Matt Bruenig The Case Against Free College Essay

For those who have graduated from high school and will continue with their higher education, many if not all of these students will have to pay out of pocket for college. Most of students think that if they graduate from college or a four-year university they will have a chance to work in the professional field rather than work for minimum wage. It is an opportunity for anyone, particularly those who have low wages, to earn a degree and make more money. In the article “Expanding Community College Access” from The New York Times, President Obama states that tuition for community college should be free, because the American workforce is not educated enough for the global and national workplace. The presiding evidence and statements from experts

“How does it happen that we can get a home mortgage or purchase a car with interest rates half of that being paid for student loans?... We must substantially lower interest rates on student loans. This must be a national priority" said Senator Bernie Sanders. He expresses his astonishment at the substantial growth of college tuition over the years and how these sizable costs are incomparable to similarly large costs such as a house or car. There are a number of solutions that have been presented in favor of free college tuition for students. They are simultaneously cautious of a fair distribution of funds and reallocation of funds. These solutions take into consideration men, women, and children that fall into categories of low-income families, students with medical and physical limitations, etc. Free college tuition would make cause for more opportunities for low-income families, and a better-educated population in every level of society, and benefits from Bernie Sander’s plan.

“College is supposed to help people achieve their dream, but more and more people paying for college actually push those dreams further and further out of reach. That is a betrayal of everything college is supposed to represent” (CNN Wire Service 1). These are the wise words of America’s leading Democrat running for presidency, Hilary Clinton. A college education is an essential thing to have to become a successful individual. An exceptional job is only obtained through a college education, but what happens to the brilliant people who cannot afford it? Are the people considered failures because they cannot possibly pay off all of the loans they will face? The United States of America is one of the wealthiest and most developed countries in the world and should figure out some type of plan to make college free. Many people disagree with a free college education, but America should make it free just as the founding fathers intended when American universities were first created because a free education does not diminish the value of education and education is a human right.

The United States is said to have a large income inequality gap, which in turn means that the United States also has low social mobility. In a thriving socially mobile society all children would have the same opportunity and likelihood of ending up in any of the income distribution brackets, but that is not the case in America because those who are wealthy are likely to stay wealthy and those who are poor are likely to stay that way. Research proves this trend that well-off families are disproportionately likely to stay well off. Children born in low-income families are ten-times more likely to stay there as opposed to children born to wealthy parents who are five times more likely to end up staying wealthy (Greenstone, Looney, Patashnik, Yu, 2013). This being known, this study also states that high-income families students dominate America’s university enrollment, more wealthy students are attending college and less low-income students are. Another study done by Breen and Jonsson (2005) states that it is not just opportunity that prevents a child from pursuing higher education, the family of origin is very important to a persons aspirations and school performance. If an individual believes that the field of work they want to pursue will not help them pay-off debt they may inquire while in school, or have a high rate of return soon after graduating, parents and the child are more skeptical about pursuing higher education because it is so

According to Lawrence S. Wittner, “Free public higher education provides educational opportunities for all.” Including the low income families and students. As prices of schools rise lower income families have harder times paying for it not to mention the “thousands of dollars in room, board, books, and other living expenses” as Lawrence S. Wittner explains.

Like many people today, especially in America, they say that college is an opportunity that most would look forward to after graduating from a secondary education. However, the price of tuition in many schools is what concerns many individuals who seek the opportunity of pursuing their dreams and goals. When it comes to tuition, people would view the price tag and might have doubts about attending college or even question if college is the best option at all. Also, many colleges will offer financial aid, scholarships, and grants to their future students, especially the ones who come from a low-income family. For a student from a high-income family, the amount of aid will be significantly lower, and the overall cost will be higher. Some say that this would spark controversy because most students would be paying off the costs after their undergraduate years instead of their parents doing it for them. There should be no reason why colleges should raise or lower their prices based on the income of every single future student.

Through the widening support to make higher education reasonably affordable, the concept of giving U.S. high school graduates the chance to go to college for free has gained political backing. In 2015, President Barack Obama put forward a national, free community college project that is being looked at by Congress right now. This plan would “grant free tuition to any student enrolled at least halftime with a 2.5 grade-point average, and with a family income under $200,000.” Recently, Oregon and Tennessee have passed similar plans. However, high ranked private universities have multibillion funding that can give full ride tuition for low-income students who have done very, very well in their academic performance. However, for the rest of us, it 's every person for themselves. Antonio Vielma, a Questbridge Scholar and senior at Northwestern, agreed with the idea but wondered whether "private colleges with large endowments will lose their middle class students." However, new data portrays that sixty-nine percent of colleges are able to keep students after their first year due to tuition fees. Free college isn’t going to lead to the apocalypse or the end of time, all it will do is give students the opportunity to get an exceptional education without student loans haunting them for the rest of their

Imagine this, a young woman graduated high school with straight A’s her dream in life is to be a lawyer. However, she will not even look for colleges to attend simply because she knows she will not be able to afford it. Unfortunately, this is a heart-wrenching reality for over half of all Americans. A Huffington Post poll recently expressed that 62% of American citizens believe that a majority of people cannot afford public college tuition. Just last year 57% of all American high school graduates decided not to attend their first-choice college despite being accepted simply because it was unaffordable. With the injustice of such high college tuition rates it is no wonder that less and less young adults are attending and the dropout rate is increasing. If public colleges were tuition free, the people would be better educated, the American dream would be even closer than ever before, and our society would flourish. Free higher education can be a possibility, many foreign countries are able to successfully run while still offering free college tuition, why can’t America? Free College is a pivotal necessity for today’s youth without it society will crumble.

