Jack Pecora

Ms. Cramer
College Comp- Period 7
3-17-17
The Cost of Free College Tuition in America

"More than 75% of students required to take remedial classes never graduate. Seventy

percent of Americans will study at a 4-year college, but less than 2/3 will graduate. Thirty

percent of college freshman dropout after their first year. Sixty percent of college dropouts had

no help from parents in paying for tuition" (Beckstead). These statistics, which are rather

shocking, would be even more dramatic if college tuition were to be free. There would be

people attending numerous universities who would not be able to handle the vigorous

atmosphere that we like to call college. College tuition should not be free because of the

negative side effects it would have on taxpayers and the workforce.

To begin, in order for college tuition to be priceless, the government would need to pay

the colleges to accept these incoming students. This money would come from the working

Americans' pockets through taxes (Eichen). Therefore, the students that are going to college for

free would have to pay for their college tuition, plus that of millions more of Americans. Bernie

Sanders, during his presidential campaign, suggested that the United States should offer free

tuition. He imposed raising the top income tax from 36% up to 50%, and an increase of 0.5% on

stock trades, 0.1% on bonds and a 0.005% on derivatives. Free college is a thorn in the side of

the American taxpayers1, not only would this be taking money from the rich, college-level

1 Metaphor- Free college Tuition is an unnecessary hardship on American taxpayers.

educated Americans, it would still not be enough to pay for the influx of college students

(Luhby). In addition to taking money from Americans through taxes, the new college-education

students would be taking the jobs of those who are already educated.

To add on, the United States should not offer free college tuition because it would harm

the workforce. In The Pros and Cons of Free College, a "credential creep" is mentioned due to

the influx of new college-educated workers. The Americans that already have a degree would

need to go back to college to try to stay ahead of their new competitors, and to try to "stand

out" in their workplace. For example, if an institution employed someone with an associate's

degree, they could be replaced by someone who has the same degree or one that is higher. This

can lead to the current employee going back to college to further their education to compete

with the newcomer. As well as the possible competition, an employer may just release the

employees that have been there for years for the new college-educated adults. This will leave

Americans who have worked their way to the top, to fend for themselves and start over. Also,

the article states that there would be a "flood of graduates with mediocre credentials." With

college tuition being free, there would be many people becoming educated that do not have

the work ethic and determination to thrive in society. This would lead to the workplace

becoming disorganized and underactive. Not only would this hurt the economy, it also degrades

the morals of higher education; a college degree would be nothing more than a high school

diploma (Eichen) If everybody is able to attend college and have the chance at earning a

degree, the value goes down because it is so common. However, everyone being offered the

chance to go to college, there could be a stimulation in the economy

 On the contrary, "free college would expand access to education" (Josephson). Many

high school graduates do not go to post-secondary education because of the cost of tuition.

Young adults and even middle-aged individuals do not want to be left with thousands of dollars

in debt. However, as the number of people attending college increases, the quality of the

education decreases. As stated in The Real Cost of Free College Tuition, there would be an

overcrowding in colleges. This excessive amount of students would result in a decrease in the

quality of education. A few reasons why this might occur is because of teachers converting to a

lecture style of class with the increase of students, less active student involvement, reduced

teacher-student interaction and feedback, a reduction in the depth of thinking, and lower

academic achievement and performance in large classes (Cuseo). This decrease in the quality of

education will leave the workforce with employees who are not able to perform at the level of

those who earned and paid for their college degree. Due to this imperative reason, college

tuition should not be free, even though more people would be able to have access to higher

education.

On the other hand, making college tuition free would provide "a more educated

population" that could "have economic and social benefits for the country" (Josephson). Many

free college tuition activists argue that this increase in college educated Americans would

"boost the country's productivity and DDP as people sorted themselves into more suitable,

higher-paying jobs" (Josephson). However, according to The Real Cost of Free College Tuition, if

a student does not invest money into their education, they are more likely to drop out. Free
college is like four more years of high school 23, this can also be seen in high schools across the

nation. Since the students are not invested in their education, they are likely to drop out and

acquire a low paying job. If these students were not able to make it through high school, what is

going to make them go through college? Also, "just less than 40 percent of college students

complete four-year degrees on time," "19 percent of full-time students at public universities

earn a bachelors degree in four years," and "a mere 50 of more than 580 public four-year

institutions graduate a majority of their full-time students on time thats only 8.6 percent"

(Eichen). These statistics show the amount of people who willing go to college do not complete

their schooling. Now imagine these numbers if the amount of students doubled or even

tripped. How will the economy and society be able to improve if the students that are going to

college are not even finishing?

In conclusion, college tuition should not be free in the United States. Although there

would be positive side effects like more people having access to post-secondary education, and

a more educated population, there are downsides that outweigh the pros. One of these

drawbacks is that the taxpayers of America would have to contribute to paying for the tuition

because what is "free" in life is not always free. Also, the workforce would be negatively

impacted because of the amount of undereducated graduates trying to obtain jobs coming

from universities that have a degraded college degree. This is because as the number of

students in a classroom increases, the quality of the education decreases. Therefore, the cost of

going to college should not be eliminated. So, there is only one question that remains: is there

2 Simile- Shows a comparison between free college and free high school not being very different.
3 Analogy- This is an analogy/ simile.
an alternative to college that needs to be implemented in the United States in order to make

our country great again?

Works Cited

Beckstead, Rachel. "Statistics of College Dropouts." Online Colleges and Online Degrees |

College Atlas. N.p., 13 Mar. 2017. Web. <https://www.collegeatlas.org/college-

dropout.html>.

Cuseo, Joe. "THE EMPIRICAL CASE AGAINST LARGE CLASS SIZE: ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE

TEACHING, LEARNING, AND RETENTION OF FIRSTYEAR STUDENTS." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

<https://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Week-13-Cuseo-

1.pdf>.
Eichen, Andrew. "The Real Cost of Free College Tuition." Washington University Political Review

| WUPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.wupr.org/2015/11/30/the-real-

cost-of-free-college-tuition-2/>.

Josephson, Amelia. "The Pros and Cons of Free College." SmartAsset. N.p., 15 Sept. 2016. Web.

16 Mar. 2017. <https://smartasset.com/student-loans/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-

college>.

Luhby, Tami. "Free College and Healthcare for All." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, n.d. Web.

<http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/16/news/economy/sanders-taxes-spending/?iid=EL>.