Yhtorod Dadzie
Prof. Isenkul
University 150
22 March 2017
The Cost of College
Recently there has been some discussion on the topic of free college tuition for students in America. Arguments for free college are that it will help bring up our country’s level of intelligence so that we will be able to compete with the rest of the world. Argument against free college are that it will be too expensive and that our country is capitalist and not socialist. This means that by being a capitalist nation, we only seek to better the individual, unlike socialist nations who focus on bettering the group as a whole.
One particular advocate against free college is Andrew P. Kelly. He is a resident scholar and the director of the Center on Higher Education Reform at the American Enterprise Institute. In his article “Problem Is That Free College Isn’t Free,” he claims that politicians only talk about free college to grab the attention of voters because it sounds good, but in actuality, free college is unattainable. He explains his position by making a point that college has to be paid for by someone. Therefore, if the students are not paying for it, then the tax payers will. He also states that the number of students that attend college will go up, which will end up crippling the nation’s budget for public spending. He then continues to explain his position, pointing out that 60 to 70 percent of students in community college must take remedial courses due to the poor quality of a high school education. This is because most of the students that go to community college are from poverty stricken areas. Lastly, he points out that in California, which “has the cheapest community college fees in the nation,” during the recession their budget for higher education was greatly affected because there was a boost in enrollment and not enough funds to meet the growing student demands for a college education.
Andrew P. Kelly does make some good points on why free college is an unreasonable idea for the nation’s budget for public spending on higher education. Although his point are reasonable concerns, I disagree with some of his points. Yes, making college free would cost tax payers more money, but looking at the situation, making college free would work like the government’s retirement fund for our elderly. The only difference would be that instead of benefiting when we get old, we would benefit while we’re still young. I believe that college tuition should be free for those who need it because this would be a great help to struggling families who want to give their children a better future. A solution to limit the rapid growth of attendance is to have an age limit or have it set up so that in order for a student to have his or her tuition waived, he or she would need to go to college directly out of high school. That way as a country, we are promoting the importance of an education for our young people. Another point is that for students who truly want to further their education free tuition will provide more attainable education for themselves. Also, just because college tuition will be free that does not mean that everyone will attend. For instance, high school is free and students are required to attend by law up to a certain point, yet there are students that drop out as soon as they can.
In conclusion, college tuition should be made free because it will better our nation, and with the right requirements put in place, it will be taken advantage of by those who truly need it.
Work Cited
Kelly, Andrew P. “The Problem Is That Free College Isn’t Free.” (2016): n. pag. Print.