Running head: FREE COLLEGE

Free College
Should College Be Free?
Hannah Corral
El Paso Community College

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Should college be free? I dont see why not. Attending college has now become a
necessity, in todays society. If you want to become successful, most careers require
you to have at least some type of degree. College tuition is quite expensive, which is
why some prefer not to continue their education after high school. It is also the reason
why students who do continue, take longer to finish their education. If it was free,
students would graduate faster. This would also be a big help for the middle class, who
make too much money to receive financial aid, but are too poor to afford college out of
pocket. I myself am attending El Paso Community College, and am paying for my own
college tuition. Because of this, I have already applied and received student loans and
its only my 2nd semester. Many students get loans but struggle to pay them back.
Student loan debt has become a big issue and is only getting worse. One controversy
that some people might have would be that taxes would go up, however, if college was
free it wouldnt be such a big deal, if more people receive an education, that means
more will be successful and have good paying jobs, which means dept can be paid off,
the extra tax that would be imposed on them in the first place.
A century ago high school was becoming a necessity, not a luxury; today the
same is happening to college. If college is essential for building a career and being a full
participant in our democracy as high school once was, shouldn't it be free, paid for by
public dollars, and treated as a right of all members of our country? (Page, & Clawson,
N.D) In todays society, in order to get the job you want, you need to attend college and
get a degree in the field that the career requires. If youre really determined to get in the
career you desire, you will attend college and do whatever it takes to come up with the
money and/or apply for student loans. Attending college is a must, unless you want to

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spend the rest of your life flipping burgers, getting paid minimum wage. You need an
education, now a days, in order to be who you want to be. Even if its not what you want
to do, you need a good paying job to provide for your family, pay rent...etc. College
education has become a necessity.
Not surprising, most people cant afford college. "If you look at the long-term
trend, [college tuition] has been rising almost six percent above the rate of inflation,"
said Ray Franke, a professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Boston
(Schoen, 2015). Imagine how many people would be well educated and actually attend
college and graduate with at least a Bachelors, if they had the chance. People dont
even bother looking into colleges now, because they know they cant afford it. Its sad, if
someone really wants to continue their education after high school, they should be able
to do so. Money shouldnt hold them back; college tuition shouldnt hold them back.
Because college isnt free, not everyone has the freedom to experience college and
receive a higher level of education. So now what? I guess these people wont get to
pursue the career they always wanted all because they cant afford to attend college.
Most college students do not graduate on time and earn a degree in four years.
As the proverb says, Time is Money-Benjamin Franklin. The reality is that our system
of higher education costs too much, takes too long and graduates too few At most
public universities, only 19 percent of full-time students earn a bachelors degree in four
yearsonly 36 percent of full-time students complete their bachelors degree on time.
Nationwide, only 50 of more than 580 public four-year institutions graduate a majority of
their full-time students on time.. at community colleges5 percent of full-time students
earned an associate degree within two years, and 15.9 percent earned a one- to two-

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year certificate on time (Lewin, 2014). College tuition is too much and people tend to
take breaks because of this. If not, youll owe thousands of dollars all in one chunk to
student loans. Taking breaks during college, is a bad idea, I dont know about you, but
when I take a break from something it takes a while for my mind to refresh and
remember everything that was taught last semester, for example. Besides, wouldnt you
just want to get college over with already? Instead of taking years and years to receive
your bachelors degree? If college tuition was free, students would graduate faster.
The middle class suffers greatly from having to pay for college tuition out of
pocket. They are too rich to receive financial aid, but are too poor to afford college.
Most financial aid is based on the FAFSA, which is then used to calculate the expected
family contribution. This is essentially how much the government thinks that families can
afford to pay for their childs college educationThe problem is that this formula doesnt
take into consideration your family expenses, your needs for saving for retirement, and
possibly the costs of saving for your other kids college education. So, while the
government may think you could contribute thousands of dollars, you may not be able
to (Farrington, 2014). My family is classified under the middle class, so I am paying for
my own college tuition. I think of it as, you either need to be poor or be rich, theres no in
between, if not youre screwed. Having no college tuition would just take off one less
thing to worry about fro the middle class people. Because I need to pay for college out
of my pocket, I have already applied and received student loans and its only my 2 nd
semester.
College is so expensive; students have no option but to apply for student loans.
The outstanding balance of the nations student loans is growing by an estimated

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$2,726.27 every second according to the clock developed for Market Watch by Start
Class, an education data site about 40 million Americans are carrying some student
loans and about 70% of students graduate college with debt (Berman, 2016). You
never know what could happen, you might need to use all your money for an
emergency that came up and youre not able to pay off your student loans on time or at
all. All these borrowers are struggling to buy houses, carsetc. Applying for a loan
should be the last thing you do, due to having the probability of falling in debt.
However, if college were to become free, taxes would go up. According to the
IRS, 243 million Americans paid some form of federal taxes in 2013. 8 billion dollars
divided by 243 million taxpayers is $32.9 dollars per yearlets apply it to the cost of
free 4-year college for all Americans The math is clear: free 4-year college for every
American would only cost taxpayers 70 cents a day (Gibson, 2015). So no, I dont think
that having college be free would be so expensive. Even though it is adding more taxes,
if more people receive an education, that means more will be successful and have good
paying jobs, which means the extra tax that would be imposed would be paid off.
Learning should be free. Attending college has now become a necessity, in
todays society. College tuition has gotten very expensive, which is why some prefer not
to continue their education after high school and also causes students to take longer to
earn their degree. If college was free, it would benefit the middle class and also prevent
student loan debt. Taxes would go up, however, if college was free it wouldnt be such a
big deal, if more people receive an education, at the end, dept can be paid off.
References

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Berman, J. (2016). Watch Americas student-loan debt grow $2,726 every second.
Market Watch. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/every-secondamericans-get-buried-under-another-3055-in-student-loan-debt-2015-06-10
Farrington, R. (2014). Too Poor For College, Too Rich For Financial Aid. Forbes/Education.
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertfarrington/2014/06/17/too-poorfor-college-too-rich-for-financial-aid/#75d8609f7b20
Gibson, C. (2015). The Next Time Someone Says We Cant Afford Free College, Show
Them This. U.S. Uncut. Retreieved from http://usuncut.com/politics/for-just-70cents-a-day-you-too-could-save-a-college-student/
Lewin, T. (2014). Most College Students Dont Earn a Degree in 4 Years, Study Finds. The
New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/02/education/most-college-students-dont-earndegree-in-4-years-study-finds.html
Osterndorf, C. (2015). Bernie Sanders is right: College should be free for everyone. The
Daily Dot. Retrieved from http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/bernie-sanders-freecollege-tuition/
Page, M., & Clawson, D. (N.D.). Its Time to Push for Free College. National Education
Association. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/62740.htm
Schoen, J. (2015). Why does a college degree cost so much? CNBC. Retrieved from
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/16/why-college-costs-are-so-high-and-rising.html