The Cost Of College: A Case Study

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

Check out this great podcast episode on how to plan financially for a college education. It has helpful tips and questions to guide parents in the ins and outs of Taming The High Cost Of College.

The cost of college education in the 21st century is absolutely ridiculous. although colleges have to make money to support things like sports, it is making it so more and more kids aren't going to college, and the kids who do go are coming out with huge amounts of debt. People who go to college aren't coming out with the job that they think they deserve, which is leading to lower income, and a harder time paying off their college debt.

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

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

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

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

Many see it as simply shifting the burden of tuition costs from students to taxpayers or cutting programs elsewhere. It doesn’t solve the problem, it only shifts the problem onto another part of the population. A national plan for tuition-free college would stretch budgets even further; leading to shortages rather than increased access. Adding to the current shortage of teachers and public education funds. One example being in the state of Nevada, which does not have enough teachers. If every graduate from Nevada’s teacher preparation programs were hired on the spot, the state still expected to be short . According to Andrew Kelly from The New York Times, another argument against free tuition is that, “free college plans assume that tuition prices are the main obstacle to student success, looking past problems of educational quality and college readiness. Take community colleges, where federal grants cover the price of tuition for the average low-income student. Despite free tuition, just one-third of students from the bottom income quartile who started at a community college in 2003 finished a degree or certificate by 2009. Two-year students from the top income quartile didn’t do much better (42 percent)” . To summarize an article by The Federalist which listed 10 reasons on why free college is a bad idea, the list included that: it’s unfair for taxpayers, creates free-riders, will decrease quality of education and increase prices, we should improve our existing public education first, community colleges are already affordable (with all the available scholarships/grants, and working over the summer), and that we have a huge national debt, currently over 19 trillion dollars, which continues to grow

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

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

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.

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.

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

In today's world, college education is a necessity to get anywhere in life. Over the past years, college tuition has escalated dramatically, and it's the highest it's ever been. Not everyone has the money to pay for college education. Someone not having the money to pay for college education should not dictate whether or not they should be able to get a college education. College education in the United States should be free, money should not limit the opportunities of a brilliant mind, and with college being free there would be equality among people, world advancement, and opportunities for those who do not have financial security.

The Obama administration expanded federal support to assist more students in paying for college and suggested a shared responsibility in covering the rising costs of attendance (White House 2). In 2015, President Obama proposed the America’s College Promise Proposal, which would make the first two years of community college free for responsible students (Cubberley 2). This proposal is a significant step toward the possibility of complete federal funding, as others, like Senator Bernard Sanders, have suggested. Their goal is making public college free for everyone (Field). Federal funding proposals appeals to millennial and parents paying college tuition (Field); however, the cost to taxpayers is a concern for many. Senator Sanders’ plan would cost $70 billion every year, and the costs of similar proposals have similarly high prices