Miyana Rojas, James Hutzler

Period 5
Topic: The costs of a college education outweigh the
benefits

Pro Speaker 1
Do costs outweigh the benefits?In this situation costs can outweigh the benefits because
if you wanted to be a teacher for instance it would cost roughly about $438 let alone just
one semester at Columbia University but also according to where you decide to go for
college the prices may vary. This is all according to the site
http://www.tc.columbia.edu/admissions/tuition-and-fees/.
To take teacher courses in Harvard with a scholarship, the scholarship itself can pay off
up to about $46,000. To be a doctor in college it costs up to a range of $34,540 to
$53,714 and a debt of $170,000 and $200,000. This information is from the source
http://doctorly.org/cost-vs-reward-of-becoming-a-physician/ . If you wanted to take
surgeon courses plus you lived on the campus and the school supplies the total cost
would be about $95,637 if you took the surgeon course for 12 months or for year 3. This
is all according to http://ps.columbia.edu/education/admissions/tuition-expenses. Costs
can outweigh the benefits because the cost itself can be more than what you are majoring
in and what you are studying for may not even be worth the hard work and money.

Con Speaker 2
The costs of a college education certainly do not outweigh the benefits. First off,
necessary social knowledge and street knowledge is developed from attending college,
the Random House unabridged dictionary of the english language, defines education as
an enlightening experience, in college, people from different backgrounds and
upbringings, are forced to collaborate with one another to achieve success, as well as
adapting to a different environment, and all these occurrences result in desireable
enlightenment, this idea is sentimentally and nostalgically referred to as the college
experience. For example, a college graduate of the University of Alabama, states this in
an essay reflecting on their first year of college Youll also be on your own, your own
boss (more or less) 24 hours a day. Be careful here. Dont go flying off the end of the
pier. Enjoy your newfound freedom. Stay up until dawn talking about your ideals and

ambitions with your dorms regular bull session buddies. This knowledge and wisdom
presented is a direct result of social interaction, that takes place on campus, or in the
dorms as they mentioned, and is not supplied actually by the courses you have taken that
you are actually paying for Secondly, there are many opportunities to receive a basic
college education or degree without an expensive tuition or requirement to be on campus
or in a classroom. For example, Arizona State University, offers a one hundred percent
online degree program, that does not require students to be in a classroom or on campus
which eliminates the time and money it takes to live alone as a student. As well,
associate's degrees are a viable option for students to have time to save funds for a longer
education while keeping your mind sharp. According to Uei.edu Average annual tuition
and fees for students attending public, two-year colleges in their communities were just
$3,260 in 2013-2014, compared with nearly $8,900 for those enrolled as in-state students
at four-year public universities. Also, there are roughly 1,665 community colleges in the
U.S. according to ed.gov. And lastly there is extreme distress within the government and
private college providers in regard to student debt. For example, Vermont senator, Bernie
Sanders highly supports making four year college tuition free for all families with an
annual income of under $250,000. Also, the University of Phoenix, a for-profit private
university, according to phoenix.org, aired a controversial television commercial
promoting their online degree program in 2015, that included lines such as A degree is
a degree, You think a resume is enough and I took two bullets to the chest while it
vividly illustrates the struggle of a mother of three attempting to get a college degree.
This shows that college debt and unaffordability is on the minds of governmental
superiors and they are in the action of implementing changes to the college system, and
everyday it becomes more convenient to attend college in one form or another.

Questions:

How do you support your evidence?

Where are your sources?
Is that statistic reliable ?
How is a .com reliable?
If you went to college to get a high paying job, couldnt you pay off those debts?
Are there any people who didnt go to college that were still successful?

Pro Speaker 3
According to
https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2014/10/23/dropout-rate-for-college-students-driven-by-inequality/
it states that college freshmen stress levels have risen let alone because of the costs, causing them

to drop out of college. This site also states, Low-income students face barriers to college
success at every stage of the education pipeline, from elementary school through post-secondary
education, sometimes in spite of their academic achievements, a White House report stated.
For example, it would mean that if there were 10 people who enrolled in college, and they have
low-income, only 4-5 would graduate because the others would drop out. If you didnt go to
college, you would save lots of money for better things. According to
http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=372 it is stating that in fall 2016 about 20.5 million
people enrolling in college.

Con Speaker 4
The benefits outweigh the costs because either way you are receiving an education in which you
have invested in. If you decide to drop out, whose loss is that? I mean its your money you invest
it in what you want. If you choose to major in dentistry or engineering its your choice. Or drop
out, money was wasted. No one is telling you to major in anything, college is something not
worth money because an education is something that no one can take away from you. Once you
learn something it cant be taken away, at times it can be forgotten but it will always be in your
brain. The benefits outweigh the costs because going to college for example could be helpful in
the long run. Do you know how much dentists are paid each day? They are paid $166,810 on an
average salary and yearly? Could you image how much they are paid a year? Of course other
jobs have high salaries but depending on what you are studying. Ever wonder how some people
have the sufficient amount of money to get their needs and still have money for their wants? It
was one thing that most likely helped them. It was college. Having the job they have, how did
they get it? An example would be the principal at a middle school or any principal in general.
You would need experience first of all and secondly you would need a 4-year bachelors degree.
Theres one way only one way, and thats college.

Pro Summary
The benefits of college can outweigh the costs. But, costs do outweigh the benefits of a college
education. This is because college is just an option that can be chosen but is probably best not to
because of the fact that it costs way more than it should. Low- incomers would suffer through
debts and stress about financial issues. These issues can be easily prevented if you didnt go to
college. If you found other jobs maybe you could make a living for yourself but that would mean
you cant have a family because you can barely support yourself.

Con Summary
To summarize my teams contentions, there are currently changes being implemented within the
college system by superiors, there are viably cheap options to receive a basic two year college
degree and allow time to save for a longer education, necessary social skills and street
knowledge is developed from attending college, and in many countries it is completely free to go
to college, such as Germany.

Grand Crossfire
How else can money be earned to pay for college?
Debt can cause you to stress and drop out of college so, how will you earn that money
back so that you are debt free.
What happens then?
Define education.
Do you have evidence, how is it reliable?
How are you sure that someone, trying to make a profit, is a professional writing the
article?
If you decide to not go to college how will that impact you later in life?

Pro Final Focus

Our team won this debate because costs do outweigh the benefits. This is due to the fact that
college costs too much. College can cost from $3,000 to $32,000 a year. Meaning college costs
too much so it would be best to drop out and save your money. You could find another way to
get a job, it may not pay much but it will keep you alive.

Con Final Focus

Based purely on the sanity of our contentions and recreation of commonly misunderstood points,
our team has won this round of debate. Our contentions relate and directly correspond with the
vague boundaries of the topic, and therefore have served their utmost duty as facts as it relates to
the pursuit of knowledge.
{Plus added information based on the contentions of opponent. Grants not granted, sites not
reliable, low-paying jobs.}