Also known as Americas College Promise Act

Opening:

We negate the resolution which states: in the United States, students should be guaranteed two years of
free tuition to a community/tech college.

We would like to define the following ambiguous terms:

- Students- Eligible persons who have graduated high school regardless of gender or race.
- Tuition- a sum of money charged for teaching or instruction by a school, college, or university.
- Community College- A public funded institute. All community colleges in the state where the
person is currently living in, that provides workforce education and college transfer academic
programs, within two years.

Another term to define:

- Student loans- tuition fees

1. Main Argument: There will be many serious negative effects economically of

guaranteeing two free years of college.

a. Sub Point A- US debt is already increasing at an alarming rate, debt will

increase if we guarantee two years of free college.

i. Evidence- According to Treasury Direct, the US debt is currently at

19.84 trillion dollars, and is estimated to reach 20 trillion dollars by the
the end of 2017, and this plan requires an approximate 80 billion dollars
annually, which will increase debt.

ii. Explanation- If we decide to go through with this plan, 80 million

additional dollars will be adding to the overwhelming debt annually.

b. Sub Point B- The federal government is already providing eligible students with
student loans.
i. Evidence- The Federal Pell grant pays for a students tuition for up to six
years without having the student pay back the money once they have
graduated if they meet certain requirements such not having any other
degree. (From Federal Student Aid)

ii. Explanation- If there is already a program in place, there is no need for

another program to exist.

2. Main Argument 2: Guaranteeing students two free years of college will be ineffective.

a. Sub Point A- The completion rates of the community colleges who guarantee
two free years of college is much less than the community colleges who do not.
 Also known as Americas College Promise Act

i. Evidence- New York Community colleges, have adopted this plan and
the completion rate at New York Community Colleges is only 20.6%.
According to New-York.Gov. The average completion rate of colleges
nationally is approximately 57%, which is approximately 37% higher
than the average completion rate in New York who guarantee two years
of free college.

ii. Explanation- Because of the evidence, it is clearly evident that

community colleges that guarantee two free years of college will be
much more ineffective then of those that do not.

b. Sub Point B- The value of an associates degree will decrease.

i. Evidence: According to the Harvard School of Business, Degree

inflation is increasing, due to the mass amount of students that would be
able to easily obtain an associates degree.

ii. Explanation: If we decide to go through with this plan, employers will

know how easily it is to obtain an associate degree, and they will be
forced to raise the bar for their job requirements.

3. Main Argument 3: Free community college does not mean completely free.

a. Sub Point A- The college cannot stop from students taking out expensive loans.
i. Evidence: 41% if Americans do not have a college degree (Census.gov),
5.4% of which are unemployed (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The act says
nothing to cover anything other than tuition, which means that for those
unemployed, all of those 5.4% and many who are underemployed (those
who are working temporary, part time, or intermittent employment from
Forbes) who will go back to college, theyll have to take on debt to pay
for textbooks, room and board, as well as other facility expenses.
ii. Explanation: Default rates for student debts are higher among students
supposedly benefiting from the program. The reason being that the
students attending the "free educational program will have to pay for
their extra fees when the only reason they are attending free
community college is the fact that they cannot afford college expenses.

b. Sub Point B-. There will be an increase is students loan defaults.

iii. Evidence: According to New York.gov, there was a 9.3% student loan
default rate in 2012, when they started this program, which is
substantially higher than previous years.
iv. Explanation: Debt is very harmful to a students financial state, and
should be avoided at all costs. The students may have to quit working
 Also known as Americas College Promise Act

fulltime for parttime or not work at all while still having to pay for living
expenses such as room and board, food, and textbooks.

