Is Free College in the U.S. Possible?

With living expenses in the United States ever shifting and changing, it seems that the cost of higher education has been one of the few things that has kept a common trend, that common trend being a continued increase in cost. It seems as though each year, the cost of higher education reaches a new all-time high and sources of student stress shift from exams and papers, to paying for college and simple needs such as food and housing. This increase in tuition and the struggle of college students has not gone unnoticed, many people rallying for free higher education to relieve students of the burden of debt. The idea of attending college for free is appealing and students graduating without debt can in turn lead to stimulation of the economy, yet the greatest issue is found in trying to start the program. An immense amount of organization is needed to establish a plan that would allow for the initiation of free higher education especially at a national level. Creating a plan isn’t even the first step toward a solution, movement toward free higher education requires majority support which is difficult to obtain as Americans fear rising taxes which such a program is likely to cause. Though making higher education free seems to be a simple solution to a large problem, this seemingly simple solution requires complex planning, and with such complex planning required, we are not currently in a position in America to initiate such a program.

In America, the current cost of higher education continues to rise and it’s difficult to image the true cost of a college education since most figures look only at costs of tuition, and not the true cost of living as a college student. To put these costs into perspective, the average tuition at a public four-year in-state university is $10,230 where the cost of tuition, fees, and room and board at public four-year in-state colleges and universities is $21,370 (“Trends in College Pricing 2018”). These costs continue to rise for out of state students and students attending private nonprofit schools. The big picture to consider here is that students aren’t simply paying for housing, tuition, and fees, they’re also paying for books, supplies, and basic needs such as food and clothing.

The good thing is that students do have some form of help to cover these costs rather than attempting to pay out of pocket. Students are able to apply for grants and scholarships which can reduce the cost of attendance, though these are not available to all students and may not greatly reduce cost. If these grants and scholarships don’t cover costs, students are pushed to either work to finance their education which has the possibility to increase stress and cause a decline in school performance, or they can apply for student loans. Student loans are not in any way a quick fix to this situation though and can carry consequences. Student loans must be repaid over time and cannot be removed from the financial record even in cases of bankruptcy, which causes student loans to remain on the credit record and cause problems when students attempt to borrow later on (“Student Loans”).

The main focus of trying to determine how to finance free higher education on a national scale, comes from determining where funding will come from and how much funding is needed. There is agreement on higher education being important but there is little agreement on whether higher education should be financed by the government and tax payers or the individual student. It’s understandable that people don’t want to put forward their hard-earned money so that a student can go to school, older generations having an especially strong opinion against this idea when they paid for college out of pocket, even though they paid drastically less than students today. There are benefits beyond students being able to go to college for free, especially when looking at how students without the financial burden of debt are able to spend money more freely, which in turn contributes to capitalism and the economy, so why not make the leap toward free college? Free college isn’t the first attempt at reducing the financial burden on students and there have been programs initiated though these programs haven’t been completely successful. One such program intended to lower the cost of higher education is the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. This Act failed to address the root cause of student debt, tuition cost. Instead the Act focused on loan interest rates, loan forgiveness, incredibly large debts, and public service.

As mentioned, many programs don’t actually target the root of the problem and using tax payer money or allocating other government funds to pay for free higher education doesn’t actually solve the problem of rising costs. In some ways, programs such as the College Cost Reduction and Access Act are able to help students, but the main problem is helping students slightly doesn’t fix the larger problem with increasing costs to attend colleges and universities in the United States. There are also newer programs such as the one proposed by Andrew Cuomo which aims to make college tuition free for middle class students though this plan comes with a proposed price tag of $163 million dollars, though it’s been argued that the true cost could reach well beyond (Bradley). Cuomo’s program doesn’t entirely cover the cost of a college education and would only cover two years of higher education.

As people continue to demand free higher education, there needs to be a realization that the path to free and reduced higher education is not easy. With more students attending colleges and universities, costs continue to rise even with increased funding. Tuition isn’t increasing due to reduced funding or increased spending, but because the cost of maintaining a university with the current average student population continues to rise (Campos). In the United States, we are at this point, in a positive feedback loop when it comes to cost of higher education.

Students feel pressured to attend a college or university due to how competitive the job market has become, hoping to gain an edge above others though gaining a degree. This increase in student population raises costs for colleges and universities which then causes an increase in the cost of tuition. The cost to fund degrees pushes students to take on debt that they often continue to hold onto years past college and this debt keeps these individuals from being able to truly move forward. Unable to move forward, these individuals then are not willing to take on tax increases to pay for the schooling of other students even though they faced the same struggle. Watching others struggle with debt pushes students to attend college or university hoping to get a good job that would allow them to stay away from financial struggle, more students continue to attend higher education institutions, and the cycle continues.

There are other solutions beyond this cycle and truly the root problem is the pressure students face to attend colleges and universities in the first place, even though there are alternatives such as trade schools and even careers that don’t require degrees. While students who choose to attend college over trade school, especially in high paying careers such as medicine and engineering, will end up making more over their career, students who attend trade schools on average pay only $33,000 for schooling in total (Bondar). This reduced cost along with students from trade schools being able to finish schooling faster, leading to entering into the work force quicker, serves to close the gap between finances when looking at trade schools and universities.

Though free higher education seems like a quick and simple fix to the student debt problem, it is not as easy as simply getting rid of tuition cost or having tax payers cover the expense. There needs to be a real plan to try and fix the core problem rather than continue to try to bandage and repair the damages that such high costs have on students. The fact that there is no clear solution to the epidemic of rising education cost should be reason enough to stop looking for a plan to establish free higher education and move instead to determine and repair the root cause of the problem.