Argumentative Essay: Should College Be Free?

Currently, America offers free college tuition, but this is only to those that have served in the military. Not everyone wants to serve in the military and because of this one question that has launched to the forefront of America’s thoughts in the past decade is whether or not college should be free for everyone. The biggest argument for why college should be free is that in its current state it is unaffordable. I believe that this argument is due to financial ignorance and just untrue. Many in America, parents and children alike, do not understand the basics of finance and therefore do not understand how affordable college truly can be. If parents and teens became better educated and informed about these matters than there would be fewer
people thinking college is unaffordable. Another outcome of becoming better educated and informed would be that more people striving for higher education would not miss out on the opportunity of going to college due to financial ignorance or barriers of misconception.
The primary misconception of college is that it has to be completed at a 4-year university far away from home, within a 4 year time period, and that is the only way you will ever be successful in life. This is just not the case. Firstly, college does not have to be out of state at the most expensive college. Many people have become successful by utilizing the option of going to community college first and then transferring to a 4-year college to obtain their Bachelor’s Degree. Secondly, college does not need to be rushed through in 4 years. For many, this is just not practical for time management reasons, while others find the financial burden overwhelming and impossible as it leaves student loans as the primary option to afford college. If we are able to get past these barriers we are able to learn how affordable college really can be. Lastly, a lot of the most successful people today never went to college, or if they did they never finished. Many people would rather learn a trade by entering the workforce immediately as an apprentice than obtaining a degree at a
college.
Most employers do not care where you went to college to obtain your degree just the proof that you did obtain that degree if it is required for the position you are applying for. With in-state tuition being more affordable than out-of-state tuition it only makes sense that college becomes that much more affordable if you attend an in-state school. Also, many students complete college credits while in high school significantly reducing the number of credits they have to pay for when entering into college. There is also the option of attending a community college first to complete general education courses and core courses for the major that you are seeking or interested in. This option will save you significantly in costs and can be a great stepping stone to learning what you want to study before finishing your last two years at a 4-year college. I don’t know why students are given this misconception that they need to attend the most prestigious out-of-state school as far away from home as possible other than that from a young age we have all been taught to keep up with the Joneses and that we can only learn to become independent adults by being away from home. When it is written out like this I am sure we can all see how ridiculous this truly is.
Completing college in 4 years is not a requirement to living, and for many, it is not a plausible option. By breaking up each semester from full-time credits into part-time credits not only am I able to focus more of my personal time to fewer classes each semester but I am also able to afford each semester as an out-of-pocket expense without having to resort to student loan debt. Personally, with everything going on in my life, I am still able to achieve my degree by extending the timeframe to greater than 4 years. This is something that would not be possible for someone to do as a full-time student, working a full-time job, raising 2 infants, and keeping it affordable without going into debt. If you finish your degree in 4 years it does not hold any greater significance than if you complete it in 6 years or even 10 years. Employers don’t look at how long it took you to complete your degree, and if you can lessen the stress of studies and finance by extending the timeframe to achieve that degree then why wouldn’t you take advantage of this option?
Now that we know two of the biggest barriers many confront when wanting to attend college are just misconceptions we are able to look at how affordable college truly is.
Teens can save money at an early age by getting jobs around the community by walking dogs, cleaning up after dogs, mowing lawns, or even babysitting. Once they reach the legal age to work in a business a part-time or even full-time job can be obtained. While attending college there are work-study programs or you can obtain a job independently. Sometimes businesses offer tuition reimbursement if you agree to the terms of those programs. Usually, you are required to work a certain amount of years for that company after obtaining your degree. Grants and Scholarships are other options. You might need to write 100 essays and apply to at least 50 different scholarships each week in order to see the results of being awarded scholarships, but most things in life require hard work and dedication to obtain your goals and scholarships are no exception. Going to an in-state college is almost always the most affordable route, and being able to keep it close enough to still live at home will save on living expenses. I feel that most parents would be willing to allow their children to continue to live with them for free so long as they remain respectful of the living arrangement and continue to be diligent with school. By utilizing all of these options one might still find college to be completely unaffordable. For these
people, the next step would be to realistically look at the timeframe in which they will complete their degree. Changing the goal of 4 years to 6 or even more years would spread that cost of tuition and books out over a longer period of time. According to College Board, a non-profit organization that produces the SAT test, a public 4 year college for in-state students will cost on average under $10,000 yearly for tuition and fees and about $1,250 for books and supplies (“Average Estimated Undergraduate Budgets, 2016-17”)(“College Costs: FAQs”). Taking every opportunity available to college the most affordable it can be let us assume you want to attend a 4-year college, in-state, and live at home where your parents cover food and housing for you. In such a situation all you are paying regarding college would be tuition, fees, and books. If you want to stay on the 4-year track, using the numbers provided by College Board, this would cost you under $12,000 per year, totaling under $48,000 over 4 years. Working full time at minimum wage, $7.25, you would earn $15,080 per year (“Minimum Wage”). If all of your earnings go towards college and taxes you would still be able to cover about $150 of spending cash per month for gas or personal expenses. Ok, I agree, this is tight, but once you start factoring in the money you saved up before graduating high school and the grant money and scholarship awards you have worked hard to achieve then that personal spending cash increases. If you take that $48,000 and span it over 6 years instead of 4 but remain living with your parents and working full time at minimum wage then you will free up about $450 per month for personal spending. Again, this number would increase once you factor in savings, grants and scholarships. Ideally, your earnings would increase above minimum wage over time which would also increase your personal spending abilities. You would still graduate by the age of 24, with plenty of time to enter into whatever path is required for your dream job and being debt free. Another advantage of extending 4 years into 6 years is that your course load would not be as heavy and you would have less stress regarding how much time you have to dedicate to your studies. Now, if you were to attend a 2-year college first and complete all of your general education requirements before transferring to a 4-year college to obtain your Bachelor’s Degree then your college cost would be even lower.
Now we know how affordable college can be, but what about those that don’t even want to go to college? Going to college does not mean that you will be successful. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Richard Branson, “founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Records, Virgin Mobile and other Virgin brands”, and Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, all have lead very successful lives without ever have earned a college degree (Smale). Growing up everyone always taught us that the only way we will get a good job and get ahead in life is by going to college; so how is this possible? These people focused an entrepreneurial drive towards their passion that no education would ever be able to teach them. Not all of us have this type of drive but don’t find college to be what we want in life. Instead, some people want to enter the workforce and get experience to move forward and up in the world starting as either an entry level employee or an apprentice. This plan works great as many businesses don’t even look at what degree you obtained when considering you for a position. They want to know what experience you have, how you have handled yourself in specific situations, and how well you will fit into their company.