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Daniella Vallejo
Sean M. George
English 1010D.03
10 December 2015
No Cost College Tuition
Students have to pay so much money for college tuition these days. Tuition has increased
majorly throughout the years, which affects a students chance in being able to go to
college right out of high school. Once students go to college, a majority of them have to take out
student loans that they cant pay back and in the worse cases, even drop out of college because
it's becoming way too expensive and many students cannot afford the cost of tuition. I firmly
believe that college should become free, just like it is in grade school, because it is way too
expensive, it would give a lot more students, a chance at an education, which would help
students be more successful in life, and free college would benefit our society as a whole. From
the time of kindergarten to 12th grade, students, along with their families, are used to public
school being free, and once their student is out of high school moving on to college, tuition
becomes thousands of dollars and quite unaffordable.
College is just way too expensive. There have been numerous amounts of students
everywhere not attending college, due to the cost of tuition. In some cases, the amount of money
that it costs for someone to go to college can be a make it or break it deal. That shouldnt be the
case at all. An amount of money should never determine the future for someone, but with the
way society is today, that the way that things are going. According to an article in Radical

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Futures, Jon Wiener writes, The mother of all problems in higher education today is high tuition
at public colleges and universities, which forces students into decades of debt and makes forprofit schools seem like a plausible alternative (Wiener 124). With the way that the price of
college tuition is going, thing are only going to get worse for our economy. This leads to less
educated students and more debt for the person attending college. The class of 2015 will each
graduate with $35,051 in student debt on average, thats about $2,000 more than their peers who
graduated in 2014, though the share of students graduating with debt remained roughly the same
as last year at about 70% (Berman). Imagine what the amount of debt could be for the graduates
of 2016.
Another reason as to why college should be free is that it would benefit students who
want to prosper and be successful in the long run. College opens so many doors and
opportunities for students to have better jobs and better futures. Many jobs today require a form
of post-secondary schooling after high school. College is very important for many job
occupations and with the expensive amount of tuition; it isnt easy for students to go to school.
Free college would likely benefit only an outlying group of students who are currently shut out
of higher education because of coststudents with the ability and/or some cultural capital but
without wealth( McMillman 2). Therefore students arent able to be successful, because they
either didnt finish their schooling or they didnt even start to begin with.
Students are struggling with having to first off pay for the cost tuition, but also the cost of
books, student housing, especially if they dont live with their parents, food, and whatever else it
is they have to pay for. If tuition was free, there would be a huge weight lifted off students
backs. College students would be able to focus more on their schoolwork and assignments, rather
than having to worry about where they are going to find the money to either pay for their current

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semester that they are enrolled in or the upcoming semester they want to apply for. Being
successful doesnt just mean making a large amount of money, but being successful means to be
knowledgeable in what a person is doing. Just because a person makes a bunch of money,
doesnt make they automatically successful, although money may be nice, having the correct
mindset and knowing what a person is doing is success.
Finally, having free college would benefit our society and economy, by giving people the
chance to make something of themselves and actually become something worthy and valuable.
A college credential has never been more crucial to success than in todays 21st century
economy (Universal 2). By having a college credential of some sort, students are able to work
in better occupations and have long term jobs. Having free college would also lower the amount
of debt that each student goes in to when they receive students loans or borrow money from
other sources. A big percent of the nations debt comes from student loans that havent been paid
back, and the amount is just going to keep going up. Students will continue to take out student
loans for their own benefit, while it is hurting everyone else in the long run. Free college would
mean that students would no longer have to take out students loans to attend college, which
would be a benefit to the student and the economy. The economy is facing huge deficits due to
student loans, and since college is getting more and more expensive each year, the amount of
student loans in only going to increase.
However, from an opposing viewpoint, free college would mean that students get
education for no cost at all, which means there would be no source of income for the school.
According to an article in Dissent, Matt Bruenig writes, Without understanding and presenting
student benefits as welfare handouts, a free college agenda has no real egalitarian purpose.
People just want free college, but in return the employees that work for the school are the ones

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who are going to be getting the short end of the stick, for example, the professors. If college
tuition were to become free, that means that the professors wouldnt be getting paid near as much
to teach at an academic college level as they are now. They might as well be volunteers. Free
college sounds like a good idea to students who are currently attending college or for students
that are going to start college soon, but in the end it doesnt look good for the school.
In conclusion, having free college would be great for many students who want to get a
better education and have better opportunities throughout life. Free college can mean that there
would be better educated people in the workforce, and also more experienced workers because
jobs would become long term. Students have such a hard time theses day, with having to afford
college, but if college became free than students would no longer have to worry. From a personal
standpoint, free college would be beyond helpful. Having that burden being taken away, would
give students the chance to focus on their classes and they wouldnt have to work so much, so in
return that gives them more time to study and do what they need to for school. Free college truly
is not a bad idea at all.

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Works Cited
Berman, Jillian. "Class of 2015 Has the Most Student Debt in U.S. History." MarketWatch. 9
May 2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Bruenig, Matt. "The Case Against Free College." Dissent (00123846) 62.4 (2015): 112-114.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Mcmillan Cottom, Tressie. "Why Free College Is Necessary." Dissent (00123846) 62.4 (2015):
115-117. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
"Universal College Proposal Triggers Broad Discussion On Access, Affordability." Community
College Week 27.26 (2015): 41-43. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov.
2015.
Wiener, Jon. "Aiming Higher: Make College Tuition Free." Nation 300.14 (2015): 224-226.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.