Bernie Sanders Argumentative Essay: Free Tuition Free College

In “The Argument for Tuition-Free College,” Keith Ellison addresses the matter of free-tuition for colleges and universities in America. The high cost of tuition increasing inequality and the largest personal debt in the country, student loans, are the main two problems Ellison discussed. Claiming that minorities are less likely to succeed in the community is one of Ellison’s ways to support the issue. He promotes his argument with two solutions. In the first one he explains how to eliminate student loan debt. Ellison uses free primary and secondary schooling as an example to explain his second solution.

At every debate and town hall event Senator Sanders has reiterated his plan for tuition-free college, and has usually been met with the same question: "How are you going to pay for it." For the sake of debate lets say Mr. Sanders is able to pay for it. Even though top economists, including democratic ones, say his math doesn't add up (you can find my cited sources at the end of the article), lets pretend that it somehow will. Let us pretend that Bernie Sanders will actually make public college tuition-free across the United States, effective immediately. Now it is time to play devils advocate, (or realist) and break down the reasons why tuition-free college would be a bad thing, not only for the economy, but every person currently pursuing a degree.

During one of his campaign programs, Presidential-candidate Bernie Sanders stood before a thousand applauding and cheering people. This man just announced, as hopeful future President of the United States, that he planned to make college free for every US citizen. Many young adults favor Bernie Sanders, and other political leaders, idea of free tuition because they believe that it will open more doors for them and allow them to not worry about the burden of student loans. However, there are many reasons that regulating free college education could hurt our society and economy that people don’t often realize. College education should not be free because it would raise taxes, it would devalue the worth of a college degree, and it would pave the way for more welfare dependency.

It is necessary to have free college tuition in order to help advance the well being of our country. One reason is that competition for a job is constantly increasing which makes it almost necessary to have a degree. Those who have a college degree are more likely to get a job than those without because of their additional knowledge and understanding. Sanders has a “College for All” act which makes going to college not only tuition free but also debt free. This plan has an estimated cost of $75 billion a year. The College for All act states that “the federal government would cover 67% of the cost, while the states would be responsible for the remaining 33%” (All Act). According to Sanders, countries like Germany, Finland, Norway and Sweden are tuition free (berniesanders.com). That being said, he believes that in order to get on their level of education, we most offer free college as well. With more educated people in our country, as a whole, we can improve upon the accomplishments of the nation.

With the upcoming elections, third-party candidate Bernie Sanders has been one of the most talked about candidates because of his belief that tuition and cost of living at public colleges and universities should be free. Free college has become one of the most talked about policy proposals on the campaign trail, but questions surround the policy, such as how it would work, how much it would cost and how it would affect students (Rhatican).

As a recent analysis, America’s colleges and universities are quietly shifting the burden of their big tuition increases onto low-income students, while many higher-income families are seeing their college costs rise more slowly, or even fall” (Eskow). Though education is the basic human right, most of the people in the U.S. are not being able to gain it as because of its rising cost. Since the 1970s, tuition and fees at public institutions have increased by more than 350 percent, while pay for working- and middle-class households has stagnated. As a result, the cost of a public-college education now accounts for almost 15 percent of the average family's annual income; 40 years ago it was about 4 percent (Kenneth W. Warren and Samir Sonti). The tuition and fees are increasing in such a way that the young Americans aren’t as educated as the young citizens of many other developed countries. The U.S. ranks 14th in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with higher education (42%).” When all adults of working age are considered, the US is still one of the highest-educated countries in the world. But when this age group is considered, we are falling behind (Richard Eskow). That’s the personal loss for the young people of the U.S. Education is not a privilege of the rich and well-to-do; it is the inalienable right of every people. It is a powerful tool by which people can lift

The United States is a reasonably well off country when it comes to education; we live is a first world country and children are expected to go to school from the age of around five until they graduate from college. As soon as parents find out that they are expecting, they are given the advice to start saving for colleges; College has become increasingly expensive as the years have gone by and many students end up graduating with thousands of dollars in student loans to pay back. Senator Bernie Sanders sees the problem with this and has made it a priority to advocate for lower or maybe even free college tuition. Sanders would sign the “College for All Act” which would make sure that no one would be denied an education simply because of their economic situation.

