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Logan Caruso

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 6A

24 March 2017

College Application or Communist Manifesto?

We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a

bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle-Winston Churchill. With the political rise of

Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, the United States has seen a growing popularity in the idea of free

college. However, nothing in life is free. If colleges had free tuition, rates for students, the

American people will have to pay for it out of their own paychecks and one the most hated things

in the United States is increased taxes. While some say this would allow more students to access

higher education, not all students should go on to higher education. Supporters of free college

also make the argument that free tuition would allow students to pursue their passions. However,

this could lead to problems down the road, because not all degrees lead to successful job

opportunities, which might lead to wasted tax dollars. Another issue that could arise from

increased amounts of college graduates is low quality workers flooding job markets leading to

decreased wages. Free college would cause economic problems like increased burden on

taxpayers and decreased wages.

There are only to things garneted in life death and taxes. For free college to come into

reality the federal and state governments would need to find a way to fund the intuitions. They

most likely would impose some sort of income tax that would be withheld from every paycheck.

Many Americans are against any new taxes that either the Federal or the State governments try to
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impose. Americans want to see their tax dollars at work weather it is the roads they drive on, the

police patrolling the streets, or the military that keeps them safe. But it would be a tough pill for

a majority of Americans to swallow, if they had to pay another tax for something they couldnt

see. Which is why the creation of a tax to pay for higher education would be very unpopular.

Harder-pressed taxpayers are unfairly forced to fill the void, even if they dont go to college or

have kids who do. (How) This quote refers to the disposition that German taxpayers are put in

by taxes that support free college. Which raises a serious question for many Americans why pay

for something that they might not directly benefit from. Especially when under plans from Sen.

Bernie Sanders the revenue from capital gains from the stock market would be taxed

American incomes and living standards have been growing more slowly. These low

growth rates can be partly attributed to counterproductive tax policies that undermine

long-term growth by discouraging saving and investment. Although broad tax reform is

needed to address the deficiencies in the tax code, many economists believe that reducing

the capital gains tax rate is an important step in the right direction. A capital gains tax

reduction would enhance incentives to save and invest by increasing the after-tax return

from investment. The effects of a capital gains tax reduction should not be overstated;

nonetheless, its beneficial effects on the economy would make a significant contribution

to long-term growth. (Poterba 3)

If Bernie Sanders plan were to be passed it may have negative impacts on the economy slowing

investment and discouraging Americans to save. And with a bad economy it would be very

difficult for students to follow their passions.

Students are always told to follow their passions not matter what anyone says. Supporters

of free college bring up the point that with free college, students would be able to purse their
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passions. When people follow their passion, they miss out on all kinds of opportunities they

didnt even know existed,- Mike Rowe. Not all passions led to success in life. So why then

should taxpayers provide the capital for a student to get their degree in something they might not

be able to get a job, which would lead to a waste of money. So what does society do in this

situation? It can pay for all students to go to college which could led to students getting

educations that might not have a positive impact on society and led to major tax dollars going to

waste. Or we could do nothing and allow students to take risks like many Americans. Students in

this situation may not follow their passion but find even better opportunities that could end up

bettering their life. For example, you find a lot of starving actors, but you dont find a lot of

starving accountants.

Many consider education as a gateway out of poverty and a stepping stone to success. So

naturally if education was more available to students especially those below or near the poverty

line more would attend. However, many government programs and even the colleges themselves

will provide finical aid especially groups like: single mothers, minorities, any disabled persons,

and any members of households near or below the poverty line. So when then should we make

college free when the tuition cost is almost if not free for those who need help the most. When

fire fighters put out a fire on a building they dont keep dumping water on buildings that arent

on fire. Why then should college be made free when it is already free for the needy. And college

is not necessarily for everyone, some people just arent smart enough or are willing to work hard

enough to make it to graduation day. And if public colleges were free resources would be spread

very thinly which may cause colleges to turn out students who might be under skilled when

entering the job market.

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In microeconomics when studying why certain jobs make more or less money, economist

look at how much demand there is for that job and then how much labor is being supplied and

then where the two lines meet is the wage. However, if more students flood the job market

weather they have a good or bad education many occupations will witness a decrease in wages.

And with wages already decreasing for both college and high school graduates this could hurt

millions of Americans. Wages of young college and high school graduates are performing

poorly-and are sustainably lower today than in 2000. The real wages of young high school

graduates are 5.5 percent lower today than in 2000, and the wages of young college graduates are

2.5 percent lower (Davis 3). Students should not be discouraged from going to college but we

have to make sure that public university that would be free are turning out students with

knowledge that will help them be successfulbut we cant. However, just like businesses

colleges compete against each other to attracts students to their school by offering a quality

education at competitive prices, and if you take out the price incentive away from colleges the

level of education will likely decrease. Which is why the idea of education is bad for wages and

bad for the taxpayer, this is why we cannot allow free college to come into reality.

Free college would work in a perfect world. Sadly, we do not live in a perfect world. Free

college would cost taxpayers millions of dollars every year and a majority of taxpayers would

not see those tax dollars benefit them in the slightest. Moreover, just because free education may

allow students to follow their passion that may not help student it could have quite the opposite

effect and set students farther back in life. Supporters of free college try and say that free tuition

would open higher education to those who cannot afford it, when if they are willing to work hard

they can receive money both from the private intuition and from the federal government. With

increased amounts of students, graduating from subpar schools the job market will be flooded
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with inferior workers driving down wages for Americans already working lowering their yearly

salary. After looking at all the costs to society, it is hard to say free college would really be so

free.
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Works Citied

Davis, Alyssa, Will Kimball, and Elise Gould. "The Class of 2015: Despite an Improving

Economy, Young Grads Still Face an Uphill Climb."Economic Policy

Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.

"How Free College Tuition in One Country Exposes Unexpected Pros and Cons." The Hechinger

Report. N.p., 18 Oct. 2016. Web. 17 Mar. 2017.

Poterba, James. "Venture Capital and Capital Gains Taxation." (1989): n.

pag. Www.jec.senate.gov. Web.