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Vinny Cioletti

Professor Lewis

ENG 101

4 November 2018

Free College Tuition: A Research Paper

The idea of free college tuition is nothing new in the world of politics, but it gained a

huge spike in attention during the most recent presidential election. One of the leading

democratic candidates, Bernie Sanders, made free tuition one of his main points in his campaign

and stressed the idea of it allowing everyone access to higher education rather than just those

who can afford it. On the surface it seems like a logical and fair idea, but there is a lot more that

goes into it than just allowing everyone to go to college. His ideas called for major opposition

from Sanders’ opposers because of both educational and economic reasons. The cost of college

has increased astronomically which raises certain questions like is a degree really worth it?

Would free tuition diminish any value a degree still has left? And finally, what would free

college do for the U.S. economy?

A main reason people question a college degrees true worth is because student debt has

become a major problem in the United States over the past few decades, which causes a stir

amongst Americans. For example, the average percentage of income a family spends on college

has increased from 4% 40 years ago to 15% currently. This trend is directly related to the fact

that since the 1970’s tuition and fees at public institutions have increased by more than 350%. It

has become so much of a problem that the total outstanding student-loan obligations in the U.S.

exceed a trillion dollars (Warren and Sonti). Not only does that make college less appealing, it

brings out student debt as a major problem for American families. Furthermore, J.D. Ho, a
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professor at Carnagie Mellon University, claims that 27% of college tuition is paid with loans on

average (Ho). These loans come with interest rates, driving the cost students pay even higher

than the set tuition. These statistics beg the question is a college degree worth such a big portion

of a families income and student loan debt?

Another reason the worth of a college degree is questioned is because the retention rates

are low, whereas degrees are expensive. This epidemic makes it extremely difficult for students

to go to college, much less last all four years and earn their degree. In fact, only 63% of college

students go on to graduate. The leading cause of this is the unaffordability of college. So, 27% of

students start college, fall into drowning debt, dropout, and never gain anything from it except a

few lousy college credits that mean nothing in the long run (Warren and Sonti). This points out

that even though the system is set up to benefit young Americans, it often ends up hurting them

significantly more than it could help them. To put it in other words, active researchers Stephanie

Owen and Isabel Sawhill state, “The more someone has to pay to attend, the lower the net benefit

of attending” (Owen and Sawhill 320). This reasoning seems so simple but is the root of a major

issue surrounding college education and has yet to be formally addressed by those in power to do

so. Until certain steps are taken to combat these issues, the controversy over the worth of a

college degree will not end. The only place some action has been taken is in New York.

When going over this problem, Andrew M. Cuomo, the governor of New York, came up

with an idea that has become much more prominent in politics lately. Cuomo instituted the

Excelsior Scholarship, which allows students under certain conditions to attend two- and four-

year universities state tuition free (Ho). It is targeted for students who fall into the lower middle-

class that are too well off for grants but don’t have enough to afford college, either. Of course,

this sparks heavy debate within the government and citizens in New York, but the point still

stands that this is being tested as a solution to student debt and college tuition problems. This is
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the first of what could be many places to institute free college for students, but it's not a big

enough sample size. What happens to the rest of the students? Especially those students who are

of very low income that get some grants but can't afford to pay the money owed that is left over.

These types of questions bring to light that the idea of free college does not come easily or

harmlessly. No matter what, someone is either hurt or wronged with this proposed solution as it

stands today. All this also helps put into motion the actual financial complications that come with

free college. Someone has to pay for it or else these schools will go out of business, but the cost

to keep every single educational institution up and running is far too much for a single group or

government to pay for.

The value of a college degree has already become a topic of discussion due to the push

for everyone to go to college nowadays. The amount of people coming out of colleges with

similar degrees has college graduates finding themselves in major debt and no places to get a job.

While having a college degree used to basically ensure a high paying job, it is much different in

the present day. Owen and Sawhill give their take on this by saying, “For the past few decades, it

has been widely argued that a college degree is a prerequisite to entering the middle class in the

U.S.” (Owen and Sawhill 318). As stated before, middle class families tend to struggle paying

for college, so that isn't exactly the hope for students who are attending college. Ben Casselman,

an economics writer, elaborates on this with his claim that, “those struggling most to pay off

loans are often those with smaller balances who either have degrees that don’t help them find

jobs or who never got a degree in the first place” (Casselman 394). Nowadays, though, it seems

that there are more ineffective degrees than ever before. Casselman also includes a statement

from Sara Goldrick-Rab, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin, saying, “The

biggest issue is that people can't afford to spend enough time in college to actually finish their

darn degrees” (Casselman 395). The point is that with the cost being so high, it eliminates the
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opportunity for everyday students to get a degree, which is the exact opposite of an educational

institutions purpose. This begs the question of whether college is worth all the money in the first

place.