It is believed by many that if you have free tuition it can “help close the gap between the haves and the have-nots.” The theory behind the idea is because they believe this will encourage the have-nots to continue in

When tuition rises in schools the government should be raising the amount of financial aid students can qualify for. Michelle Adams, author of “Who can afford to pay for college?” describes, “We are shifting the cost from taxpayers to students without any sensitivity to families being able to pay the cost (Adam)". Without any remorse or hesitation colleges continue to jack up tuition without thinking about students and families. Another solution is to provide more grants to students who may not have the resources to pay for higher education. These solutions would draw much controversy due to the fact it would mean raising taxes for everyone. There is a need for some change because high school students are not sure if they are even able to further their education because of the

There is a direct relationship between college tuition and student loan debt that needs to be resolved. The national student loan debt has grown rapidly as there are low-income students needing loans to pay for tuition. Vermont senator and presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders, appears to have found an adequate way to make college tuition affordable, regardless of income. Sanders’ plan seems to be abstruse to many citizens as it involves making college tuition completely free without any negative ramifications. However, nearly a half-century ago, America had free tuition institutions while having virtually no consequences, whatsoever. Lawmakers should enact laws make public colleges free and there is a plethora of benefiting

College students who come from low-income backgrounds are the less likely to begin college, less likely to finish college. Therefore, many students don’t complete their college education to even reach a degree. According to Jeff Guo, a writer for The Washington Post, “Low-income students who scored between 1200 and 1600 on their SATs were half as likely to finish college than their counterparts in the top 25 percent of the income distribution.” (Guo). Even when the variable for ability and academic is controlled, it becomes prevalent that low income students are more likely to drop out of college than their well off counter parts. Such economic distress can lessen a student’s ability to finish college by requiring them acquire a part time job or reduce credit/unit duty to help out at home. Furthermore, some students even defer applying to colleges because the price tag scared them away from even applying. Alexandria Walton Radford interviewed a student “Karen” (whose name is changed for privacy reasons) who is part of a study which included 900 high school valedictorians and their college selection process. Karen is ranked at the top one percent nationally on the SAT, participates in many school’s teams and clubs, and works a part-time job to help her family. “And while Karen was confident she could be admitted to institutions with large price tags, she concluded there was “no point in applying” since she didn’t believe her family could foot the bill.” (Radford). Such students of high academic achievements should not abstain from the pursuit of higher education for the fact that their financial situation cannot support it. Often times, students who are put into such a predicament take loans to be able to afford

In today’s society, some believe that the given opportunity of school is a blessing. Work ethic, sacrifice and the value of the dollar are not valued in today’s society. How must one individual relay such focus on something that is so valued and determined. Multiple persons devote their own life to how well they provided in school system. If everyone is given the same opportunity at the same start why must we prohibit the go getters that came from nothing with new thresh holds in which gives my stand on education is an equal opportunity stands on the revelations of our country’s next generation. Some people believe college tuition should be free; however, it should not, because it will devalue the college diploma, taxes will become higher, and it’s as simple as nothing in life is free.

Student Loans make create more pressure for the scholar and their family. Student borrowing student loans do not have enough to pay off the debt plus tuition. In state tuition and out of state tuition make a great impact because student who want to go out of state to study in a major, they will have to pay more. For Example, Kennen Estela and López, Estela, writers of “The Financial Needs of Community College Students” writes, “In 2006-07, average tuition at a community college was $2,361. This represents only 38 percent of the cost of the average tuition at a four-year public university ($6,185)… Financial aid poticies at the institutional, state and federal level have failed to acknowledge the need to support transfer students and increase the participation rates for students from lower-income families…” This exemplifies, student and their families are at higher risk of deriving loan and repaying them off, especially lower- income families. In Contrast, The Morrill Act of 1862, which was helpful and reassure that education would be available to people of all social classes. It gave higher education in America, by setting up institutions, which would educate people in professions that were practice at that time. As a result, The Morrill Act changed the look of education and space for growing and changing country and ensured that there would always be money to finance educational services and that it would have continual government support of these institutions. Also, in “The Financial Needs of Community College Students” she notes, “...As college degrees become more and more necessary for success in the work force, it is crucial that we find solutions to this financial aid situation. A 13 percent graduation rate just isn 't enough. Students should not have to pay, literally and figuratively, for lack of a financial aid system that addresses multiple points of entry to the baccalaureate degree...” Financial aid is increasing at a higher

Everyone should have an equal chance to learn at the level they deserve, no matter how much money they have. Studies show, “Among those not attending their first choice college, sixty-two percent said they could not afford to attend it and twenty-five said their first choice school didn’t not provide them with any financial aid” (Lucie Lapovsky). Clearly, many people, do not receive the education they have earned because of their monetary situations, and that is not fair. Furthermore, if the school is not assisting them financially, they are not encouraging young adolescents to continue their learning journey and if anything, they are discouraging them saying if they do not have money, they do not deserve the education. That student could be brilliant and hard working, but cannot afford the tuition for the level of education they deserve. That student could be a doctor and find the cure or a