Position Paper

Shannon Ludwig

July 31, 2020

Cas 215 - Argumentation

achieve their mightiest goals and fulfill their lifelong aspirations. But in today’s society and

economy, earning a stable career with benefits typically requires having a college degree. The

cost of higher education comes with an exceedingly large price tag not every American can

afford. Providing a free college education would not only give people who struggle financially

the opportunity to rise above their current monetary situation, but also eliminate the crippling

amount of student debt across the nation and enhance lifelong learning skills.

A secondary education wasn’t always astronomically expensive, but today many public

and private institutions across the nation charge tens of thousands of dollars per semester for

tuition fees alone. In fact, this enormous price jump for higher education is only relatively recent

in Ronald Reagan’s terms as governor of California, beginning in 1967 and ending in 1975.

Although he didn’t increase college tuition costs directly, Reagan proposed a ten percent cut

from state funding and fired the University of California at Berkley’s President, Clark Kerr, who

stood by students protesting these rising costs. In 1974, UC’s tuition per academic year only

costed $647. This cost skyrocketed to $5,400 in only 30 years (Wiener). Colleges began to view

their students as customers, turning higher education into a buyer’s market. As economic

inequality and insecurity increased, so did the wage premium of a college degree, causing overall

enrollment to drop (Berrett). In response to the drastic increase in tuition price, in 2011

California legislature placed a freeze on the rising costs. However, three short years later, the

freeze was lifted, resulting in a five percent increase. This was equivalent to a compounded

increase of as much as 27.6 percent in each of the next five years per plan proposed by

University of California's Board of Regents. In California, most resident students receive a

substantial amount of financial aid which covers the majority of their tuition, but this doesn’t
include families with above-average incomes and out-of-state students. Additionally, individual

campuses charge several hundred dollars in separate fees, and all students pay room and board,

costing an average about $14,000 (Perez-Penna). Similar instances to California’s education

funding have occurred all over the country. For example, a 2003 study by the College Board

found that average tuition and fees have increased forty-seven percent in the past ten years. Due

to this statistic, officials estimated that by 2010, 4.4 million low-income college-ready students

will not be able to attend college (Hurst).

Because college has become unaffordable to many Americans, high schools have been

forced to inform students about alternative, cheaper education options to find a financially stable

career. However, a typical worker with a college education earns seventy-three percent more

than a worker without a college degree (1996 Democratic Convention Guide). Despite college

graduates entering the workforce years later than people who don’t go to college, workers with a

bachelor’s degree on average earn well over $1 million more than high school graduates during

their working lives. It could be argued that it can be extremely difficult for new college graduates

to find a well-paying job. However, the average college graduate paying annual tuition of about

$20,000 per year can finance the costs of schooling by age forty, and after that, the difference

between earnings continues such that the average college graduate earns over $800,000 more

than the average high school graduate by retirement age (Abel).

Though colleges put an extreme emphasis that their purpose is to teach the qualifications

necessary for the workforce, higher education also improves students’ critical thinking skills and

readiness towards life-learning. Schools who offer enriching out-of-the-classroom experiences

suggest that educational experience has differential moderating effects on different aspects of

cognition. This claim was proven in a study where scientists examined how secondary education
relates to cognitive performance. Through the study, it was found that secondary education

enhances the think and learn capabilities of the brain, such as quick decision making,

memorization skills, understanding reasoning, and the ability to set and achieve goals. It was also

concluded that the length of schooling positively predicts performance on a measure of cognitive

control in adolescence, and measures of reasoning and working memory, but not processing

speed, in adulthood (Guerra-Carrillo).

In addition to the positive impact a free higher education would have on an individual’s

life after college, providing a college education to everyone would address the national student

debt crisis. Due to the drastic increase in tuition costs over the years, nearly three out of four

college graduates have borrowed significant loans to cover their college costs, running up an

average debt of $30,000 per graduate. This has caused the national student debt amount to

skyrocket to a record $1.5 trillion, which is more than twice the number of what consumers owe

on credit cards. The spike in student debt is credited to the rise of tuition costs, but new research

by the Brooklings Institution suggests that the debt is linked to “nontraditional” students. These

students are older, first-generation students who don’t go directly from high school to college or

those who live in poor neighborhoods and enroll in programs they are less likely to complete.

When nontraditional students enter the workforce, the jobs they attain don’t make as much

money and they don’t benefit from their degrees to the same extent as other students who finish

at private or public four-year institutions. These students are also more likely to borrow

thousands of dollars to attend a university only to not complete their degree requirements. This

forces them to find low wage jobs to pay off their student debt. In 2013, the Brooklings

Institution found that the median earnings of nontraditional students were $23,200, which is half

of what “traditional” student earn (Cook). Furthermore, regardless of traditional or nontraditional

Americans, forcing them to either default on it, repay it, or give up on their dreams and settle for

working jobs they dislike (Wiener).

Those in opposition of a free college education argue that it is not financially feasible.

However, there have been several proposals brought forth by various political leaders solving the

government spending issue. In addition to former president Barrack Obama and Senator

Elizabeth Warren, the most prominent advocate for free college is Senator Bernie Sanders.

Sanders formed a plan to cut tuition rates to zero for all colleges nationwide. His plan would run

$47 billion per year on top of $175 billion currently spent on postsecondary education by all

levels of government. This new sum is about one percent of current federal spending and is about

a quarter of what President Donald Trump’s tax cuts cost in a year. Debt cancellation and ten

years of tuition buyout would cost $2.2 trillion, which would be paid through a financial

transaction tax on Wall Street earning $2.4 trillion over 10 years (Newfield). Though Sanders’s

plan has been slammed for various design flaws, it proves that money is not the issue.

On an international scale, free college is not a new or radical idea. In several developed

countries including Sweden, Denmark and Finland, college is free for their citizens. In France,

public universities are free for students from lower-income families, and those from higher-

income families pay about $200 a year. It could be argued that these countries do not measure up

to the United State economically, however Germany stands with the fourth-largest economy in

the world and provides free college tuition for its students (Wiener).

Even on a state level, political leaders are forming steps to a more affordable education.

In 2014, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam argued that the state needed more educated people and

wanted to increase the number of residents who hold a college degree from thirty-three percent
to fifty-five percent by 2025. Tennessee legislature voted to eliminate community college and

technical schools’ $4,000 tuition rate and other fees for two years for all in-state high school

graduates. This attracted almost ninety percent of the state’s graduating seniors, which was more

than twice as many as expected. To make this possible, the state paid through a self-sustaining

endowment of $300 million, made up of a lottery fund and $47 million provided by the

legislature (Wiener).

In conclusion, college education is a public good, and those who can’t afford it at the

astronomical cost it is today should not be forced into a job with reduced earning potential. Free

college would expand access to education to many more American citizens, allowing an equal

opportunity regardless of their background of economic success and security. Furthermore, if

students weren’t drowning in debt, they would be able to pursue their passions and reach their

goals quicker. Alternatives to college are great options, however it’s proven those with college

degrees have a higher lifetime earning potential. Additionally, a college education better

develops students’ critical thinking skills and readiness towards life-learning. The big argument

against a free college education is that the United States’ government cannot fund the concept.

However, this is far from true. Several political leaders have formed plans to provide a free or

more affordable college education to the American public. They want to make the American

Dream possible for all Americans and in order to do college must be free.
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