Should College be Tuition-Free?

By: Aubrey Matzan, staff writer

It is no secret that there is a big controversial debate going around about if college tuition should be free. For ages parents and students have been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for one to attend college. There is no doubt that college is important but should it really cost so much?

There are many reasons why going tuition-free is a great idea. For one thing, the tuition-free college will help decrease the crippling student debt. Student loan debt in the United States exceeds $1.5 trillion. 44.2 million Americans have student loan debt, and 10.7% of those borrowers are in default. Of course, debt is on all student's minds going into college. Another reason we should go tuition-free is that the US economy and society have benefited from tuition-free college in the past. The beneficiaries of the free tuition contributed to the economy by buying cars and homes, and getting jobs after college, while not being burdened by college debt. They contributed to society with higher levels of volunteering, voting, and charitable giving. During the post-World War II era, the United States ranked first in the world for college graduates, compared to the tenth today. This would definitely be a step in the right direction to encourage teens to go to college and then graduate to move on with a career. And lastly, everyone deserves the opportunity to get a college education. Students from low- and moderate-income families are unable to afford as many as 95% of American colleges. Even though many low-income families have financial aid available the middle class has close to nothing. Yes, the middle class is hardworking and can pay the necessary bills but college is a whole other level. They don't have the help of the government to pay but they are wealthy enough to pay for it by themselves therefore most of the student debt is coming from people in the middle class.

Overall the US would benefit greatly from tuition-free college. Everyone should have the right to education without having the worry about thousands of dollars in debt before their career event starts. This would help encourage kids to go to college and make America itself more successful.

Although there are many pros to a tuition-free college there are also some things that you will have to take into consideration before making up one's decision. For example, there is a big concern that Tuition-free college is not free college and students will still have large debts. tuition is only one expense college students have to pay and accounts for 39.5% of the total average college costs. Tuition accounts for just one-fifth of the average community college student's budget, which runs $17,930 annually on average. This means that even though a college is tuition-free doesn't mean that it is completely free. There is still a larger amount coming out of people's pockets and will lead to debt just like before. Another main issue is Taxpayers would spend billions to subsidize tuition, while other college costs remained high. The estimated cost of Bernie Sanders' free college program is $47 billion per year and has states paying 33% of the cost, or $15.5 billion. This will require tax increases, or it will force states to move existing resources into higher education and away from other state priorities. Money is still being spent. This wouldn't be fair to taxpayers because more money has to come out of there pockets even if they don't have a child in college. The last reason holding people back from a tuition-free college is that tuition-free college will decrease completion rates, leaving students without the benefits of a full college education and degree. Jack A. Chambless, an Economics Professor at Valencia College, said that with a free college program, "Potentially millions of young people who have no business attending college would waste their time - and taxpayer dollars - seeking degrees they will not obtain... Free tuition would dupe young people into a sense of belonging, only to find that their work ethic, intelligence, and aptitude are not up to the rigors of advanced education."

Sense tuition-free college would open up more opportunities for people this could lead to many going to college who end up dropping out. Teens who don't have to pay for their education will make them more unappreciative and less responsible sense it doesn't depend on their own money. This will all come back to our taxpayers.

The bottom line is no solution is perfect. Even if we do have more tuition-free colleges and open up more opportunities there will still be flaws in which will affect people. You have to remember even though the tuition is free, that doesn't mean that there is no cost. On the other hand, society would benefit from more people graduating and getting a steady career. Ultimately, there is no right answer to this debate. No matter what side you chose there will always be problems.