Closing Statement: Based on the evidence provided, it is imperative that you vote the negative. In the
words of Don Rather, a US journalist and former CBS news anchor, A college degree is the key to
realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to
a world of opportunity.
 Also known as Americas College Promise Act

Possible Rebuttals

- You said no loans with free college (In you were paying attention, you would know in our Main
argument 3, sub point B we explained that there are still many loans, and even increased loans
taken out by these students ( free college is not taking into account room and board, text
books, food costs)

- You continually quoted Jefferson, and how he wanted equal education for everyone. Upon further
research we discovered that Thomas Jefferson was actually talking about public elementary level
education and nothing else. libertarianism

- (Also you said that state governments should not control schools, when the act states 25% of the
funding comes from the state its imperative for the state funds these schools, in order to keep a
smooth running system) libertarianism

- Argument: system is unneeded, uneffective, and may be harmful to current initiatives.

- 12% of university graduates ages 25 to 62 indicate that they have jobs that require no more than a
highschool diploma.
- Of the 17% mentioned earlier, only 88%, or 14.96% of the students the government is
paying for will actually, have a job requiring their degree.

- 4 year colleges will lose students to community colleges (Hurt economy)

- Basically just making a K-14 system. (inadequate preparation for workforce)

- Germanys free college tuition system makes it so that children are chosen at a young age and
offered special education as opposed for their peers. (Washington Post May 2015) Known as
eternal students, they try to stay in college as long as possible. (Spiegel Online)

- Students may not know how to handle finances with no student loans.

- Government may take money from other forms of financial aid towards college students, out of
the military, or making new taxes (TradeSchool.Net)

- Already 25% of community college operate in states where there is a significant number of
students with free tuition

- Will the program be offered to high school dropouts? (95% of colleges and universities accept
students with GED)
- GED: General Educational Development (certify person has high-school level skills)

- A student borrows less than $6000 for an associates degree (US News), something they can easily
pay off with less than three months (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
 Also known as Americas College Promise Act

- Free tuition regardless of need, may breed entitlement, indifference, or both (Washington Post)

- The Americas College Promise offers only free college for responsible students. Is that true?
- Yes: So its not qualified for certain irresponsible people. Who are those certain people
or groups of people? Is that a form of disability discrimination (defined by justice.gov)
against those who have learning disabilities?
- No: So you want to waste 80% of your budget supporting people who know are
irresponsible and going to drop out. When we already have a national debt of 20 trillion
USD.

- G-7 (Japan 59%, Canada 58%, UK 48%, US 46%) have higher levels of postsecondary education
(education after high school) attainment than those where tuition is free (France 44%; Germany
28%; Italy 24%) Hechinger report

- David N. Hyman, Economics Professor from NCSU says:

- Natural rate of unemployment is the percentage of the labor force that can normally be
expected to be unemployed for reasons other than cyclical fluctuations in real GDP
(Gross Domestic Product): total value of everything produced by all people and people in
the country. When the actual rate of unemployment is no more than the natural rate of
unemployment, the economy operates at full employment. The natural unemployment
rate within the past three decades is 6%, with the current employment rate of the US
being at 4.1% as of October 2017 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). This means we are in full
employment.

SubPoint A more info:

How much Department of Education currently gets in a year?
- Received $107.6 billion on education (New York Times). Which means with the new act, only
$27.6 billion will be left to fund the other five sections of federal education spending (such as
school nutrition and pre-K)
 Also known as Americas College Promise Act

What will happen under current legislation?

More on Pell Grant:
- Grants are available for students from low-income families. Does not require credit check and
primarily aims for students who are poor. (collegescholarships)

Cites

https://www.trade-schools.net/articles/should-college-be-free.asp

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2011/08/31/student-loans-
pack-surprising-benefits

https://www.collegeraptor.com/find-colleges/articles/affordability-college-cost/pros-cons-tuition-free-
college/
 Also known as Americas College Promise Act

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/college-doesnt-need-to-be-free/2015/05/21/4453fc94-ff0f-
11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html?utm_term=.4480a55113ba

http://www.hbs.edu/managing-the-future-of-work/Documents/dismissed-by-degrees.pdf