Free College

The current President of the United States, Barack Obama, has brought up a new proposition for the people of the United States; he has declared that he would like to make community college free. “As the president’s “America’s College Promise Act” — which would increase federal funding to cover the bulk of the average community college tuition — sits in Congress, many states are already working on their own free college programs”, (Dickler, 1). How would that even be a possibility? Nothing in this world is free. Even if you go shopping and a sign says “free this” or “free that”, there is always some kind of stipulation that entails whether it be getting the free item means that you actually have to buy something or that you have to enter some kind of sweepstakes. Free college actually means free college for you. Someone has to pay for the facilities, professors, and staff. Although free college sounds like the best thing in the world its not as easy of a solution as it sounds. There are many solutions that have to be created and combined in order to give the entire country a chance at a free college education.

            The people who are going to have to pay for the free college are taxpayers. They are going to be the ones who will have to pay because the money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is the working class. Raising the taxes would mean that where would more income so that the government could afford to pay the community colleges so that they can stay open. Although taxes may rise, many parents would be relieved to know that their child will have an opportunity in higher education. As I wrote in my previous blog post, a college education is an invaluable gift to give.

            Of course, with free college there also come problems. Many students may take advantage of free college without actually intending to graduate. It’s important that community colleges keep their standards high when it comes to who can receive a free college education. A student should have to keep a specific GPA in order to continue their education at a community college. There are many students here at GCC who attend classes because they don’t have anything else to or they feel like they should be here and they end up not putting in any effort towards their classes. Those students may be here on financial aid, which they are squandering away. Its important that the educational institution makes sure that their students are there for a reason and have goals they would like to achieve regarding their education.

            Another way that we can create a solution for a free college education is that community colleges offer scholarships for students who excel in the classroom. Colleges can offer scholarships to those who don’t qualify for financial aid so that they are still able to afford college. They may be able to require a certain GPA or write an essay as to why they should receive a scholarship. Many schools already offer scholarships but they should definitely make it so that it’s available only to those who don’t qualify for financial aid.

            There won’t always be a simple solution to issues like free college. It takes a lot of brains and willpower to implement something like this. The government can make this possible and if maybe 100% free college isn’t the solution than maybe we can work to lower tuition rates. Making college affordable is the best decision that our country can make. Educated individuals make for outstanding, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens.

Works Cited

Dickler, Jessica. "Free College Programs Could Be around the Corner." USA TODAY College. 2016. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.