The Cost Of A Degree

There are many brilliant students out there that have amazing brains, who could help support the world, or have ideas that could dramatically change the world. However, all those brilliant ideas can vanish because of the barrier that is put in from of them. They cannot afford to go to college. Making college tuition free would increase the amount of students that want to go to college for a higher education because they had access to

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

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

As shown, there are strong arguments for and against free college. Thompson, Golden and Katz provided strong evidence that free college would be beneficial. However, the case against free college is more convincing. As shown earlier, free college for all will not proportionally help poorer students. That is wealthy students who do not need assistance will gain the same advantage. Not all students want to go to college or would benefit from it. Yet, these same people will be required to pay for free college through their taxes. There is little evidence that free college will increase graduation rates as more unqualified students enter the college system. Finally, and maybe most important, the resources are not available to ensure students receive

Introducing free college tuition would have a positive impact of The United States, even so much as two year associate’s degree would have a hung impact. Free college tuition would give hope to the families which can’t afford the cost of tuition. Fran Cubberley states in his paper “The reality of Free Community College Tuition” that “1,300 students who completed our entry process through course registration ultimately dropped out before classes were underway. One of the major reasons was they could not pay their tuition.” Cost for tuition is huge factor on why people don’t attend college. Just think of all the amazing talent that the world is missing out on because people don’t have the money to attend college and get a degree or

Having free college education may seem like an amazing idea at the first glance. However, because of the unique structure and the current economic situation of United State, raising taxes or heavy involvement of government in this issue most likely cause more damage and have consequences specially on middle class and working class than goods.

If tuition were free, there would be a lack of incentive in students to get there work done. I know myself and others struggle with the motivation to get their work done. Imagine if the courses were free.

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. .

Making College tuition free would over-all result in a more educated society. “We have made K-12 education free because it is good for the individual and for society. The same is true for higher education” (Page).

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

Those who oppose free higher education claim the government will not be able to finance such a project and raising taxes would be equally as unsuccessful. Believing that limiting deductions for upper-income tax filers will only, “raise the cost of college even further and shift the burden to hardworking taxpayers” (Meckier and Mitchell). However, it has been proven that when the government invests in free education it generates more profit. The GI Bill that authorized the free education of two million veterans led to high

First, free college would be better for more of the struggling families in the U.S. About 60% of graduated college students have student loan costs that are close to 60% of the income of their job. If the student loans

It is important to consider who truly benefits from free college tuition, as it is not low-income students. In fact, free college tuition creates a larger rift between the dollar values low-income students have in comparison to high-income students. According to a study from NPSAS (Chingos, 2012), a government-funded, student-study organization, rich students will receive 24% more in dollar value if the establishment of free college tuition. This is interpreted as a tradeoff; free college tuition will eliminate tuition, but out-of-pocket costs for low-income families will increase to $17.8 billion dollars annually which grants cannot cover. Rich students would be able to pay off these costs because of that increase in dollar value. Therefore, it is impossible to ignore that low-income students truly would not benefit from free college tuition, as they do not have the same privileges as rich students do.

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.

Although, looking from a different perspective free college tuition will allow colleges to keep their standards and be just as selective. Students who have a free higher education will help the students to strive academic prosperity and maintain it.