Eliminating Tuition Essay Example

Attempting to fit in is everywhere. This desire that people own to fit in is based on stereotypes. Those stereotypes can vary from clothes, to appearance, to gender assumptions, to living standards. An example of this is going to college. It is a common stereotype that can often decide whether one gets the job they want or not. Hence, how peoples’ viewpoints and judgment can change based on how advanced one’s education is. Unfortunately, it isn’t always up to someone whether they would like to go to college or not. Due to high school graduates often being poor, some students don’t have enough financial stability to pay for tuition. Therefore, getting rid of college tuition will, inevitably, give students numerous opportunities in their adolescent years.

Removing tuition can open several doors for students to have more mental and physical freedom. Furthermore, students stressing about school is only one of many worries on their minds. There are multiple fees and payments that students struggle to pay. By removing tuition, students gain more financial freedom while also obtaining more time to study and apply better effort in school work. In the article, “Should College Be Free: Pros and Cons”, by Ellen Andersen, a recent graduate from the University of Iowa who holds a BA in English with Creative Writing and Psychology, speaks on the benefits of not having to pay for tuition. She expresses that the academic level and population would increase tremendously. She states, "[removing college tuition] this then creates a more well-educated workforce and a population that has better critical thinking skills” (Andersen para. 5). Evidently, students will expand their knowledge with the additional stress removed. They can look more in-depth at what they would like to study and major in. Oftentimes, students force themselves to choose a major they don’t truly enjoy simply because they are rushed to start classes. Students would be able to take time and figure out what their passion is if tuition was eliminated. The report, “19 Should College be Free Pros & Cons” published by Louise Gaille, an author who received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington, expounds on the importance of finding a major that suits a person’s likes and wants. Changing majors can cause huge financial damage. Gaille enforces this by stating, “they are forced into a specific program at some point because of the per-credit cost of taking classes outside their major to earn their degree” (Gaille para. 10).  So, students would have the flexibility to explore different majors without the worry of additional fees. Because students worry about not finding a major they enjoy in time, they give up. While still in high school, students stop putting an effort in school since they don’t think there is anything out there for them. Students also lose hope and give up because they are aware of how expensive college is and how they cannot afford it. The students' grades plummet for the reason that they know they don’t need stellar grades to graduate if they aren’t going to college. A student’s mindset would change if they didn’t need to worry about paying for tuition. The report, “19 Important Pros & Cons of Free Education” analyzes how students would rather start trying to get a job and quit high school since they can’t pay for college. The author, Jordan Layne, explains, “ if college were free for everyone, high school students would have a reason to stay in school and to excel. Knowing that college is in their future would cause them to try even harder” (Layne para. 13). Eliminating tuition changes this. Students start focusing, excelling, and trying harder to graduate with good grades because the one thing holding them back from applying to college isn’t there anymore. Furthermore, without tuition, a student's academic status will be a priority for one who wants to go to college. Keeping more opportunities open for students can enforce their mindsets and viewpoint on having a bright future strong.

With all this being said, some may disagree on how tuition-free college affects the financial stability and behavior of society as a whole. Having a tuition-free college adds the factor of not being able to get money to pay for better facilities and education. In the article, “Should College Be Free: Pros and Cons”, by Ellen Andersen, a recent graduate from the University of Iowa who holds a BA in English with Creative Writing and Psychology speaks on the disadvantages of not paying for tuition. Andersen states that since the school wouldn’t be getting their regular funding, they would have a dramatic decrease in their budget to better the school. Taxes might have to be increased or an array of required payments to replace tuition. Many people would have an issue with this increase in additional payments and/or tax which would then lead them to not go to college. While this could cause people to not attend college, there are a variety of other worldwide issues that could increase taxes tremendously. In the article, “Russia’s War Is Raising Gas Prices and Roiling Financial Markets”, the author Jeff Sommer states, “the average American household would spend roughly $3,100 on gasoline in 2022, based on price levels in December 2021. The price increases since then mean that households would have to pay about $2,000 more” (Sommer para. 15).” This article is speaking on one of the financial issues that the US is currently facing. This shows how raising tax prices to make college tuition-free wouldn’t be the main problem on people’s minds. It would be a minor issue compared to this specific issue. Students, also, are still in their younger stages of life so this wouldn’t seem like the biggest inconvenience if they had to pay a few more dollars in taxes as long as they didn’t have a college tuition to pay. Unfortunately, students also wouldn’t feel pressure to study hard for college because they aren’t paying. The article “31 Important Pros & Cons of Free College Education” discusses the absence of motivation and inspiration when removing tuition. This lack of motivation could form from multiple reasons but a significant one would be that since they have no financial burden on them, there's no rush to study and/or understand the concept as well. However, the students are at the point in life where they are responsible for their actions. If students start to give up in college, there will be countless other things they start to fail in too. So, it is up to the student to get back on track. The article, “39 College Graduates Statistics 2022”, states, “about 4,000,000 college students are expected to graduate in the 2020 to 2021 school year” (39 College Graduates para. 21). This is showing how many people graduated last school year with college tuition. Now imagine the number of students who wanted to attend, but couldn’t afford it. All those students would attend college if tuition was removed and most if not all would not take that opportunity for granted.

Given these points, removing college tuition will open up a horizon of opportunities for students to live fulfilling lives. Students will receive plenty of freedom to achieve their passions while also taking advantage of the time given to choose a major they enjoy now that tuition is removed. They will also be able to have additional stress about financial issues eliminated. Finally, students won’t settle for something below college level just because they cannot pay. By removing tuition, there will be a surplus of students that will attend college and allow the world to have more sharp-witting people.