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Sarah Robinson
ENGL-2010-012
Collin Hull
02/08/2015
If Community College was A Government Expense
Introduction
College is a goal for many Americans but for many it is only a dream. Recently United
States President Barack Obama shared his ideas for making community college free for all
American who meet qualifications. This has sparked a debate, should community college be a
government expense, or should all students pay for their own education? On one hand some
people such as Barack Obama, U.S. President, argues that all Americans should have access to
higher education and that is nearly impossible at today’s Community College tuition rates. Many
College students agree that they have a right to pursue higher education and not be held back by
the excessive debt of college loans. However many Americans are against free community
college because it could raise national taxes as well as our nation’s debt which has already
reached an outstanding amount. And others remain moderate and believe that the funding that
the government currently supplies isn’t efficient enough and our funding should remain as it is
now.
The 2015 State of the Union
On January 20th, 2015 U.S. President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address,
in which he covered many upcoming goals he has for the United Sates. He discussed the current
state of the nation’s economy and what his plans are for helping the middle and lower class. He
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then discussed the nation’s education. He mentioned that many people could achieve their
American dream with higher education if not for the expense of tuition. Most middle class
Americans cannot afford to attend College and because of their lack of funding, never receive the
opportunity to further their education. Barack Obama plans to make community college a nation
expense, so every American can pursue higher education. In a result he is expecting to see more
job opportunities for the middle and lower classes. He says,
By the end of this decade, two in three
job openings will require some higher
education. Two in three. And yet, we
still live in a country where too many
bright, striving Americans are priced
out of the education they need. It's not
Figure 1 Barack Obama delivering the 2015 State of
the Union Address
fair to them, and it's not smart for our
future. That’s why I am sending this Congress a bold new plan to lower the cost
of community college to zero. (Barack Obama)
Barack Obama Believe that if more Americans further their education by attending Community
College we can expect to see more job opprotunities for all American, Raising the employment
rate in America.
The pros for Community College Students
As a Community College student I have met many different students with various views
on this topic. Many saying “Why not make community college free? It’s free education!”
however Community College student Sasha Freed also sees it as a major health benefit. She
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comments “It could help the public health of the nation because a large amount of people can’t
afford to go to college so being able to have free college would give them an opportunity to
become more educated which means they would take better care of themselves” Being able to
attend community college could benefit your health in so many ways especially when it comes to
mental health. Many students would agree that, if they had two years of free Community College
they could obtain an associate’s degree without having to worry about their financial debt,
allowing them to focus more on their education and less on working to pay for college. The
average student stresses a lot over college; attending classes, completing homework, studying,
etc. And on top of that most students stress over how they are going to pay for college and how
they will support themselves while going to school. Having to work long hours each day adds to
that stress, so by not having to work as much to afford college tuition would allow to student to
focus on school more and engaged themselves in their major more as well as have time to
internship in desired fields if needed. This would allow student to focus on their education more.
David Cutler from the department of economics at Harvard University and Adriana LlerasMuney of the Department of economics of Woodrow Wilson School and Princeton University
state in their book Education and Health; Evaluating Theories and Evidence. “The differences
between the more and the less educated are significant: in 1999, the age adjusted mortality rate
of high school dropouts ages 25 to 64 was more than twice as large as the mortality rate of those
with some college” (Culter, David and Adriana Lleras-Muney, p. 1). Attending college and
furthering your education can have many benefits finically, personally and mentally.
The Cons
There are certainly pros to Community College being free especially for college students
however some students feel that it would have a negative impact on our nation’s economy and
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increase our national debt and state taxes. Many students are wondering where the money will
come from. And some students feel that some funding could be of benefit just not free, such as
Camron Erickson (College Student) he argues:
Making community college free is a big threat to the economy, just like high
school, the money has to come from the government. The government has a very
limited budget for education as it is and huge debt. This could put the jobs of
educators at risk if that funding is not there. A more reasonable act would be to
lower tuition. This would still require government funding but wouldn’t require
them to jump off the deep end and hope they float. I’m all in for education but the
reality is that education is not free. Someone has to pay.
Some students would rather pay for their own tuition then
depend on the government. Many students see a college
education as their responsibility, that if you want to be
considered for better paying jobs then you should be
willing to invest your money and work hard to get there.
