College Costs: Free Versus Paid

“Ucz się dziecko ucz. Bo nauka jest sukcesem klucz. ” Roughly translated from Polish, this old saying means “Study, child, study. For knowledge is the key to success”. President Obama made a similar statement: “countries that out-teach us toady will out-compete us tomorrow. ” If that is true and the success of citizens benefits the country, then should the government encourage and provide financial aid to those who seek a college education? Or should everyone who seeks education past high school finance it themselves? Paying for college out of pocket has proven difficult specifically in America. “60 percent of Americans aged 25 to 64 do not hold a college credential. But 22 percent of them-32. 6 million Americans-have tried to get one”.

In today's America household income determines the likelihood of obtaining a bachelors degree. If you are the child of a family making more than $90, 000 per year, your odds of getting a BA by age twenty-four are roughly one in two; if your family's income is between $60, 000 and $90, 000, your odds are roughly one in four; if your parents make less than $35, 000, your odds are one in seventeen”. This will only widen the income inequality which colleges advertise that they lessen. Sara Goldrick-Rab in “Paying the Price” compares the 1970s to now. During the 70s, a college degree basically guaranteed quality work, whereas nowadays a college degree is required and does not necessarily mean a good job will be available. She is not the only one to say such either. Sir Kenneth Robinson also made the same comment in his TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” that a couple decades ago only someone who did not want a job did not have one if they had at least a Bachelor's. The world is different now than when Pell grants began. This basicaly leaves only two options for students from lower-income families to achieve a higher education: one take out student loans and possibly end up with crippling debt, or join the military and hope they qualify for the G. I. Bill. Unfortunately, today a degree does not guarantee a well paying job making this a big gamble. In the United States it has become “clear that a college degree long ago supplanted the high school diploma as the minimum qualification for entry into the skilled labor market”.

Often college graduates find that the jobs available to them do not provided the income necessary to support themselves and pay off student loans. Several countries, including Germany, have moved towards free higher education. The majority of the students are in support of free tuition. In general most of the county, including the young adults, vote for free college education. However this system is not without problems. Peter-André Alt the president at Freie Universität (Free University) in Berlin “contends that being unable to charge tuition means universities are overcrowded and thinly stretched”. Plus the amount of money the government sets aside to help students pay their living expenses has not changed for years. Therefore students still have to pay for rent and food forcing lower-income students to “resort to jobs or loans”. According to critics the fastest rising burden for American students is room, board, books, and transportatio. In Germany the cost of living forces 68 percent of the students to work and “choose fields of studies that are more directly linked to the professions”. “Starved for funding, German universities are seldom near the top of international rankings”.

Some states like Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, and New York have developed the College Promise Program where the first few semesters of a community college tuition is free for in state students. The bulk of the states require that a student graduates in one of their public high schools then enrolls in one of their community colleges. If the student does not complete their degree in the allowed time they do not have to pay anything back but have to pay for any other classes they need to complete their degree. This is beneficial to lower-income and middle class students since the upper class would not waist their time with a community college. Most students would find it easier to juggle work and school if all they had to worry about was books and transportation.

There have been cases of countries eliminating free college education. England is one such country. Before 1998 higher education was free in England for all, and between 1980's and1990's they saw a massive increase in attendance due to the greater number of jobs requiring college-level skills. The number of students ended up being capped because the government had a limited amount of funds set aside for college education. This had the opposite effect than intended because it did not help poor students. “As competition for spots increased, it appeared that the free college tuition subsidy was increasingly going to those from the richest backgrounds”. Between 1981 and 1999 the attendance of rich students went up by about 25% at the same time attendance of the poor students went up by less than five percent. England's free college system exposed the problem with government funded higher education. It is difficult if not impossible for government to foresee the amount of money needed to set aside for future higher education. After ending the free college in 1998 England's bipartisan government introduced a maximum tuition fee of £1, 000, about $1, 318 at today's exchange rate, per year that subsequent governments raised over the following years in stages maxing out in 2017 at £9, 250, about $12, 198 at today's exchange rate, per year. Lower-income English students acquire income-contingent loans which they pay back after graduation. Payments are based on the graduates income and the “contingent loan system subsidizes interest for low-earning graduates and includes loan forgiveness for those with persistently low earnings”. This increased enrollment of lower-income students and ended enrollment caps on domestic students.

The lesson that we can take form England's educational system is that free college tuition may not decrease income inequality. “Prioritizing free tuition for all means less money to help the neediest students with additional costs” like room, board, textbooks, meals and transportation. In the United States this could be highly beneficial since “75 percent of American families find college unaffordable”. Another useful policy could be “income-contingent loans, zero-real-interest loans paid back as a fraction of income only after graduates begun earning above a minimum level”. The success of citizens will translate into the success of the nation. Education being the key component to that success. The nation should strive to reach success for people on all levels. Affordable low cost education is not impossible and would improve the nation as a whole. America needs to be great again. The road to success and greatness begins with a well educated population.