It's not all bad, though, as having a college degree definitely does still hold value. On

average, college graduates make significantly more than those who aren't still (Owen and

Sawhill 319). And their further research suggests that college graduates also have improved well-

being due to job satisfaction and certain intangibles like that (Owen and Sawhill 319). It may not

be in terms of cash, but well-being is a vital part in deciding whether college is worth the cost or

not. Often times adults find themselves in jobs that they dread going to everyday, which affects

their outlook on life and overall happiness, despite the fact that they are making money instead

of spending it like most college students are. Sanford Ungar, former president of Goucher

College, has gone as far as saying, “the traditional, well-rounded preparation that the liberal arts

offer is a better investment than ever” (Ungar 337). And even further than that, Ben Casselman

states, “A college degree remains the most likely path to a decent-paying job” (Casselman 395).

These claims help assert that a college degree does still hold a lot of value, and for most, it is still

worth going to college for. But at such a steep price, it's hard to judge if even those benefits are

truly worth it.

Certain politicians have suggested or unrolled plans to lower college tuition or make it

free, it is just uncertain what this would mean for the economy. Mitchell Wellman, A reporter

and professor from the University of Virginia, includes in his article “Here’s How Much Bernie

Sanders’ Free College Would Cost” that Bernie Sanders suggested free tuition for colleges and

universities through a combination of federal and state financing. More specifically, Sanders bill

he introduced in 2017 was geared towards free four-year tuition for families or people with an

income of less than $125,000 per year and free community college for all people. He estimated
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that it would cost the United States $70 billion per year to make it happen, which certainly

doesn’t suggest it is helping the economy in any way (Wellman). His opposition in the 2016

election, Hillary Clinton, suggested free tuition at community colleges, limiting student loan

payments to 10% of income, and forgiving education debts after 20 years (Gale). While these

politicians have come up with these plans, no one is certain that it will actually work and that it

will have minimal negative impacts. In fact, both of these politicians received major heat on their

plans for education from the opposing party, and even from some of those people among their

own party. However, the idea of free college tuition is still there and it's not going away.

Several other countries in the world have already successfully provided tuition-free

higher education and proved that it can be done without harming the economy. Among those

countries are Denmark, Germany and Sweden (Gale). These countries are the basis of what

Bernie Sanders modeled his plans off of. Even though there is proven success when it comes to

free tuition from these countries, there is still heavy opposition to Sander’s plans. In an article

titled “College Tuition and Student Loans” author Gale states, “Critics of these plans argued that

providing new sources of government funding for higher education would make college less

affordable by creating further incentives for academic institutions to increase the cost of room,

board, and non-tuition fees.” Further, Gale explains, “Further criticisms leveled against such

plans claimed that they would divert federal funding from other pressing issues, raise taxes, hurt

private institutions, and encourage students to pursue majors and programs that do not translate

to employment.” The opposition comes from the thoughts that free tuition could negatively

impact the country's economy or government. The major point is that while free-tuition seems

like a major benefit for the people of the United States, there are many negatives that could

potentially come with it, which is why it hasn’t been passed into effect up to this point in time.
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There is growing concern over college tuition and what it's doing to students mentally

and financially, but there is no clear indication on if free tuition is the solution to those problems.

Obviously, it would relieve the students, but its economic and social effects could be impractical,

which makes it a much larger problem than it appears on the surface. Education has always been

held as a very vital piece of societal development. College has been a major part of United States

history and is never going to disappear, so finding certain solutions to all of the controversy

surrounding it should be made a priority. The country cannot get rid of one of the most well-

known and effective pieces of American tradition. Maybe that solution lies within the process

and idea of free tuition, but maybe it is the complete opposite. Would making college free hurt

more than it would make things better?

Works Cited

Casselman, Ben. "Shut Up About Harvard." They Say I Say, edited by Gerald Graff, Cathy

Birkenstein, and Russel Durst, New York, W.W Norton & Company, pp. 390-97.

"College Tuition and Student Loans." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com.librarydb.northwood.edu:2048/apps/doc/PC3010999071/OVIC?

u=northwoodu&sid=OVIC&xid=7feac38a. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Ho, J.D. "Student Debt Crisis." ,

link.galegroup.com.librarydb.northwood.edu:2048/apps/doc/A440550618/OVIC?

u=northwoodu&sid=OVIC&xid=bb052dfa. . Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Owen, Stephanie, and Isabel Sawhill. "Should Everyone Go to College?" They Say I Say, edited

by Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst, New York, W.W Norton & Company, pp.

318-35.

Ungar, Sanford J. "The New Liberal Arts." They Say I Say, edited by Gerald Graff, Cathy

Birkesntein, and Russel Durts, New York, W.W Norton & Company, pp. 336-43.

Warren, Kenneth W., and Samir Sonti. "Why college should be free--for rich and poor alike."

The Chronicle of Higher Education, 8 Jan. 2016, p. A26+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com.librarydb.northwood.edu:2048/apps/doc/A440550618/OVIC?

u=northwoodu&sid=OVIC&xid=bb052dfa. Accessed 21 Nov. 2018.

Wellman, Mitchell. "Here's How Much Bernie Sander's Free College For All Plan Would Cost."

, 17 Apr. 2017. Accessed 2 Dec. 2018.