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Joseph Shepherd
Professor Dursema
English 1010
August 5, 2016
Should Public College Tuition Be Free?
College degrees are a gateway to many opportunities. That diploma can lead to a
higher level of employment, resulting in a higher salary. College tuition is expensive; the
high cost adds to the stress of taking classes, but after getting through it all and receiving
the degree, it can help pay back the money still owed more easily. According to
Collegeboard.org, the average tuition with fees at a public college for a four-year in-state
degree from 2015-16 in the United States is $9,410. So this begs the question, what if
college was free? Or would that create a whole new set of problems? Many people have
proposed different solutions on how to pay for higher education. Suggested sources for
funding tuition and fees range from the federal government, to taxing the rich. Public
college tuition should not be free because if taxpayers covered it, it wouldnt be worth it.
Simply because of the money wasted on those students who quit school. With the dropout
rate being 1/3 of American not finishing college, the amount of money lost would be
astronomical. The United States Government is already $19 trillion in debt (Tepper). If
the government paid for college, it would deepen this already outrageous debt. As well,
some of the best schools in the world are actually the most expensive.
College is one of the most challenging tasks a person can set out to accomplish.
Throw in getting married, having kids, and in some cases working full time. All of these
things add up, and that doesnt even include all the random events that come up in daily

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life, unplanned pregnancy for example. If a student is already working fulltime and going
to college fulltime, adding a baby on the way, and having to work more is just one of the
many examples of everyday life getting in the way of school. Students would be forced to
drastically cut classes and/or dropout; unfortunately, never receiving any kind of diploma
or degree. In 2015, a study from Collegeatlas.org stated, 70% of Americans will study at
a 4-year college, but less than 2/3 will graduate (Beckstead). In the United States (US)
for fall semester 2015, 20.2 million students were expected to attend college (NCES). A
third of that multiplied by the average 4-year tuition for a public in-state college in the
US of $9,410 is roughly $63.4 billion. That much money would be wasted time and time
again because of free tuition. In addition, given the desirability of free tuition, the amount
of Americans attending college would increase; and like a domino effect, the amount of
money wasted will rise as well.
Sen. Bernie Sanders recently proposed a plan to pay for college tuition by raising
the top income tax rate to 50%; currently, it is at 39.6% (Luhby). That is half of the
revenue brought in being sent away to the government. After the federal tax rate was
increased to 35%, the fast food restaurant everyone grew up loving, Burger King, insisted
on moving their headquarters to Canada to escape the ridiculous taxing. Why stay here
when it would be cheaper elsewhere? For example; Irelands corporate rate is only 12.5%
(Kaufman). If all of these sources for the tax income leave, this free college would now
lack the funds needed.
Debt, debt, and more debt is all some think about when it comes to furthering
education. There are so many ways out there to help one financially. Grants, scholarships,
and Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are the more common ways

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people receive their financial help for college. On USA Today-College; the author points
out the ridiculous amounts of money that could have been used for school that went
unclaimed. For example, in 2014, $2.9 billion in federal grants went unused. To put this
in perspective, 47% of the nations high school graduates missed out on federal Pell
Grant money (Imam). Another statistic shows that over 821,000 students across the
nation that did not fill out a FAFSA were Pell-eligible graduates, more than 100,000 of
these students lived in the state of California alone. That ends up being just under $400
million in potential Pell Grant aid that went unused and unfortunately, the student debt
was incurred instead (Imam). This data shows there is plenty of financial help available to
students already. It boils down to people either not wanting to put in the time and effort to
apply or financial aid counselors for schools are not properly educating students on such
amazing benefits. People hear the word free, and immediately would prefer that. To
succeed and receive the benefits, one has to put in the work.
Some of the most prestigious schools in the world are incredibly expensive. In the
2014/15 school year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), undergraduate
tuition fees for both domestic and international students amounts to $45,016 (Cosgrave).
In the United Kingdom, The University of Oxford totals to around $35,000, and The
University of Cambridge charges about $38,000. Jumping back to the United States,
Stanford and Harvard total to approximately $44,000 each (Cosgrave). These are some of
the most expensive schools in the world. They are also within the top 6 schools in the
world (The Washington Post). Each of them has their own individual programs to assist
the student in achieving successful financial aid. MIT offers 90% of the students

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financial assistance, totaling to more than $87 million dollars available to help them pay
for tuition (Cosgrave).
In todays world, so many people want to reap the rewards of an education, but do
not want to put in the work in obtaining financial aid or simply do not want to pay a small
fortune for their education. There are so many programs, grants, and scholarships out
there to help those who need help paying for college. Ways that help where minimal
money is wasted Compared to the $63.4 billion or more that would be lost to free public
college tuition due to all the students that drop out. A free tuition program is not what
needs to be put into place. The system, which students go about applying for financial
aid, needs to be simplified and easier to understand. New ways and methods should be
brought about to assist those college students that struggle, giving them the assistance
needed to avoid dropping out. A college education is one of the great ways to succeed in
this world. The system doesnt need to switch to free college, it needs to focus on how to
help everyone get through it; academically and financially.

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Works Cited
Average Undergraduate Charges by Sector 2015-16. Collegeboard.org. The College
Board. n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Beckstead, Rachel. College Dropout Statistics. Collegeatlas.org. College Atlas. 14 Oct.
2015. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Cosgrave, Jenny. The Cheapest and Costliest Universities In The World. Cnbc.com.
CNBC. 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Imam, Medha. $2.9 Billion Unused Grant Awards In Last Academic Year.
College.usatoday.com. USA Today College. 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 5 Aug 2016.
Kaufman, Alexander C. and Ben Hallman. Burger King Dares Obama To Stop It From
Fleeing To Canada. Huffingtonpost.com. The Huffington Post. 25 Aug. 2014.
Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Luhby, Tami. Free College and Healthcare For All How Would Bernie Sanders Pay
For It? Money.cnn.com. CNN Money. 16 Oct. 2015. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
Tepper, Taylor. 5 Things Most People Dont Understand About The National Debt.
Time.com. Time Money. 22 Apr. 2016. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
United States. U.S. Department of Education. National Center For Educational Statistics
(NCES). Back To School Statistics. n.d. National Center For Educational
Statistics. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.
U.S. News Global Top 500 Universities. Thewashingtonpost.com. The Washington
Post. n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.