Andrew, Kelly. “The high cost of free College.” U.S. News and World Report. 23 February 2016. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowledge-bank/articles/2016-02-23/bernie-sanders-and-the-high-cost-of-free-college>. Andrew’s generally claims that bring change in education system is not really easy as Mr. Bernie Sanders thinks. Sanders has truly great idea to free college and universities fees. He uses a selection of appeals to influence the audience as action-oriented. In which Sanders is fully confident about this idea and he believes it will bring better future. Sanders uses political language and references in which the reader can identified the pros and cons of this matter. He uses logos to convince the audience through enrollment and graduation

Does Sanders not have America’s best intentions in mind? Who wouldn’t want tuition free schooling? Sure, some folks would be out of jobs, but that is nothing compared to the people who are and soon to be buried in debt (Cook, on the isuues.com) Schooling is a freedom of choice, but it’s often left out in the open or incomplete due to the outrageous amount of money it takes to earn a degree. The Sanders plan would possibly require colleges to support one- hundred percent financial needs of very low based income college attending students (Bernie Sanders, On the Issues/ Bernie Sanders.com).

“Here’s what Bernie Sanders Doesn’t Want You to Know about College Costs.” His explanation as to why free college tuition is not a viable solution for the United States is clear and to the point. The author starts by explaining why college is so expensive and then goes on to debunk the free college solution.

Should college be free or is it good the way it is? This is one of the most debatable questions of this generation. Like every other thing it would also have its pros and cons. Many say that it would greatly help a country while others say that nothing is truly free and someone must pay for it. However the growth of a country’s economy over the long run is miles more than the loose in the short term. So in my opinion College should be free for everyone.

As many young millennials rally behind Bernie Sanders and his outlandish claims of free public college for all, others sigh and shake their heads in disapproval. Are these college students really entitled to free higher education? Is it every American’s unalienable right to have a college education? Despite the recent push for free college in the United States, the economic burden and drop in personal responsibility it would create proves that colleges should maintain their current tuitions.

If you had the chance to go to college for free and pursue your dream would you take that opportunity? This should be offered to kids who really want to pursue a degree and are serious about college, there will be guidelines to ensure that student will be responsible with this opportunity. This could change the life of someone who cannot financially afford to go off and pursue their dream, this could give them hope of getting their dream job; College can be very stressful emotionally and economically for some people, but with free college they can be relieved of their stress. The idea is that everyone should be allowed the opportunity to receive a higher education, it would relieve them from the financial situation when they graduate, and more jobs can be taken with people that have a degree and knowledge of the field.

The words “free college tuition” spark interest in any college student with accumulating debt. In fact, this topic is so incredibly supported that Bernie Sanders implemented it as a core interest in his 2016 campaign. Once Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee, she decided to take it on herself with an extensive plan that guaranteed students free tuition. Unsurprisingly, free tuition resonates extremely well within the student demographic. To forty million Americans, free tuition eliminates the largest problem for students: debt (Hess, 2017). However, free college tuition generates the inverse of what these low-income and middle-income students believe. In fact, free college cripples them from multiple perspectives; students will end up spending more financially, will be less likely to graduate with a degree, and will be subjected to more inequality and less exposure.

Having an education is the prime key to becoming successful in life and having a high school diploma is just not enough. Majority of the jobs in society today require individuals to obtain a college degree or trade. It is not easy trying to receive a degree or trade because of the expenses. Those who do not have a degree or trade have to settle for minimum wage paying jobs and others simply cannot find jobs at all. A convenient solution to this is that the federal government should offer free tuition to all students seeking a two-year college education with at least a 2.5 GPA.