On March Twenty-Second, The California State University

After all, education in the great equalizer in our nation, it can bridge social, economic, racial, and geographic divides like no other force. It can mean the difference between an open door and a dead end. And nowhere is this truer than in a higher education” (Mckeon). No one could have said it better than Representative Mckeon. According to him, if we had free college, millions of students around the country would focus less on working to pay tuition, and instead entirely on their studies. It would distract the students less, and allow them to concentrate on what they’re being taught. Because of these short budgets and stressful environments, most students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds often tend to try and complete their studies quicker than students from high income families. The low income students will generally choose fields of studies that are more directly linked to the professions, like marketing or human resources, while the wealthy students study long term professions, like law and medicine. This creates a gap between wealthy and poor families, losing valuable opportunities for hundreds bright students

Everybody loves a good success story. When the underdog, usually a lower class high school age student, defies the odds and comes out on top, beating his circumstances to get where nobody thinks he should go, everyone goes crazy for it. So crazy that Hollywood gets in on the act, with movie productions such as The Blind Side, Life of A King, and Slum Dog Millionaire. Sadly, these stories are not commonplace, in fact, they are very few and far between. More often than not, students from lower class families struggle to get by, as a result putting school to the back burner. Less than 75% of students in lower income households graduate high school, and even fewer go onto college (http://nces.ed.gov). From this group, excuses began to come out, the main reason underlies them all; they have become a product of their circumstance. The position they were in restrained them, forcing only one path, a

“With more than $1 trillion in student loans outstanding in this country, crippling debt is no longer confined to dropouts from for-profit college or graduate students who owe on many years of education…” (Lehren 4) Today about two-thirds of bachelor’s degree recipients borrow money to attend college either from the government or private lenders. According to data reported by the colleges and compiled by an educational advocacy group, the current balance of federal student loans nationwide is $902 billion, with an additional $140 billion or so in private student loans. Of course, economist and many parents say that the only thing worse than graduating with lots of debt is not going to college at all. In order to cut back on expenses students and parents look toward scholarships,

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.

Higher education in America is facing many challenges, i.e., low retention, low graduation rates and less funding. Postsecondary institutions are scrambling to remain a competitive entity within society. In order to do so, students must remain in school (Talbert, 2012). The Office of the White House states (2014), educational attainment is critical to our county’s economic success. In essence, the work force is creating more jobs requiring more education and a higher level of skill than was previously achieved. Individuals with only a high school diploma will not make into the middle class sector because of

With the workforce becoming more competitive in today’s economy, the educational requirements have increased. By the year 2020, approximately 65% of all jobs in the United States will require a postsecondary education and/or further training proceeding high school education (“Recovery”). One thing that is not increasing is the rate of college enrollment of students from the Detroit Public Schools or college enrollment in general. There are many factors that contribute to this problem, just as there are also many solutions that may help assuage it. The main reason why students from Detroit Public Schools are not enrolling in postsecondary education institutions has to do with their financial situation.

Recently there has been a lot of debate about the importance of college education. Students are asking if it’s worth the debt to attend a four year university or community college. Some are thinking what are the benefits of a degree is in the workforce. With college tuition increasing and state fundings lowering, low income students are struggling to attain a higher education. College institutions should have a role to provide students higher education and equal opportunity to students to increase social mobility yet intergenerational reproduction of privilege has produced inequality in education.

The U.S. is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world. But with an overwhelming 1.3 million students graduating with an average student loan debt of $29,000 each and with youth unemployment elevated, the question of whether or not college tuition is worth the money arises (The Institute for College Access & Success, 2013). Higher education faces intimidating challenges: continually rising costs, access and completion problems, constant changing of technology, and responsibility pressures from state and federal officials. But no challenge is more intimidating than the fundamental question that many Americans face to ask themselves, "Is college worth the cost?" As a result of the economic turn down, many students who graduate are not finding well-paying jobs, either within their field of study or not.

“"Free" is a word with a powerful appeal. And right now it 's being tossed around a lot, followed by another word: "college."” (Kamenetz).The debate surrounding free community college for all is becoming rather controversial. Since there has been no law set in place federally some states are taking aim. Washington has a scholarship program called “Washington Promise” that supports what this act is all for. As the world continues to flatten, it seems the only way to compete in the globalized economy is by higher education. Even though the funding is large, the first two years of community college should be free to all. The Washington Promise, a scholarship program in place to provide scholarships to high school seniors who graduate from a Washington high school, is a way to help students in the Yakima Valley attend college and graduate with an A.A degree which helps stress the importance of liberal arts, and help decrease what Thomas Freidman, the author of The World is Flat, calls the education gap at the bottom.

In the article "Free College? It Doesn’t Fix Everything," Richard V. Reeves (2015) explores insists that making college tuition-free may increase college entrance rates, however, would not increase the number of graduates by significant numbers.In this article, Reeves examines the Kalamazoo Promise, which began in 2006 when anonymous donors made college free for all Highschool graduates in the Kalamazoo, Michigan school district. Since the plan's introduction, more than 35 cities have adopted a similar plan to that of Kalamazoo's. The plan's goal is to create a level playing field for low-income students to have the opportunities to compete with those of a higher income class. Reeves argues that “dramatic reductions in the cost of college

In, Leo Gerard's article, " Grading Colleges on Access to the American Dream", the author illustrates the tremendous problem of college affordability, which is a growing issue in America. While author primarily focuses on the current issue of college affordability, he also evokes memories of a time when attending college was less difficult. The author begins his argument by stating the importance of colleges and the American Dream. He outlines Obama's plan to grade colleges based on tuition, scholarships, and financial aid. He states that Obama's plan will help restore the chance for all people to attain the American Dream. The author then compares our generation to the past, as he describes the circumstances for teens growing up in the 1960s

Presently, the availability of educational opportunities at the college and university level is a critical state and personal interest given the needs of the state for a well-educated workforce which has never been greater. Too many, the focal point of attending college is receiving a high paying job in the future. Unfortunately, in most states, tuition is on the rise and students who come from low-income families find themselves struggling to fund their education. According to legislatures, “The cost of college in New Jersey, as in the nation, continues to grow faster than the rate of inflation.” (State of New Jersey 1). In the national financial aid policy resources that are typically given to the neediest families are shifting towards

This project talks about the Kalamazoo Promise, which is a foundation and fundamental scholarship for college tuition for all sorts of colleges such as, community, university in or out of the state. It allows for payments of money to the tuition and mandatory fees that students have to pay up to their 4 year degree. It was created to be beneficial for the students and their families.

In the heart of twenty-first century America, state-level higher-education reforms magnify the socioeconomic inequalities of educational attainment, wealth and poverty and exacerbate the opportunity gap between rich and poor. Particularly, the Michigan Education Trust (MET), a policy that allows state residents to invest in college savings accounts for student recipients, amplifies the ongoing tragedy of exorbitant higher education costs that prevent financially disadvantaged students and families from saving for college. Although the MET has already made college possible for thousands of Michigan students, its target demographic has few sellable assets and, thus, less incentive to invest in it. Lacking physical assets such as homes and cars,

Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.