Colleges and universities have been getting more and more expensive throughout the years. The cost has increased by 1,122% since 1978. Last year it has been recorded that 39 million students owe $1.3 trillion of debt and it is now the largest personal debt for anyone in America. It is impossible for people to attend a college or university without having to take out a student loan. But what about Undergraduate studies? Yes they cost a lot less expensive than universities but they still require people to take out loans with very high interest rates making it very hard to pay back and put families in huge debt. Should America start making community college free throughout the country? A few states in the U.S. have already passed bills making undergraduate tuitions free and the legislation has also been introduced in some other states as well. Obama specifically wanted to make community college free during his run as president but at the federal level it didn’t get much attention since the legislation has only been introduced in not even a third of the states. Free community college should be free for all citizens because the government could cut back on other expenses and invest more into free community college, other countries already provide free community college, and it would eliminate debt for millions of students throughout the country thus giving them a much less stressful life in the long run.
Today the U.S. has over $20 trillion of debt and it is still going up today. So how can the U.S. afford to make community college free? “If the nation can provide hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industry and billions of dollars more to Wall Street, we can afford to pay for public higher education. A tax on financial transactions like derivatives and stock trades would cover the cost. Building a truly affordable higher education system is an investment that would pay off economically” (Keith Ellison). Why not take some of that money out of all those investments into oil, gas, and Wall Street and put it towards public education. It has already been done in a few states in the country and the legislation should at least be introduced to all the states. After all this being said is community college really “free”? The Government would have to pay for all of it. One way to be able to fund this is making the wealthiest millionaires/billionaires would most likely get increased tax rates for this to happen. But in recent news Congress is trying to lower tax rates for the wealthy and increase tax rates for the lower class. Another way to fund free community college is by closing corporate tax loopholes and make companies pay their full share of taxes as well. We could also cut back on military spending which is the reason we are in huge debt today.
Tennessee, Oregon, and Minnesota have free community college programs and soon starting in 2020 Kentucky will be joining that small group and also participate in the program. In Tennessee they created the Tennessee Promise Program will give all high school graduates the opportunity to attend state community colleges without paying tuition or fees. Oregon passed the Oregon Promise which was very similar to the Tennessee Promise but it has a few differences. Residents of Oregon who go to school in that state will get a $1000 grant. Even though the tuition is already paid for fully they can spend it on educational purposes. The second difference is, each Oregon Promise recipient must pay $50 dollars per term to enroll in courses. The last thing is that the students can only enroll part time not full time. In Minnesota the provide a last-dollar scholarship to cover any tuition and fee expenses not covered by state or federal aid. The residents must have less than $90,000 gross income and must enroll no later than 2 years after graduating high school.
There are many countries mostly in Europe that have a free tuition such as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, and Germany. All they have to do is pay higher taxes. That seems fair right? Meanwhile in America we pay lower taxes and have to put thousands of dollars a year into education. One reason why is that countries with free college education tend to have lower levels of student debt among their graduates. This is not just community college that is free but these countries have free tuition to Universities. These countries spend not nearly as much as the U.S. in education and still their students not only perform better but also enjoy being educated more because they aren’t as stressed out as most American students. Take Finland for example, they go to school for 4 hours a day which is one of the fewest among most countries and they get no homework but, somehow their students are ranked #1 in the world. How is this even possible considering American students go for 8 hours or more and spend time at home doing homework? Unlike us they enjoy being in school and it is a much less stress free environment and they are being taught to be happy and enjoy the education they are receiving. It is also a law in Finland that you can’t set a school with a charged tuition.
So the question still remains, Should America start making at least community college free in all states throughout the country? It’s obvious that it works in other countries and there are expense Congress can cut down on to make this possible, so why can’t it work here? College shouldn’t just be debt free—it should be free. Period. (Keith Ellison). It is a long and slow process and the topic is starting to be more frequently discussed about all over the country. America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we are very committed to educating everyone but as of now it’s only for people that can afford it. The government needs to make it so that everyone and anyone has access to free community college whether he/she wants it. If American students wait longer more opportunities will escape from them which will only hurt the future of millions of students across the nations. America can afford to make it free for everyone because so many students that can’t afford it probably have so much potential to make a change.
Work Cited:
Redd, Luke. “Should College Be Free? Here's What You Need to Consider.” Trade-Schools.net, www.trade-schools.net/articles/should-college-be-free.asp.
