Typically when something is labeled as free people tend to take advantage of it, however, it’s not always in a positive way. In this day and age it has gotten increasingly difficult to obtain any type of job, especially without a degree of any sort. Which is why there has been more of a push for people to continue school and go to college, thus the debate of whether or not college should be free in an effort to make it approachable for all students. I believe community colleges shouldn’t be free due to the fact that people who are in financial need receive enough support, it’ll draw students to schools with low graduation rates, and the colleges will become overcrowded. The reasoning behind making community colleges free is so that lower class students could afford to further their education, coincidentally this is the same reason why there are so many financial aid opportunities for them. There are hundreds of scholarships that students can apply for, various loans they can take out, and several versions of federal financial aid they can obtain. A community college tuition averages around $3,347 which is “more than covered by the $5,730 that low-income students can receive . . . [from] a Pell grant” (Jacobs). …show more content…
As it turns out, the expected outcome of this plan is that “the neediest students [will] enroll at the lowest-funded colleges with the lowest graduation rates . . . [and generally] 40 percent of community college students earn a degree within 6 years” (Jacobs). Thus demonstrating how the proposition could cause students to not only waste money they spent on books and supplies, but also the time they could’ve spent at a seemingly better institution, or in the workforce collecting the profits they so desperately
The second reason why community colleges should not give out free tuition is because this could actually lower the rates of students becoming successful. According to Andrew P. Kelly from the article “Should Community College be Free”, he said in an interview that “Free community college could actually lower rates of student success; the literature suggests that is less selective than they are academically qualified to attend reduces students’ chances of graduating” (Kelly) (2). Furthermore, this article also shows student’s performances are weaker in free colleges than normal colleges. This means that by giving out free tuition to students will also make them more laid back and not focus on studying as much as they should be. This is a little
“Free” a word that will catch anyone's attention no matter what. In the article “ As He Promotes It, Some Questions Obama’s Free Community College Idea” by Joanne Jacobs they explain President Barack Obama’s idea of making community colleges basically into higher level of high school by making them free to everyone. Without even thinking about it most student would be excited about this new idea but when you take a deeper look at things, separating the pros and cons you begin to realize that it may not be such a great idea after all. Free is not always good as it seems as it can become a downfall of dominoes one thing after another just starts falling apart which I think will happen if this idea is implemented.
College should be free, because low income families have college ready kids. Still the kids don’t go to college, there must be something stopping these kids. The percent of people who are 25 and over that had some college is only 58.57%. These numbers decrease as the amount of college increases, this fact is very disappointing. 62% percent of people said they didn’t go to college because they thought that it was ridiculous to even think about the cost. This is so sad, to think that the people are scared to further their education because of the lifetime
If community college is free than more people will attend causing people to be added to a waiting list. “Savvier middle- and upper-middle class students could be competing for spots with low income students” Siqueiros said. “One population ends up pushing out another.” This demonstrates the negative effect of free community college, because middle class students will be competing with low income students, causing low income students to lose their spot at school and not being accepted. Another reason would be that for low income students receive pell grants which covers most of their tuition. For some students with low income don’t have to pay for much tuition because they already receive the that they need. Those students who can afford to pay should have to pay for
Many critiques against community college being tuition free state that our economy will improve. This is being proven by Wyner who states that it is necessary to close the percentage gap of jobs that will require a college education. Yes, it is true that a college education will be required for 60% of jobs, it doesn’t mean that community college should be free. If anything, making college free, will affect the economy . The White House stated that the cost of implementing a tuition free community college program will be over sixty billion dollars over ten years. The money will come from taxpayer dollars.
