Kaitlynn Murnin
December 14th, 2015
English-1010-F15
Christi Bogle
College Tuition
Higher education and college degrees are some of the most important goals in our society.
Without a college degree we wouldn’t have doctors, architects or teachers. A degree is a clear
necessity for us to be able to grow with the ever-changing world we live in. A quote by President
Obama posted by College Rank said, “The single most important thing we can do is to make sure
we’ve got a world-class education system for everybody. That is a prerequisite for prosperity. It
is an obligation that we have for the next generation.” Should this necessity be free of cost? Is
free tuition even a possibility? Should it be only partially paid by the government? Or should
students have to continue to pay for their education?
Some think college degrees should be completely free because they open career pathways and
“We will have a stronger economy and a stronger democracy when all young people with the
ambition and the talent can reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstance at birth.”
(Bernie Sanders) What Sanders is saying here is that we would be better as a country if higher
education were free and it would also give everyone the opportunity to attend college despite
economic status. Today it would take someone who makes minimum wage one year to make
enough money to cover one year’s tuition. This is not including the cost of living. If tuition were
to be free, this would mean anyone could obtain the education they want and need.
There is a lot of debate on whether or not this is financially possible for our country. According
to College Rank, in 2012, 62.6 Billion dollars were collected at public colleges but the
government spent 77+ Billion dollars in grants. This means that the 77+ billion dollars would
have more than covered the cost of tuition with some to spare making it very numerically
possible to offer free tuition as a country.
Some think college should only be covered partially by the federal government because it would
still cut down on student debt but also not be as financially straining on us as a country. This still
has the potential to have complete tuition costs covered for a student if the state is willing to pick
up the remainder tab. The white house has proposed having the federal government cover twothirds of costs as long as students maintain a particular GPA and show steady progress towards
their desired degree. (White House, New York Times) “This program would be used as a ‘last
dollar’ scholarship only covering costs not covered by other programs” (New York Times) This
means that students would have to apply for other scholarships or grants before receiving this
financial help. Essentially they will pay for tuition as long as you do not abuse the program.
Lastly there is the opinion that offering free higher education is a waste of time and not fair. Matt
Bruenig, writer of, “The Case Against Free College,” notes free college is not fair because
working people would pay for it. He states it is not fair because most student who currently
attend college already come from a wealthy background and have the funds necessary to pay for
the costs of college. He also makes the argument that most current students come from a wealthy
background. Period. This means that if they were to offer “free college,” it would be putting
money right back into wealthy pockets. Essentially, the people who need the financial help are
not the main population who attend college. Bruenig says if there were to be any type of reform,
he would like to see a complete welfare reform.
In conclusion, I think offering free tuition has its pros and cons. It would make it possible for the
lower to middle class to attend college with out taking student loans with extremely high interest
rates that they, potentially, would never be able to pay back in their lifetime but there is also the
concern that the current taxed amount would be raised to be able to cover these costs. However, I
think free higher education overall is a magnificent idea coming from one of those people who’s
parents make to much to qualify for grants from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid
(FAFSA) but also hardly makes enough to cover their own tuition.
I would like to see it passed where you have to maintain a certain GPA and show progression
towards your degree. I think this would weed out a lot of the students who are not serious about
obtaining higher education and leaving more for those who seriously want a degree.
I strongly disagree with the viewpoint that offering free college would be a waste of time. I feel
like that view is basically saying that only rich kids go to college in the first place and no other
economical class would go to college if such a program were put into place. If this were to be
passed, there would more than likely be an influx of lower to middle class students because they
could not afford it previously on their own.
Overall, I would like to see reduced or no cost college tuition to make us better as a country but
more importantly to make us better as people and productive citizens to help shape and grow our
country in the future.
References
Bruenig, Matt. "The Case Against Free College." New Republic. New Republic, 5 Oct. 2015.
Web. 13 Dec. 2015. <https://newrepublic.com/article/123022/case-against-free-college>.
Cohen, Howard. "Who Should Pay for Higher Education?" The New York Times. The New York
Times, 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/college/collegespecial2/coll_aascu_povcohen.html>.
College Rank."How America's Colleges Could Be Tuition Free - College Rank." College Rank.
College Rank, 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www.collegerank.net/tuition-free-college/>.
Davis, Julie, and Tamar Lewin. "Obama Plan Would Help Many Go to Community College
Free." The New York Times. The New York Times, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/us/politics/obama-proposes-free-community-collegeeducation-for-some-students.html>.
Gonchar, Michael. "Should a College Education Be Free?" The Learning Network Should a
College Education Be Free Comments. The New York Times, 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
<http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/23/should-a-college-education-be-free/?_r=0>.
Narula, Svati. "The Myth of Working Your Way Through College." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/the-myth-of-working-your-waythrough-college/359735/>.
"Samuels, Robert. "SearchWorks Catalog." Why Public Higher Education Should Be Free : How
to Decrease Costs and Increase Quality at American Universities in SearchWorks. New
Brunswick, New Jersey : Rutgers University Press, 2013. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.
Sanders, Bernie. "Bernie Sanders: Make College Free for All." Washington Post. The
Washington Post, 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bernie-sanders-america-needs-free-collegenow/2015/10/22/a3d05512-7685-11e5-bc80-9091021aeb69_story.html>.
Yglesias, Matthew. "Three Problems With Making College Free." Slate. 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 6
Dec. 2015.
<http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/11/20/college_shouldn_t_be_free_three_big_probl
ems_with_free_college.html>.