Stewart1

Dezyrae Stewart

McLaughlin

English 12

9 February 2018

Why College Tuition Should Be Free

According to the article “A Look at the Shocking Student Loan Debt Statistics for 2018,”

since 2016, the average student has spent $37,172 on student loan debt. Furthermore, $1.48

trillion is spent on student loan debt throughout the United States. The average monthly payment

for a student’s loan is around $351 (“A Look at the Shocking Student Loan Debt Statistics for

2018”). Based on these frightening numbers, it is obvious that attending college is extremely

expensive and is becoming a burden on college graduates. By creating free education at the

university level, the United States would only improve the way of life in this country for all

people. The United States government should support and fund college tuition for American

citizens because it would help decrease the financial burden, improve the economy, and create an

educated, working public.

According to the article “What Happened When American States Tried Providing

Tuition-Free College,” the University of Florida was the first college to have in state college

tuition free for decades. Florida residents didn't use the word “tuition” until around the 1960’s.

The University of New York waived tuition until 1976.

The first reason for why I think college tuition should be free is that more students would

actually go to college and therefore they would be creating an more educated society. According

to the article “A Tuition-free College Takes a Hit,” the Kentucky Liberal Arts college admits
 Stewart2

only students whose families can not pay for their child to go to college. All colleges should do

this, because what if there are students out there who are very intelligent but their families do not

have enough money? Mr. Rowling said in the article “A Tuition-Free College takes a Hit,” it will

be personal for students whose education can no longer be funded. It can be assumed that when a

student misses out on higher education they are losing countless opportunities for economic and

social advancement. According to the article “New Tuition-Free-College Pilot Launches for

Boston Students,” the state Massachusetts and the city of Boston enabled in 2017, low income

students to complete a four-year degree without paying tuition or mandatory fees. In order to be

able to qualify for that, students must meet the federal Pell Grant income standards and enroll

full time in one of the three community colleges.

The second reason for government-funded tuition is to limit debts or loans. According to

the article “Should Community College Be Free?,” Hillary Clinton had proposed her own plans

for tuition free community college and “no loan” tuition at a four-year public college. If a student

is buried down in student loans then will not be able to purchase amenities that would normally

come with a higher education position. According to the article “6 Things To Know About

Tuition-Free College,” Harvard and Yale are already “debt free,” which means they will not

charge more than what they think a student’s family can pay. In the article “Jealous Wants

Tuition-Free College,” in 2015, Barack Obama proposed tuition free community college too.

Bernie Sanders expanded onto the idea by calling for not just free community college, but free

four-year Universities. I think four-year college should be free because there are not as many

students going into that. It would maintain the amount of student loans they would be paying off.

Maryland’s gubernatorial candidate, Ben Jealous wants Maryland to become the second state
 Stewart3

after New York to provide public higher education free to charge. “College is as important in the

21st century as high school was in the 20th century,” the former NAACP president and investor

said. According to the article “Should Community College be Free?,” communities around the

country are calling plans to make at least the first few years very inexpensive or even free. The

maximum Pell Grant award is $5,815 for the 2016-2017 school year as per the article “ More

Public Colleges start tuition-free Programs,”.

The third reason for why college tuition should be free is that more students would end

up staying in college and graduating. According to the article “N.Y. becomes first state to offer

free tuition to four-year colleges,” students must attend college full time and maintain grades

good enough to pass their courses. Higher Ed requires students to live and work in New York

state as many years as they received free tuition. If they do not, they are required to pay off their

tuition as if it was a loan.

Now for the opposing viewpoint stance. Many students would still have to borrow money

for their living expenses and books and some supplies, so they wouldn’t get to leave school

completely debt free anyhow. Students may not learn how to become completely financially

literate or independent as they would if they had to finance their money if they had to pay a

decent amount of money and get loans. Also a lot more schools would have to make waiting

lists because then everyone would try to apply to those college that we’re offering free tuition.