Figure 2 Salt Lake Community College Campus
Many students also worry that once the government
provides free community college for everyone the quality of education received will decline and
in turn waste our nation’s money. There are some requirements, in order for a student to receive
financial aid students must “The President’s plan, dubbed America’s College Promise, would
cover student’ tuition for qualifying community college programs, so long as students maintain a
2.5 GPA” (Kelsey Sheehy, par. 1) Students will also only be required to attend college part time
to receive funding. This may allow students to attend a community college for two years and
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possibly obtain an Associate’s degree before transferring to a 4 year university with no cost to
the student.
The Nation’s Debt
The current National debt as of February 9th, 2015 is $16,787,451,118,147 (The Concord
Coalition). When you look at the Nation’s population which is 320.09 million Americans.
Suppose we were to pay off debt of together as a nation, I would take just under $52,461 from
each American for that to happen. Let’s consider that ¼ of the nation attends community college
paid for by the government, that 80,000,000 Americans attending college. Obama plans to
provide each student with 3,800 each year for two years. Imagine that just one fourth of the
nation enrolls that 7,600 for each person and 80,000,000 people in conclusion that would give us
$608,000,000,000 added to our national debt making it $17,395,451,118,147. Consider the
negative impact it could have on our economy. Obama plans to cut back in other areas to be able
to fund College education.
By ensuring those at the top pay their fair share in taxes, the President’s plan
responsibly pays for investments we need to help middle class families get ahead,
like his recent proposal to make two years of community college free for every
student willing to do the work. The savings will pay for additional reforms that
will help the paychecks of middle-class and working families go further to cover
the cost of child care, college, and a secure retirement: provisions into just two,
while improving the American Opportunity Tax Credit to provide more students
up to $2,500 each year over five years as they work toward a college degree –
cutting taxes for 8.5 million families and students and simplifying taxes for the
more than 25 million families and students that claim education tax benefits.
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Obama believes that this is the most realistic plan for our nation financially, that it will take us
further for what we are paying in our national taxes.
Meeting in the Middle
Many students feel that having the Grants and loans that help with paying tuition or help
lower the cost of tuition are efficient enough. Many students agree that college should be
affordable, not free. Many people do not attend college for the reason of it not being affordable,
so if it were less expensive then more people would be able to attend. Student Jessica Spencer
says “I think everyone should get the same grants and loans and it shouldn’t matter what your
parents make. However the government shouldn’t hand out extra free money, only what is
needed to make tuition affordable.” Jessica feels that just because college is expensive that
doesn’t mean it should automatically become free, just affordable enough for student to be able
to afford it.
Conclusion
There are many different views on this topic whether or not the government should be a
part of educational funding after high school. Some are all for community college becoming a
national expense and final aid being provided for every college student in the U.S. and many feel
that education is one’s own responsibly. And other remain moderate, that funding should remain
as it is now: loans and grants for those who meet the requirements, some financial coverage but
not waived completely.
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Work Cited
Culter, David, and Adriana Llera- Muney. Education and Health: Evaluating Theories and
Evidence. MA, Cambridge, 2006. Print.
Factsheet: A Simpler, Fairer tax code that responsibly invest in middles class families. The
White House. 2015. Web. 17 Jan. 2015
Freed, Sasha. Community College Student. 08. Jan. 2015.
Erickson, Camron. College student. 09. Jan.2015
Kelsey Sheehy, Obama’s Free Community College Plan: What Students Need to Know.
U.S.News 16 Jan 2015. Web 16 Feb 2015
President Obama Announces Free Community College plan. Thewhitehouse.gov. Web 08 Jan.
2015.
Spencer, Jessica. Community College Student. 09. Jan. 2015.
State of the Union Address. Obama, Barack. 20 Jan 2015.
U.S. Total Nation Debt. The Concord Coalition, Web.09 Feb.2015
Images
Figure 1: Souza, Pete. State of the Union Address.2015. House Chamber at the U.S. Capital in
Washington D.C. Web. 20 Jan 2015.
Figure 2: slcc.edu. Salt Lake community College Campus. Web. 9. Feb 2015.