In recent years, politicians from across America debated whether college should remain free. It sounds great, but it has flaws. There are many issues in the plan of eliminating student loans and creating free universities throughout the country. However the National Student Clearinghouse conducted a survey which revealed that 47% dropped out of college. Additional research has also shown that completion rates drop the more students contribute towards the cost. This could indicate that free tuition in the United States may lead to an increase of dropouts. The dropout rate will rise and top universities will become overpopulated, which could lead to teachers becoming more stressed. Teachers will not only be paid a low salary, but classrooms will also fill up faster than expected, which will leave students in a difficult position.
Even though I love the idea, as an outside student spending over $36,000 per academic year, it is hard to believe that this would work. Incoming freshmen should choose the most prestigious and highly-ranked universities. The student population at smaller schools, private universities, and schools that are not nationally recognized would start to decline. This could lead to massive job losses across the country. Personally, I can name more than twenty colleges in Illinois, which would close down because they aren’t well-known or recognized. Likewise, major schools like Harvard University and MIT would be shut down simultaneously. Students would flood the schools. They wouldn’t be able to accommodate the students. It would be paid by the state, and would require residents of large states to relocate. Why would a bachelor’s degree be any more valuable than a high school diploma if it is easily accessible to all? I believe it would eventually be comparable to a high school diploma. Students would then be funneled into four-year universities in the same way they did high school. This would be four more years of schooling with huge class sizes, low morale teachers, and insufficient dorm rooms. How would professional jobs work? Is it possible to get a doctoral or masters degree for free? Americans would eventually need to be doctors in order to get a job as a salesperson. Why would they? It’s free so employers should expect the best from their employees. Students will be more likely to abandon a course if they are able to go to school at no cost to themselves than if they have to pay for it. Psychologists refer this to the “sunk costs effect”. Students who have put in a lot of effort or time to earn a degree are more likely to finish it than those who don’t. Although it sounds too good-to-be true, the reality is that free college is possible.
There are however many things that could be done to make college affordable. The New York Times reported that rather than offering tuition for free, targeted policies are needed to provide more funding for aid to those in need. This could be from private or public institutions, as well from the federal and state governments. Although lower net prices will reduce the need to borrow money for college, federal student loans programs will still be a valuable tool for increasing college access. “Even if there were no tuition, it wouldn’t be enough to eliminate the need of loans. However, students still need to have room, board, or travel expenses. This program would aid low-income students without depleting the education system.
When discussing free-college tuition, the most important issue is teachers. The United States is already extremely underpaid for teachers. At the University of Mississippi for example, many instructors are being paid below the $24,000 minimum wage. This is a significant problem at American universities. It also affects large universities. My tuition to the school, along with many others, was almost $40,000 Despite the high cost of school, many teachers still don’t get well-paid salaries. My EDHE instructor is a student at postgraduate level and has to still work 3 jobs. I am dumbfounded by this. I am left dumbfounded. Is there any way to make money appear out of thin air? People would move to low-populated states if the state tax-payers were to pay for teacher salaries. This is due to large, well-known schools in states like Alabama and Southern California. Students will flock to these big “dream” schools when tuition suddenly becomes free. This could spell disaster for many students. The colleges would become overcrowded and the tax payers would have to cover a huge increase in teachers. The U.S. has not invested enough in its teachers. Free-college is simply a step back.
We would also face the problem of the loss in trades across the country. According to The Washington Examiner, the number of generation-z who are enrolled in trade-schools or programs is astonishing. This trend would end if college were free. However, people who are qualified to be in trades will join overcrowded schools because it is free. This would completely end the trade-field. Vocational schools in the United States would be left without enough students. This would result in a halt to vocational education.
Although I dream of living in a fantasy land where free college is an option, it’s not possible for me to see how realistic that dream is. The United States would face many problems, including underpaid teachers and overpopulated schools, demotivated students dropping off, and a drop in the number of students entering trades. This idea is flawed. It would also devalue bachelor’s degrees, which would essentially waste all of the hard-work. Additionally, many people have paid high amounts for their degrees. In some cases they even paid this by themselves. Will the government reimburse everyone? Andrew P. Kelly was a resident scholar and the director at the American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Higher Education Reform. He said once that a valuable degree is well worth the investment, even if one has to pay a fee. College should not be a 4-year public high school.
Works cited
Hill, Catharine. “Free Tuition Is Not the Answer.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Nov. 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/opinion/free-tuition-is-not-the-answer.html.
Neelakantan, Shailaja. “Does Free College Come with Trade-Offs?” Education Dive, 12 Aug. 2019, https://www.educationdive.com/news/does-free-college-come-with-trade-offs/560729
“Should College Be Free?” The New York Times, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/01/20/should-college-be-free/the-problem-is-that-free-college-isnt-free.
Turner, Cory. “If ‘Free College’ Sounds Too Good To Be True, That’s Because It Often Is.” NPR, NPR, 12 Sept. 2018, https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/09/12/643673271/if-free-college-sounds-too-good-to-be-true-that-s-because-it-often-is.
