Should College Students Be Free Tuition-Free?

One often overlooked point about “free” college tuition is that it is not ever free. The money does not just appear out of nowhere. What people normally mean by the statement of “free” college, it means free college for students. If the students are not paying than who would have to pay? The only other option would be the federal government. Right now, Americans owe more than $875 billion dollars in student loans. If the cost of tuition continues to grow at the rate it is, that number is only going to grow. If the federal government were to pay this, it would only further the country in debt.

Perhaps one of the greatest concerns that torments America’s new generation is pursuing higher education in order to make more money and while avoiding being in debt, decades after graduation. This topic has become even more as tuition continues to rise and politicians are left to ponder the best course of action to insure that the next generation of Americans is more educated than the last. One particular solution was posed by former president, Barack Obama, who promoted the idea of free community college. Although, it may not be the most direct or most elegant solution, it would certainly be a push in the right direction. By making community college tuition free nationwide, states would become more invested in accommodating the influx of students, lead different school systems to compete by lowering tuition prices, and finally address America’s shortcoming in adults who possess more than just high school diploma.

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.

As a college student, I have experience the growing tuition rates of the last 10 years. My mother graduated 6 years and my tuition is already much higher than hers.

Increased tuitions are results of a variety of factors. Shrinkage of state budget and low endowments cause by the recession forcing colleges to make up the cost somehow (Lee). The government has increased their support during the recession. For example, in the form of Pell Grants which doubled over the years. Andrew Kelly, director of the Center on Higher Education Reform at the American Enterprise Institute, writes “... the increase of federal spending has been completely eroded by the rising tuition prices”(Bidwell). Higher tuition defeats the purpose of the federal government increasing their support.

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.

How could it possibly be squeezed into the government’s budget? Do they have a secret fund for things like this, or would taxes increase to cover the costs? Free college is now brought up as a debate whether or not students should receive free college tuition while attending college. Some individuals would like this idea, but I am definite the taxpayers would not like it or support it. If the government cannot afford what they are in debt with now, I am quiet uncertain how adding free college would help the debt go down. I am sure that the government would find some way to get their money back from allowing free tuition, or twice the amount the payed by increasing taxes on everything from taxpayers to sales tax. Although it would be extremely pleasant to have free tuition, the tax increase would most likely hurt the taxpayers worse than paying college tuition. I am very much so against providing free college to everyone that graduates high school. Free college would be setting the government up to continue in recession. My biggest concern about offering free college, is how the students who already have student loans be forgiven for the loan amount and have free tuition and debt free as everyone else would be. While more people would have reliable jobs, college should not be free to society because the government budget could not stretch to allow it, more people would take advantage of college because it is free, and taxes would raise on the population.

With the upcoming elections, third-party candidate Bernie Sanders has been one of the most talked about candidates because of his belief that tuition and cost of living at public colleges and universities should be free. Free college has become one of the most talked about policy proposals on the campaign trail, but questions surround the policy, such as how it would work, how much it would cost and how it would affect students (Rhatican).

Why are not more people going to college? One obvious answer would be cost, especially the cost of tuition. But the problem is not just that college is expensive. It is also that going to college is complicated. Free college is not just about cultural and social, neither economic. It means navigating advanced courses, standardized tests, and forms. It means figuring out implicit rules-rules that can change. College graduates have higher employment rates, bigger salaries, and more work benefits than high school graduates. College graduates also have better life, live longer, interpersonal skills, have healthier children, and proven their ability to achieve a major milestone.

It becomes a major controversy when the idea of something being “free” is brought up in this economy. Money is what operates the economical system and it’s the factor that leads colleges in providing resources for their students. President Obama’s idea of having community college be free leaves many skeptical on whether it can be beneficial, or in some ways hurtful. However, there are upsides to allowing community college to be free. Community College should be free because it will cause a diversity of students to attend, allow students to save money, and offer an opportunity for those who aspire to continue their education.

"Should policymakers make college free or better support institutions?" by Matthew M. Chingos is an article based on the endless debate about college prices. In the article, Chingos is explaining very clearly the Democratic Party platform, the alternatives, the impact of the increased spending or reducing tuition and what would be the result if any of these platforms would pass.

If students had to pay for school themselves they would take their studies more seriously. If made to earn their tuition and housing funds, students would spend less time partying and more time working towards a future career. While it would be more difficult on the front end, it would reduce debt on the back end, especially for those who do not end up with quite the post-graduation paycheck they had been expecting freshman year. In previous generations, this idea was possible. People either worked their way through college or they did not go at all. This idea seems unrealistic in today’s competitive world of colleges. Student loans are a big reason for this change. If it were more difficult to borrow money for school, the amount of people who attend college would decrease. Instead they would fall into jobs that a high school diploma fully equips them for and that many college graduates end up holding either way (McArdle).

As many young millennials rally behind Bernie Sanders and his outlandish claims of free public college for all, others sigh and shake their heads in disapproval. Are these college students really entitled to free higher education? Is it every American’s unalienable right to have a college education? Despite the recent push for free college in the United States, the economic burden and drop in personal responsibility it would create proves that colleges should maintain their current tuitions.

We pay a price for everything we get or take in this world. Although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won. Every day is an opportunity to make your life the way you want it to be. Anything is possible when you work towards it one day at a time. Skip a day and you lose momentum. Try to do it all at once and you will burn out. Work steadily and consistently to make every day count and you will reach your goals. Soon, with consistent effort, those little bits add up to major accomplishments. Is there something you want to change? Today is the day to start changing. Is there a new customer you want to land? Today is the day to start making it happen. You control today and you can control your

It's a controversy that might be more relative now than before: Should college be free everywhere? Many argue the importance of education and its cost. Truly, this is an issue that students face in the process of acquiring their lifelong career of choice. Americans all over the world aspire to receive not only a bachelor's degree but a master's as well. The millennials are a large portion of the ones referred to above. They have such high hope for a better tomorrow and will stop at nothing to pursue a high paying endeavor. Indeed, everyone should be able to receive a quality education. Unfortunately, the opportunities to succeed create factors such as having the right financial resources and being in the right programs throughout high school.