-leaving exams and enter a college. However, for many of them acquiring good marks is not the only worry. Unlike the lucky minority from wealthy families, they must also think about the ways of getting money to pay for their education. For a half century, federal funding has flowed to students in the form of vouchers, and students have had the power to choose from an array of providers--public, private, and for-profit. Making education free can stretch from an array of getting rid of student debts/loans to decreasing the amount of unqualified jobs with the help of President Obama 's idea of making community colleges "free." The government claims that free education is impossible, as there is no possibility to subsidize the universities and colleges with the budget funds. Moreover, when education is fully supported financially by the state, colleges lose their independence and the spirit of democracy and freedom. .

If colleges decide to go on the tuition free route then there will have to be some major changes that would have to be made in order to make colleges tuition free and to give everybody the opportunity to be able to attend without being in debt. Colleges can divert the public money spent on financial aid towards making tuition free. Another change that can be made is closing corporate tax loopholes that allow companies to legally avoid paying their full share of taxes.1 There can also be a change made on the military budget and control on what and how much money they spend. Or millionaires and billionaires can

In America over the past decade, college tuition prices have gone through the roof. Many Americans today suffer with incredibly high debt, or they fear that they will not be able to pay off their debt, resulting in fewer people wanting to continue their education. Without citizens getting a higher education, America would be uneducated, which would result in America becoming neurologically nullified. Sarah Amandalore (2014), writer for the Los Angeles Times states in her article “The student loan crisis: How middle-class kids get hammered”, ‘The Delta Cost Project’ at American Institutes for Research examined rising college costs and concluded that, in recent years, a combination of state funding cuts, overspending by research universities and decreased donations have led to tuition spikes at both public and private schools” (pg. 1). When lower-income families are faced with these problems, it makes getting a higher education hard to reach. With a higher education, more life and job opportunities become available. By the government putting a limit on the amount colleges could raise their tuition, more people may opt to get a higher education. The fear of being in debt makes the idea of a higher education less valuable to many people. The government should restrict the tuition amount charged

As a recent analysis, America’s colleges and universities are quietly shifting the burden of their big tuition increases onto low-income students, while many higher-income families are seeing their college costs rise more slowly, or even fall” (Eskow). Though education is the basic human right, most of the people in the U.S. are not being able to gain it as because of its rising cost. Since the 1970s, tuition and fees at public institutions have increased by more than 350 percent, while pay for working- and middle-class households has stagnated. As a result, the cost of a public-college education now accounts for almost 15 percent of the average family's annual income; 40 years ago it was about 4 percent (Kenneth W. Warren and Samir Sonti). The tuition and fees are increasing in such a way that the young Americans aren’t as educated as the young citizens of many other developed countries. The U.S. ranks 14th in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with higher education (42%).” When all adults of working age are considered, the US is still one of the highest-educated countries in the world. But when this age group is considered, we are falling behind (Richard Eskow). That’s the personal loss for the young people of the U.S. Education is not a privilege of the rich and well-to-do; it is the inalienable right of every people. It is a powerful tool by which people can lift

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.

One the biggest concerns with making college free for all students is the need to implement a student loan debt forgiveness program for those who are already in debt because of student loans. Those that believe that college education should not be free may argue that college students would not take education seriously. This creates a moral hazard for the student to decide whether it is degree hopping or whether it is going to far into debt for any single program (Lewontin, 2014). Students would have the ability to keep changing their career without worrying about their loans debt increasing or running out of financial aid. This could potentially decrease graduation rates significantly,