Weeden, Dustin. "Free Community College." http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/free-community-college.aspx
Goldrick-Rab, Sara and Kendall, Nancy. "Redefining College Affordability: Securing America’s Future with a Free Two Year College Option" https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/publications/ideas_summit/Redefining_College_Affordability.pdf
Ellison, Keith. "The Argument for a Tuition Free College" http://prospect.org/article/argument-tuition-free-college
Moore, Michael "Where to Invade Next" https://gomovies.pet/film/where-to-invade-next-11674/watching.html?ep=752062
Today the U.S. has over $20 trillion of debt and it is still going up today. So how can the U.S. afford to make community college free? “If the nation can provide hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industry and billions of dollars more to Wall Street, we can afford to pay for public higher education. A tax on financial transactions like derivatives and stock trades would cover the cost. Building a truly affordable higher education system is an investment that would pay off economically” (Keith Ellison). Why not take some of that money out of all those investments into oil, gas, and Wall Street and put it towards public education. It has already been done in a few states in the country and the legislation should at least be introduced to all the states. After all this being said is community college really “free”? The Government would have to pay for all of it. One way to be able to fund this is making the wealthiest millionaires/billionaires would most likely get increased tax rates for this to happen. But in recent news Congress is trying to lower tax rates for the wealthy and increase tax rates for the lower class. Another way to fund free community college is by closing corporate tax loopholes and make companies pay their full share of taxes as well. We could also cut back on military spending which is the reason we are in huge debt today.
Tennessee, Oregon, and Minnesota have free community college programs and soon starting in 2020 Kentucky will be joining that small group and also participate in the program. In Tennessee they created the Tennessee Promise Program will give all high school graduates the opportunity to attend state community colleges without paying tuition or fees. Oregon passed the Oregon Promise which was very similar to the Tennessee Promise but it has a few differences. Residents of Oregon who go to school in that state will get a $1000 grant. Even though the tuition is already paid for fully they can spend it on educational purposes. The second difference is, each Oregon Promise recipient must pay $50 dollars per term to enroll in courses. The last thing is that the students can only enroll part time not full time. In Minnesota the provide a last-dollar scholarship to cover any tuition and fee expenses not covered by state or federal aid. The residents must have less than $90,000 gross income and must enroll no later than 2 years after graduating high school.
There are many countries mostly in Europe that have a free tuition such as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, and Germany. All they have to do is pay higher taxes. That seems fair right? Meanwhile in America we pay lower taxes and have to put thousands of dollars a year into education. One reason why is that countries with free college education tend to have lower levels of student debt among their graduates. This is not just community college that is free but these countries have free tuition to Universities. These countries spend not nearly as much as the U.S. in education and still their students not only perform better but also enjoy being educated more because they aren’t as stressed out as most American students. Take Finland for example, they go to school for 4 hours a day which is one of the fewest among most countries and they get no homework but, somehow their students are ranked #1 in the world. How is this even possible considering American students go for 8 hours or more and spend time at home doing homework? Unlike us they enjoy being in school and it is a much less stress free environment and they are being taught to be happy and enjoy the education they are receiving. It is also a law in Finland that you can’t set a school with a charged tuition.
So the question still remains, Should America start making at least community college free in all states throughout the country? It’s obvious that it works in other countries and there are expense Congress can cut down on to make this possible, so why can’t it work here? College shouldn’t just be debt free—it should be free. Period. (Keith Ellison). It is a long and slow process and the topic is starting to be more frequently discussed about all over the country. America is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and we are very committed to educating everyone but as of now it’s only for people that can afford it. The government needs to make it so that everyone and anyone has access to free community college whether he/she wants it. If American students wait longer more opportunities will escape from them which will only hurt the future of millions of students across the nations. America can afford to make it free for everyone because so many students that can’t afford it probably have so much potential to make a change.
Work Cited:
Redd, Luke. “Should College Be Free? Here's What You Need to Consider.” Trade-Schools.net, www.trade-schools.net/articles/should-college-be-free.asp.
Weeden, Dustin. "Free Community College." http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/free-community-college.aspx
Goldrick-Rab, Sara and Kendall, Nancy. "Redefining College Affordability: Securing America’s Future with a Free Two Year College Option" https://www.luminafoundation.org/files/publications/ideas_summit/Redefining_College_Affordability.pdf
Ellison, Keith. "The Argument for a Tuition Free College" http://prospect.org/article/argument-tuition-free-college
Moore, Michael "Where to Invade Next" https://gomovies.pet/film/where-to-invade-next-11674/watching.html?ep=752062