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Gabriela Rosas

Mr. Gango

English 12A

September 23, 2017

The Need for Free Schooling Past High School

Most students going through the US education system have grown up listening to adults

preaching the importance of college yet after high school graduation, students are forced to

choose between college which will result in a large amount of them starting their new lives as

young adults with student debt or another route. Many students work hard throughout high

school only to be stressed with such a choice after graduation. When graduating, high school

students should not have to limit their college attendance choices based on college tuition but in

actuality what would fit them best, yet the case is often untrue. Therefore, there is a worthy call

for free college tuition so that students would not have to worry about starting their young lives

full of debt. With such a transition, the US would see more college attendance from students with

varied backgrounds. In addition to an increased diversity on campus, colleges are more likely to

see more students continuing their education to degree status instead of dropping out beforehand.

Most importantly, the US would benefit greatly by creating a higher educated generation of

students who would be entering the work field. Students would still face the same criteria to

simply get into college which means they will be forced to maintain their grades. Removing

tuition wouldn’t give just anybody a free college education, but those who are deserving proven

through their work. With such reasoning, it is highly important that people across the nation

understand the necessity of free education past the 12th grade.

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When it comes to attending college, money is a barrier that a vast majority of low income

students must face. Most students who live in poverty do not attend college because they do not

have the amount of money needed to attend without causing a strain on their already struggling

Rosas 2 families. According to Matt Bruenig’s article “The Case Against Free College”, it has

been noted that “only around 20 percent of children from the poorest 2 percent of families in the

country attend college” (Bruenig) which is remarkably low. That means that four out of every

five students from the poorest 2 percent of families do not attend college. People argue that these

students do not attend college because they are simply unsuitable or unmotivated to attend

college since they are given large amounts of financial aid. People such as Matt Bruenig argue

that these low income students “currently pay no net tuition at either two-year or four-year

institutions, while also receiving an average of $3,080 and $2,320 respectively” (Bruenig) which

should ensure their attendance at colleges if really having the drive to. Yet, they fail to realize

that many of these students have other people to support besides themselves and are still unable

to afford college even with the financial aid. Therefore, it is simple to understand that these

students are in need of support of the community towards being given the opportunity to attend

college with no college tuition cost. If college tuition was cut, then scholarships that would have

once gone to supporting students’ college tuitions would then go towards supporting their room

and board in greater numbers. In result, more students would be able to afford college and would

be more likely to attend.

By taking away the cost of tuition, college would not only see a higher attendance rate,

but most likely also a higher graduation rate. Over the past years a large amount of drop out

college students reported student debt being the reasoning being their choice to halt their higher

education. It comes to no surprise when people realize just how much debt college students are
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facing in today’s age. In 2015, it was reported that “38 million American students owed more

Rosas 3 than $1.3 trillion in student loans” (Ellison) which is absolutely remarkable. These

students are expected to come out of college and go straight into the work field while financially

supporting themselves, their families, and any other cost that arise with being an adult. People

argue that by removing college tuition they would not actually be supporting low income

students that need the money but instead just making college free for those who can already

afford to attend. These people hold a belief that “making college free for everyone would almost

certainly mean giving far more money to students from richer families” (Bruenig) forgetting that

the reason most students from lower income families do not attend college is because of these

high college tuitions. By removing the cost of tuition, colleges would see a higher attendance

levels from students that normally would not attend and eventually see these students continuing

on to degrees since they wouldn’t have to worry about student debt.

On a wider scale it is unreasonable not to support free tuition no matter if one personally

attends college or not because they would be supporting a brighter future for the nation itself.

The youth of America are the future workers of our nation and it is important that older

generations do everything in their power to better prepare them for when they are given control

of the world. It is these students that are given the choice between college and another route that

will someday take control of the workforce of the nation. Going back to the early days of our

nation, people understood that it was essential to educate everyone regardless of status in order to

ensure that they would make educated moves for our nation. Why is it that things should be any

different in today’s age? There are pessimist who believe that removing college tuition would be

“at worst destructive, and at best, totally pointless” (Bruenig) which shows that they don’t hold

much support for their nation. It is these people who do not understand the grand outcomes that
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Rosas 4 arise from introducing tuition free colleges. It would benefit their nation to educate the

young adults so that they are better prepared for the jobs that would open up as a result of older

generations retiring. For instance, people would be able to retire with the assurance that the

generation following them would know what their future doctors and caregivers would be well

trained. There would be a larger amount of people to fill jobs which would result in possibly

more entrepreneurships leading to even more jobs and inventions. By supporting free tuition,

people would basically be supporting a basic value introduced to the American public in 1812

which believes that public education should be free. Therefore, there is no reason that such a

belief that benefits the nation stop at high school education when continuing it onto college

would provide even more remarkable results for the nation.

One may ask where the money would come from in order to pay for tuitions across the

nation while the answer is simple. Government officials spend ridiculous amounts of money on

unnecessary trips. In a recent analysis, it has been shown that Donald Trump, the current US

president, is set on a route to spend over $1 billion over his four year term. If the nation were to

take money from corrupt officials such as Donald Trump, the US would have more money to put

towards different things. For instance, CNN estimated that “protecting Trump’s family in New

York cost $1 million a day” (Merica) which is where he’s housing his wife and son instead of

bringing them into the white house. By minimizing the amount of money the government

officials are allowed to spend for personal pleasure, the US would save money which could go

towards education. The US could also redirect tax payer’s money towards education which

would directly impact their society instead of impacting the lives of those in other nations.

Donald Trump wants to spend roughly $12 billion to build a bordering wall between Mexico and

the US which is going to come out of US funding. That is valuable money that is going to an
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arguably unneeded source instead of bettering the youth of America. Credibly, there is multiple

sources of money that could pay for the cost of free tuition for students across the nation is the

US were to ration out the amount of money that government officials were allowed to spend for

personal matters.

For the reassurance of a greater future for the United States, it is ideal that the

government makes college tuition free in order for a larger amount of students to attend. With

the current rising college tuitions and increased amount of students in debt, more and more

students will be unlikely to attend or finish college. It is vital that tuitions be dropped in order to

reverse the damage that tuition prices have created in the minds of the youth of America. Even if

one does not personally attend college themselves, by supporting the argument for free tuition,

they’d be essentially supporting the free education of their relatives, neighbors, friends, and

students across the nation with dreams of a greater future. The time is now to go out take action

against rising tuition cost and to fight for free education past the 12th grade. Politicians will

continue to remove funding from higher education unless the American people demand a change.

For the sake of our nation, and our children’s future, the American public must take charge and

demand free college tuition.

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Works Cited

Bruenig, Matt. “The Case Against Free College.” New Republic, 5 Oct. 2015,

newrepublic.com/article/123022/case-against-free-college. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.

Ellison, Keith. “The Argument for Tuition-Free College.” The American Prospect, 14 Apr. 2016,

prospect.org/article/argument-tuition-free-college. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.

Merica, Dan. “Trump on pace to surpass 8 years of Obama's travel spending in 1 year.” CNN,

Cable News Network, 11 Apr. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/04/10/politics/donald-trump-

obama-travel-costs/index.html. Accessed 26 Sept. 2017.