One
of the major topics of the 2016 presidential election was concern towards the
affordability of college education. Former President Barrack Obama tried to put
forward a plan that would see community colleges offer free tuition to eligible
students. Bernie Sanders went one step further and proposed he would try and
make all public colleges tuition free, and Hilary Clinton at least touched on
the issue saying she would try and make it affordable to those who needed the
help, a vaguer approach, but probably the most realistic. They seem to all
believe going in the direction of eventually trying to make all public colleges
tuition free, but is this even a good idea?
Like most complex issues regarding so many different
people and institutes, there are pros and cons. However, in regard to free
tuition it seems the cons outweigh the pros. One of the main pros people claim
when talking about free tuition is that more people, especially those with low
income, will enroll in higher education. This however can very quickly become a
con. According to an
article by the Fraser Institute, in the 1990s England’s free tuition
brought their universities to a state of crisis. The number of students had
increased like most people had predicted while budgets did not. If public
colleges were to adopt a tuition free system where would the money come from?
The most likely answer is taxes. Although the uncertainty of exactly who will
get taxed and how much it will be would understandably make people nervous.
According to an
article by College Raptor, 66% of existing jobs in the U.S. require
you to have some type of college degree. Many people take issue with the fact
that obtaining said education is gated by a huge pay wall. A pay wall that many
people have to go deep in debt to be able to afford. Free tuition may introduce
a completely different yet equally frustrating wall of its own. If a free
tuition system is introduced, it is no stretch of the imagination to assume
that enrollment will skyrocket. With no tuitions being paid and more students
than ever, the government and schools would have no choice but to put a limit
on enrollment across the board, creating an entirely new wall, the waitlist
wall.
Student loans are the first big financial obstacle
most young students run into, and it teaches them how to budget money
correctly, a very important life skill they will continue to use for the rest
of their lives. Starting their young lives tens of thousands of dollars in debt
may be a bit too hard of a lesson, however. Like most complex issues there are
pros and cons to each side of the argument, and the answer most likely lies
somewhere in the middle. Perhaps an income dependent system is the way to go. A
way to maintain all the pros tuitions offer, while diverting many of the cons
the tuition free system brings with it.
Sources:
https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/college-news-trends/important-ever-college-degree/
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ReplyDeleteI think with anything it is good to weigh the pros and cons and I like how you talk about the cons because most people are mainly talking about the pros. For specific example when you talked about the post secondary enrollment increasing which created a financial downfall for the post secondary institute which would limit the ability for some students to be eligible for post secondary which comes with its own problems on its own like the acceptance process and how they would go about doing that without having a negative effect on society.
ReplyDeleteHaving classes filled to capacity would result in specific (or purposeful) carefully selected (or cultivated) participants so the average student might not be eligible to enroll in post secondary if they are competing against someone who is of great intelligence and that has a superior upbringing which creates and uneven playing field.
This is well written opinion piece Braedyn, I appreciate that you addressed both the pros and cons of this issue. Specifically, the example from the Fraser Institute was something I hadn't come across in my research and showcases the importance of a higher budget if free tuition is introduced in British Columbia.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the acceptance process, the enrollment rate would increase but I don't believe that it would skyrocket. There are individuals who wouldn't wish to attain a post secondary education even if the cost wasn't an issue.
What a great article Braedyn. I like how you pointed out the cons to free tuition and not just the pros, which majority look at. With one of the main concerns is where is this funding going to come from? Taxes probably but how much more would people have to pay on their taxes? With another concern is enrollment for students, I particularly liked how discussing it could be for difficult to enroll in a post-secondary education and how we may get over one wall but we would be "creating an entirely new wall, the waitlist wall".
ReplyDeleteGreat work
I believe your article was very interesting. I enjoyed how you showed both sides of the argument then took what is possibly the less common approach of not wanting tuition to be free for college students. I liked reading it because it was interesting seeing a different opinion to this idea. I believe the point you made about where the money would come from is a good point because it is hard to pinpoint that. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteReally good article Braedyn. You brought up some really good points here. I like how you brought up both the pros and cons of free tuition, I'm always more drawn to articles that bring up the positives and negatives of both sides. It makes it a little less biased. Awesome work.
ReplyDelete