Poverty Cause Free Colleges In Texas
Has financial instability caused conflict to arise within the field of education?
The question disconcerting Texans today is “should the state provide free college to those with household incomes of under $50,000?” In order to formally structure a holistic conclusion as to what opposing side my morals, beliefs, and way of thinking coincide with, one must understand the three most prevalent downfalls of a system such as is described with free college. These include; lack of interest in Dual Credit programs in high school, loss of state revenue after completing the program, lack of true work ethic, and significant tax increases for Texas citizens.
Institutions of higher education began to spring up in America in the early 1800’s and have thrived enticing younger generations deeper into the subjects they’re passionate about. The initial idea and importance of becoming a well educated individual was expressed by John Adams, one of our founding fathers. Adams states 'The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and must be willing to bear the expense of it.' (Trade-Schools). After all, the entirety of the economy and complete well being of society in Texas depends on the education of its citizens. We see examples of this when we look towards applicants searching for jobs and coming up short handed at the default of not having a college degree. A college degree is essential in today’s society, but when discussing the topic of allowing specific financially-disadvantaged students to have other citizens pay for their schooling, there are a lot of questions that arise. The first topic that needs to be addressed first is the lack of interest in dual credit programs offered to highschool students. Many high schools across the nation have dual credit programs with local junior colleges, community colleges, and universities. These dual credit programs are offered to all students willing to pay and participate in these courses. To our dismay there is a decrease in students actually wanting to take part in these programs offered to them due to the financial burden of such courses. Because dual credit classes can cost up to $400, most students are discouraged to partake in these programs, furthering the ongoing cycle of getting a job straight out of high school, having children, and not being able to financially support the childs’ education in the future. According to Education Week, students who take dual credit courses are ten percent more likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than a randomly-sampled group of college freshman (Adams 1). Texas students who are already offered the opportunity of free courses and credit hours only demonstrate, on a decreased scale, the percentage of enrolled pupils there would be if this benefit was enacted.
Within this idea of free tuition lies the issue of recollecting the amount of money that was devoted to supporting the student’s education. Millions of dollars would be required to fully aid all of the students enrolled. The tuition programs would significantly impact the student’s beginning of payments, but leave them with the other expenses such as room & board, food, and books. Upon graduation, according to College Insight, 56% of Texas students are left with at least $22,000 in student loan debt. A student who graduates with this amount of debt to the state and then vacates and practices in another state would generate revenue elsewhere rather than back into the state that aided them through their education. In the end, the state of Texas would lose profit and eventually be incapable of assisting more students into the financial aid of tuition programs.
The state of Texas generates $55,584,775,261 total in tax revenue according to Transparency Revenue Reports. “The average annual in-state college tuition in Texas was $10,584 for the 2017-2018 academic year” (CollegeCalc). In the situation that free tuition is enacted, the citizens of Texas would see an immediate and significant tax increase to compensate for the incredible amount of tuition cost required to be paid. Once taxes are increased, this will increase the initial problem of having a lower average salary in Texas because most of it would be directed towards the student’s tuition.
Another issue that would arise possibly is the initial drive and dedication of finishing a degree could decrease once courses are free. Students in institutions today generally have a drive to finish their degree plan efficiently and become successful simply because they have paid a large sum of money to enter the course and learn material. Substituting paid courses for free classes would allow more less competitive students into the environment and a significant portion would drop out before completing their degree plan. In Pro-Con.org’s article Professor Jack A. Chambless states “Potentially millions of young people who have no business attending college would waste their time-and taxpayer dollars-seeking degrees they cannot obtain… Free tuition would dupe young people into a sense of belonging, only to find that their work ethic, intelligence, and aptitude are not up to the rigors of advanced education.” (Pro-Cons).
Free tuition is an idea that would be an excellent situation for all, but tragically will never become a satisfying reality. The evidence of statistical dual credit enrollment, unconsented tax increases, unsuccessful recollected revenue, and a lack of required work ethic demonstrates the intense reform the initial idea needs to undergo before being brought to the public polls. Providing students with household incomes of under $50,000 would result in a debt consumed state and could not be accepted by today’s officials or be delighted in by the general population.
