The Cost Of College: A Case Study

January of this year, President Obama made a proposal for free tuition for two-year community colleges. You must be thinking, no way are we going to see free college tuition. That’s the same thought I had after hearing this on the news. I’m going to talk about if this proposal will come true or not and what it will do for our economy.

First, free college may not benefit those most in need. As Matt Bruenig, a writer who researches poverty and welfare systems, in his article “The Case Against Free College” argued, “The main problem with free college is that most students come from disproportionately well-off background and already enjoy disproportionately well-off futures, which makes them relatively uncoupling targets for public transfers…At public colleges, students from the poorest fourth of the population currently pay net tuition at either two-year or four-year institutions….Richer students currently receive much fewer tuition and living grant benefits”(113). Free college should benefit poorer students, but actually could end up helping wealthy students more. Low income

There is no doubt that the cost of attending college has rapidly increasing in the last few decades. The average cost of attending a top college is approaching a quarter of a million dollars. Phil Izzo (2014) analyze data of college graduate class of 2014 and found that the average 2014 graduate with student loans will have to pay back around $33,000. Even after taking inflation into account, that is nearly double the amount from twenty years ago. As the price tag rise and average salaries downgrade, forty millions Americans with student loan will most likely not be able to repay their debt. Moreover, the cost of university per undergraduate has aroused by almost five times since 1983; while on the other hand, graduate salaries have been level

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.

The issue that I’m exploring is the cost of college. Today the issue with college is that it’s expensive to attend and after graduating many people are left with crippling debts that they cannot pay off. Hillary’s view on college is that it should be affordable. She will accomplish this by creating the New College Compact. This will allow students not borrow money to pay for tuition, books when going to a four-year public college, refinance existing student loan debt with current rates, and make sure colleges control the cost of tuition. The effects of this will be having a tuition free community college, cut the amount of interest rates of student loans, strengthen and protect GI Bill’s benefits, completion of college, and have schools focus

The problem, of course, is that the cost of college tuition has skyrocketed. Students and their families are getting buried deeper and deeper in debt trying to pay for college. Public universities, once havens of affordable, quality college education, have been hit the hardest. Almost every state in America has cut, and/or is cutting funding for higher education (Ortiz 1). It’s a problem that has quickly become a national crisis. The cost of college is very high compared to how the economy has been and how wages and financial aid have not risen with the cost of tuition. This makes it harder for students to graduate and brings a lot of stress to their lives. Without the funding that is needed many students drop out or take a longer time finishing

It is pretty challenging to get into college and when you get into college it’s not easy to stay. When colleges/universities give scholarships, it doesn't really help a lot considers the ridiculous amount of money they're asking for mediocre teaching. Paying for college is not easy for most people. We could make college/university tuition free, and have it paid for by our taxes. This would help lots of people from being in debt. Since our taxes already pay for up to 14 years of tuition free school, people think another 4 years wouldn’t be too much extra. If Colleges/Universities were tuition free, we could bring our debt rate down by a lot. In the end, these college students are our future. Do we want a future of debt or having enough money to do great

Your article exposed me to a new ways of thinking on this issue. While I found many of your viewpoints reasonable, I hope you are able to understand my possible concerns or questions about the President Obama’s plan. I think we could come to a compromise that America should adapt a tuition free

There is no denying the horrible effects that student debt has on so many Americans. However, I do not believe that the correct solution is to make college “free.” In an ideal world, this would be a wonderful concept. We do not live in an ideal world. Increasing taxes to cover the cost of this “free college” would be so detrimental to hardworking American families, especially on top of all of the other tax increases that liberals

While the number of jobs which require a college degree increases, so does the price to attain one. Free college tuition, or at least affordable (for those who can’t afford going to college), is a controversial issue which has ignited a debate on whether the United States can and should implement it, and if it could be executed effectively. With the presidential election later this year, what position do the candidates take and how do their proposals compare? Free college tuition should be provided and funded by the U.S. government because it will help students with the increasing debt and costs to attend college, be beneficial for both individuals and society, and decrease drop-out rates, which is a great investment for the future.

Free college would only damage the United States financially more the it already is. “The biggest problem with "free college for all" is that college degrees would become as expensive and meaningless as many high school diplomas are today.” (We Can’t Afford). Free college would be a big burden on our government

Everyone knows that college is not cheap, but who ever said it should be? I’m guessing the 70% of college seniors that will be graduating with more than $30,000 in student loan debt. They are not alone in this opinion, Robert Samuels, the author of The Chronicle of Higher Education, agrees there should be a better and more affordable way to achieve a college education. However even though free public college tuition sounds great, there are many pitfalls that may arise if the plan goes into action. That is why many people are strongly against the thought of a free college tuition for high school graduates.

College tuition is a subject that I am certain is on every college student's mind. The current cost of college has become so outrageously high and so students are graduating college with what you think is a feeling of excitement for their lives starting, when in reality they are entering a pool of stress due to high amounts of debt and no job guarantees. With that being said overly expensive College Tuition is merely taking away opportunities from potential students. According to Collegefactual.com, you will see that 20 years ago the average college tuition for a student at any University was around $6,285 for the room, board, and tuition. Today, according to Niche.com, the average tuition for almost any college is over $30,000 for those same things. Today, this isn't even offered for those same colleges, we don’t even know what is actually causing the raising tuition. At this point in time, we are paying for the name. Just like clothing, we pay more for the “high end” (a.k.a the college name) items. This is an issue that not only affects college students, but people who want a good education. College tuition should be lowered because the average student debt is too high, FAFSA results can be misleading and not high enough, and there is not enough access to college for deserving students.

The ideas of equal opportunities that America was built on has been lost and replaced with a structure of education only being accessible for the wealthy. College tuition is a topic that is on every high school and college student's mind. As tuition costs are constantly rising more college students will face the sticker shock of acquiring a secondary education. Unfortunately, college costs do not just end at tuition and room and board people also have to pay for textbooks, meals, and transportation. The cost of college has become outrageous and students are leaving college with high amounts of debt.

First, free tuition will give everyone the opportunity to further their education and build careers without being deprived due to a lack of a degree caused by the financial burdens of tuition fees. The federal government will not be negatively affected if they offered free tuition, because they have enough money to fund colleges. Jordan Weissman, a former senior associate editor of the Atlantic who did research on how the federal government could make tuition free without extra money being spent: stated, “Here's a little known fact: “With what the federal government spent on its various and sundry student aid initiatives last year, it could have covered the tuition bill of every student at every public college in the country”. Tuition at community colleges is approximately $1,700. David Hosansky, a writer for CQ Researcher, addressed the matter of college tuition: “While tuition averages less than $3,500 per year — far lower than the $9,139 average for instate residents at a typical four-year public institution — many community college students still struggle to pay for their education” (388). Even though most colleges offer student loans, students still have to pay out of pocket for college because the amount of loans a student may take out is limited. Most student loans have to be paid back with a fluctuant interest rates. In cases as such, when students do not have the amount of funds needed by a certain due date, they get kicked out of college. Once an individual is no longer enrolled in college they have to repay the student loans they have taken out. Also, they have to pay off any remaining balances they have. Often