Argumentative Essay: Why College Education Should Be Free in US

For so many years, college has been a struggle. We should rethink and revolutionize our post-secondary education system to help low and middle-income students and families. 

For starters, we should first pass legislation or a presidential executive order that gets rid of tuition for low-income students and families. Tuition is a major issue for students, if tuition cannot be free for lower-income students and families, then we would have to seriously reconsider our options for advancing our education systems. An example of free tuition for lower-income families would be the Tennessee Promise (Source 1). The Tennessee Promise is a program that allows United States citizens who live in Tennessee, and who have graduated from an eligible high school in Tennessee, to receive tuition aid, and other college payments. But, the college has to be eligible for the aid. If the United States can make this nationwide then this program could significantly help reduce student debt.

Next, colleges and the federal government should expand federal aid to lower and middle-income families. This could happen by a piece of legislation or executive order. If this were to take effect, more students would be able to apply for aid that they desperately need. This would significantly lower student debt while at the same time reducing the financial burdens on students. An example of a program that tried to accomplish this was the “Free Application for Student Aid” program (Source 2). This program did not work because of the requirements that students had to make. Students had to be in a very low-income household, and while that’s necessary, we need to expand that program to low and middle-income students in order to fulfill our students' needs. 

Finally, colleges and the federal government should take steps to expand programs that are already in place. These programs have been proven to significantly help students with finances and would continue to help students who need aid. A great example of this is the Pell Grant program (Source 2). This program essentially gives lower-income students money to help with college expenses. The money is given to students by the United States Department of Education. This program, like many other programs, helps to significantly reduce financial stress on students, and expanding this would help more eligible students. 

In my personal opinion, college should be free for lower and middle-income students because too many graduates at the moment have student debt in the United States. And for some, student debt can be overwhelming and as a country, we need to take steps to help our citizens who cannot afford to pay off this student debt. Other countries around the world have programs for post-secondary education. I believe that if we accomplish these tasks provided, then we could significantly reduce financial stress among our lower and middle-income students.

In conclusion, colleges and the federal government need to step up and act to help lower and middle income students and families with the financial burdens of student debt, and college payments. If this doesn't happen, students will continue to suffer.