A college education is deemed valuable and essential in today’s society, however, not all students are fortunate enough to attain such college education solely because of the cost of community college. Each year, thousands of students fall into debt because of their college tuition fees, causing them to either reduce the number of units they take in a semester, leading to a fallback in their educational goal and eventually causing them to stay an extra two to three years before they can graduate, or to drop out of school completely. Therefore, it would be far more beneficial to remove the cost of a community college tuition as it would help pave the pathway for students’ educational progress and encourage them to succeed. Making community colleges free would help students reach their educational goals with a more affordable and approachable quality of higher education. This alone will add thousands of
Although I believe the first two years of community college should be free to all; many people would disagree. One of the biggest controversies surrounding the issue of free community college is the enormous cost it comes with and how it will be funded. According to Emily Deruy, the author of the article The Debate over Free Community College, “The chances of community colleges nationwide becoming free are slim. The White House has said it would cost the federal
One of the many problems with making college free is that college, in time, needs to be paid for by someone or something. With the government having the idea that college should be free, these same people wouldn’t be taking the hard payment; You would, through government taxes. As Alex Groves says in his article, “Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a free ride. Every program requires a source of funding, and free education is no different.” (para 5). Groves is a college student himself working on his last year
Community college should be free for all students who want to attend school. There should be a set of rules applied to those that would take advantage of this privilege. In the United States, there are not very many programs that offer the opportunity for students to attend free colleges like other countries have. Some examples of the countries are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany and France. The U.S. does have some programs that offer free tuition. For example Tennessee offers free tuition to students. The Tennessee Promise is a scholarship program that pays for your community college so you can go there tuition free. Another program is the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) in New York at the City University of New York. Community colleges should be free because it would not only attract more students, but would help students to focus more on school rather than thinking about how they are going to pay for their education. However, we need guidelines for applicants to attend such as maintaining a high GPA, giving back through community services hours, and other rules and guidelines to attract students that would continue to excel in their education and not waste the opportunity given to them to work towards a good career and give back.
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.
In 2016, the average cost of community college was $46 a unit for in state residents. To be considered a full time student, one must take 12 units a semester. That totals out to be $552 a semester (or $2,200 for a full two years) in just tuition alone (icanaffordcollege.com). If you factor in just the cost of books, which run about $200 a book per class, it will cost a student about $800 a semester assuming that they are taking four 3 unit classes. In books alone, a two year program will cost a college student roughly $3,200. That's already $5,400 and we haven't even factored in travel costs, other school supplies, housing, and basic living expenses. The cost of getting an education adds up fast! These types of numbers can scare off any potential student. After all, why spend that amount of money when you can earn the same amount by working? This is the thought process of many people when they are deciding whether or not to attend school. However, if the cost of attending community college is free, the immense fees will be greatly reduced, allowing more people the ability to attend
Community colleges should be tuition free to help students achieve the goals and get the degree they want. President Obama proposed for tuition-free community colleges earlier this year. Community colleges being free would help persuade people to pursue a degree. There would be less students in debt, because they would not have to take out a loan to attend community college. If community colleges were free, it would help people get a leg up on their college degree, there would be less debt for college students, and deleting community college tuition would help students achieve success in their educational careers.
One of the main reasons why college should not be free is because of the common conception of free things: free things are not good quality. Nothing that is given out for free is ever good quality, they are usually simple things such as a pen or sunglasses covered in a company's logo—never anything with great use. Many are afraid that if college becomes free the quality of the education will suffer tremendously. If colleges weren't being paid money by the students they will cut professors pay and other education boosting factors that will result in a lesser education. This point is further explained and supported by the website "idebate" stating that nothing is good or worthwhile if it is free, just
Tuition-free college provides everyone an equal opportunity to gain higher education that they desire. Using statistics in College Costs: FAQs from the College Board - a popular organization that connects students to college success and opportunity, the average cost of tuition of the public two-year college (in-district students) is about $3440; the one of the public four-year college is about $9410; and the one of the public four-year college (out-of-state students) is about $32410. That huge amount of tuition aren’t affordable for everyone, especially for high-school graduates. Moreover, community colleges in the U.S. serve not only high-school graduates, but also immigrants, veterans, oversea students, and people studying to meet new jobs’ requirements. They usually can’t pay for full tuitions themselves without using student loans and debts. According to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the report Student Loan Servicing shows that total student debt has gone up to $1.2 trillion. The heavy debt could bring the whole economy down in a
If college was free students would have to want to continue their education and get a degree. While free would make college affordable, those receiving the benefit would need to have stipulations for the free classes they are attending. Michael J. Petrilli is the president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Petrilli states, “… just 40 percent of 12th graders are college-ready, even though nearly 70 percent already head straight into college.” He is correct that many high school graduates are not prepared to transition to college. Many don’t have the attention span to sit in longer classes. Students are used not study over a time period, but rather cram the night before the due assignment. Some stipulations would be; you have to finish and get a degree, you have to keep your GPA up, and if you drop out without a good reason you have to pay back the money you used.