The fact that more students would end up going to college is a great reason why tuition

should be free. People who go to college end up furthering their career into becoming something

that they have dreamt about. I believe that every person should be able to fulfill their dreams

during their lifetime. Reason two, you wouldn’t have any debt or loans to pay off, that would be
 Stewart4

great! You wouldn’t have to work extra to make enough money to pay your bills and eventually

pay off all of your students loans. Finally reason three, more students would graduate. The

dropout rate is 59% because students do not have enough money to pay off all of their debts.

More students would graduate without crippling debt.

 Stewart5

Works Cited

“A Look At The Shocking Student Loan Debt Statistics For 2018.”​ Student Loan Hero​,

Student Loan Hero Inc, 24 Jan. 2018, Studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics.

Accessed 29 Jan 2018.

“Free Tuition Gets Traction.” ​American Educator​, vol. 41, no. 1, 2017, p. 3.

​Opposing Viewpoints in Context​,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A488510161/OVIC?u=pl2127&xid=e46beaa5.

Accessed 21 Jan. 2018.

Gewertz, Catherine. “N.Y. Becomes First State to Offer Free Tuition to Four-Year

Colleges.” ​Education Week​, 19 Apr. 2017, p. 4. ​Opposing Viewpoints in Context​,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A490937895/OVIC?u=pl2127&xid=bc17ed21.

Accessed 21 Jan. 2018.

Goldrick-Rab, Sara, and Andrew P. Kelly. “Should Community College Be

Free? Education Next Talks With Sara Goldrick-Rab and Andrew P. Kelly.”

Education Next, vol. 16, no. 1, 2016, p. 54+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A441690176/OVIC?u=pl2127&xid=26199912.

Accessed 9 Jan. 2018.

Green, Erica L. “A Tuition-Free College Takes a Hit.” New York Times, 21 Dec.

2017, p. A19(L). Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A519696874/OVIC?u=pl2127&xid=a20993b0.

Accessed 11 Jan. 2018.

 Stewart6

Lobosco, Katie. “6 Things To Know About Tuition-Free College.”, Cable News Network, 26

Apr. 2016,

money.cnn.com/2016/04/26/pf/college/tuition-free-college-bernie-sanders/index.html.

Accessed 14 Jan 2018.

Powell, Farran. “More Public Colleges Start Tuition-Free Programs.” ​US News​, US News World

Report LP, 8 Mar. 2017, https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/

paying-for-college/articles/2017-03-08/more-public-colleges-start-tuition-free-programs.

Accessed 16 Jan 2018.

Press, The Associated. “New Tuition-Free-College Pilot Launches for Boston

Students.” Education Week, 7 June 2017, p. 4. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495843200/OVIC?u=pl2127&xid=b896e19e.

Accessed 11 Jan. 2018.

​ ​Shankie, Erin. “Dropout Rate for College Students Driven by Income Inequality.” NPQ,

Nonprofit Quarterly, 23 Oct. 2014,

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2014/10/23/dropout-rate-for-college-students-driven-by-inaquality.

Accessed 28 Feb. 2018.

“Should College Be Free? Pros, Cons, and Alternatives.” ​trade-schools.net​, Beelineweb.com,

2018, www.trade-scZxhools.net/articles/should-college-be-free.asp. Accessed 15 Feb. 2018.

Stone, Michael. “What Happened When American States Tried Providing Tuition-Free College,”

Time.com, Time Inc., 4 April 2016, http://time.com/4276222/free-college/. Accessed 15 Feb.

2018.
 Stewart7

Throndsen, Hunter. “Why College Tuition Should Be Free.” ​Odyssey​, The Odyssey, 2 May

2017,

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/college-tuition-free-millennial. Accessed 10 Jan 2018.

Wiggins, Ovetta. “Jealous Wants Tuition-Free College. His Plan Is Like Sanders’

‘College For All’ Bill.” ​Washington Post​, 10 Oct. 2017. ​Opposing Viewpoints in Context​,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A508958766/OVIC?u=pl2127&xid=e551ea32.

Accessed 21 Jan. 2018.