A College Education Should Not Be Free
College Education. It would create more problems than it would solve.
Wouldn’t it be great if college were free? It’s not likely to happen in the next 4-8 years since the idea tends to be favored by liberal voters and politicians. But even as a liberal voter drowning in student debt, I don’t think free college should happen ever.
I know first-hand that the amount of debt someone goes into to get a degree can be crippling. And it shouldn’t be. Something has to be done about this situation, but the answer is not to make college free. Here’s why:
First, we don’t respect education in our country as it is. There are people in this world who gladly get up in the wee hours of the morning, and walk several miles to go to school because they understand what a gift education is. Here in the United States, though, where free education is guaranteed, students treat school like a chore. Or worse, they slack off.
I went to a public high school. I witnessed the lack of motivation in so many of my peers. Often, it is only once young people get to college, where they must spend their own money on their education, that they start taking their schooling seriously. A student who coasted by with Cs and Bs in high school will suddenly become a straight A student in college. But if college were free, that student would keep coasting. The same thing would happen to college as has happened to high school: it would become de-valued.
If college were to become de-valued, it would force everyone to seek higher and higher degrees. We’re already at the point where one needs a college degree to earn a living wage. We’re fast approaching the point where everyone is expected to have a Master’s degree. I never want to live in a world in which you need a Doctorate just to set yourself apart from the crowd.
College right now sets people apart. While it may sometimes set people apart for the wrong reasons, such as having money or being privileged, once one has a college degree it does even the playing fields. After graduation, it no longer matters how you got there, what kind of aid you received, or what kind of background you came from. You have a college degree and that gives you the ability to compete with all the other degree holders out there.
In other words, college currently helps smooth some divides in our society. This would not be so if college were made free. Because there are some colleges that will never be free. I attend a private, Catholic institution. It will never be tuition-free.
When I was in high school, there were definitely social divides. I can’t speak for everywhere, but in my hometown, the private school kids acted like they were better than the public school kids who acted like they were better than the city school kids. And they tended to be treated that way too. I graduated from a “disadvantaged” high-school, and there was a stigma that came along with where I attended school. That stigma was erased once I entered college.
For the most part, a college degree from a private institution is treated the same as a college degree from a public institution. You pretty much have to graduate from an Ivy League school for your degree to carry any more weight on a job application than someone else’s. But that would all go away if public colleges were made tuition-free.
All of a sudden it would be possible to graduate from a “disadvantaged” college and I can’t imagine starting my career with that stigma. If college were made tuition-free it would deepen the divide between the haves and the have-nots. That divide is already steeped in a cycle of racism and prejudice that keeps the poor poor and the rich rich. So last I checked, that’s the last thing our country needs.
Something needs to be done about the cost of a college education. The government and institutions alike must work to lower the cost of tuition. The government could also create more loan forgiveness programs, or re-design the federal aid program so that it actually gives students the money they need to cover their education. But the answer is not to make a college education tuition free. We as a country and society have proven again and again that we are not ready for that, and it would create more problems than it would solve.
Branwyn M. Wilkinson is a columnist for Canisius College student newspaper The Odyssey. Canisius College is a private Catholic four year school in Buffalo, New York.
From: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/college-education-free
Out of Class ACA First Draft Requirements: College Education
Type (print) the First Draft, double-space, using size 12 font. Put your name and the section of the class you are enrolled in at the upper left of the first page. Do not write a Title.
Turn in ONLY the following sections of your analysis:
INTRODUCTION: Hook, Subject Background, Argument Background, Thesis—should include the method of scoring Validity—Example: Analysis will determine the validity (1 to 5 with 1 being weak and 5 strong) of the argument.
BODY: (A) Choose the reading that you will analyze and present a summary:
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A SUMMARY
From:
“Summarizing” means accurately describing somebody else’s ideas using your own words. Whether you know it or not, you do summarizing in your own life outside of school. When you see a movie and then tell your friend what it’s about, you are summarizing. To summarize is to accurately restate the author’s main point, purpose, intent, and supporting details IN YOUR OWN WORDS.
How to Organize a Summary: College Education
1. The first sentence or two should provide the author and title of the original article, as well as a concise restatement of the main idea. That is tell your reader what the article is called, who wrote it, the location where you read it, and what the author is trying to say. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
2. Then, IN YOUR OWN WORDS, describe the major supporting points and types of evidence. Include one or two key examples or details, if you think they are important for conveying the meaning of the original article.
3. Remind your reader frequently that these ideas are someone else’s, not yours, by using author/article tags throughout your summary. Author/article tags refer back to the author/article (Smith says ___, according to the article, ___, Smith points out that____, She/He believes that___, the reading argues that___).
4. USE YOUR OWN WORDS throughout your summary. If you can’t think of how to say something, use quotes but aim for 10% or less of quoted material.
BODY: (B) Present your analysis of the reading:
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING AN ANALYSIS
Use the following method to present your analysis. For the first draft ONLY DO AN ANALYSIS OF THREE OF THE PARTS of the reading.
Part by Part: Present each of the three parts of the argument with explanations and examples of how well each part meets the criteria. At the each of each analysis, state your results for that Part.
The first draft should be about 2 to 3 pages (printed). DO NOT DO A CONCLUSION.
College Education