I found it interesting that most of this week's comments came from college-age adults, and none were completely supportive of the idea.
At a glance, free college tuition sounds like a brilliant proposition, but a cursory amount of research nips my enthusiasm right in the bud.
I gained a dislike for the concept when I first started researching presidential candidates. Many of the Democratic candidates who supported the concept of free college tuition had another plank in their platform: lower taxes. If free college tuition won't be coming from taxes, then who's paying for it? The House won't pass laws granting free college tuition and lowered taxes.
My dislike for the concept of free college tuition festered when I factored personal drive into the equation. I won't lie, shouldering tuition is no fun. Having struggled with academic apathy for large portions of my life, I didn't qualify for any scholarships. I lose thousands of dollars a semester to loans. Despite this, my personal financial investment has encouraged me to take my education far more seriously than I ever did during my public education.
To explore this further, many candidates use European countries as examples to explain how a future American system might work. What they don't examine are the individual European students enjoying free college tuition. Many such students lack proper appreciation for their campuses, which are, in turn, lacking in certain benefits we American students take for granted.
After considering your comments and mulling things over, I concluded the American system for college tuition is fine the way it is. Students from low-income family receive financial support from the government, college scholarships are plentiful, and driven students should find post-graduation employment to help them pay off any lingering loans.
That being said, I'm disappointed our leading politicians brought false promises to the debates. I know they know America can't support both lower taxes and free college tuition.
Thank you so much for reading!
This Week's Top Comments
... in no particular order and summarized for brevity's sake. Be sure to let me know if you feel I've misrepresented your statements in any way!
Gabe Davis - If any presidential candidate used free college tuition as part of their running platform, the law wouldn't go through the house if they were elected. This would cause more division in this country.
Ladlimrick - The 10th amendment states that each state has the authority to decide if tuition should be provided through state expense. The government should not try to be all things to all people. Taking over the distribution of tuition is a socialistic practice.
Daniel Jones - I feel like it almost doesn't matter. We're going to pay for it either way. Though, I do feel like for some jobs, they don't earn enough money to pay off the debts required for them. Some of those, like teaching and educational degrees, I think could be free.
Kristen Jurewicz - Most countries with "free" college limit who can go! German universities may be "free" but the student still has to find a place to live and cover living expenses. I went to a school that was clean and well kept compared to the German universities; the students there didn't value their campus because it wasn't their money.
Whitney Zee - Would you rather, for the remainder of your working life, be responsible for subsidizing the educations of every student to follow in your footsteps? I also imagine that if you were to look around campus today, you may find a few students there on someone else's dime right now , who do not appreciate the investment that is being made in their behalf as they squander their time and opportunities.
CougarMan - Our national debt is growing, so taxpayers will have to pay for free college tuition. We can't keep giving away freebies and going further into debt in order to pay for them. The current system provides free or reduced tuition for students from low-income families. For most people, the combination of choosing a less-costly school, working a part-time job and incurring a modest amount of school debt should work out just fine.
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