Madison Leslie

May 3rd, 2023

ENGL 1120

Should there be free college in the U.S?

Student debt affects millions of people all over America every single year, with many still
paying off the costs of going to college years or even decades after graduation. College should
be a time for students to find out who they are as people and to focus on their classes, not to be
stressing over how they are going to pay off their debt. I strongly believe that college in the U.S
should be free because it reduces stress for students, would increase college attendance, and it
would allow for students to pursue their passions.

One of the main reasons that college tuition should be free for students is that it takes
away the financial stress from people who are just starting out their lives. Money can be a big
stressor in people's lives, and this is only added to all of the other new changes that college
students have when they make this choice to pursue higher education. Most people who start
college are around 18-20 years old, these students cannot even legally drink, yet they are
expected to pay 1,000’s of dollars for school. According to an online survey done by ELVTR,
“54 percent of student borrowers experience mental health challenges due to the amount of
debt owe” (Barnes, 2022). This quote shows that the majority of people who have borrowed
money for higher education also experience mental health challenges due to the stress of
having to pay back their loans. This is important because college is already a stressful enough
time for students, and according to the quote about one in two students are stressed even more
by their debt. When thinking about this it might not seem like that is that many but according to
Forbes advisor, there are about 43 million students who took out student loans last year (Hahn,
2023). This is important because considering that about 1 in 2 students are more stressed due
to student loans, this means that around 23 million people are experiencing mental health
challenges due to this. That is a considerable number of people when looking at the whole
picture of who these student loans effect. I believe that taking away this debt will lead to college
students having much better mental health and instead they would be able to focus their time on
more important things such as their classes.

The next main reason that college tuition should be free for students is that it would
increase the amount of people who are able to attend college. A high tuition for college can
often result in not allowing many students to attend. If this barrier were to be taken away then it
would result in a greater number of students being able to go, this in turn could lead to more
diverse and inclusive college campuses all over the US. A study of 33 colleges found,
“free-college programs, across the United States found that they are associated with large
enrollment increases of first-time, full-time students—with the biggest boost in enrollment among
Black, Hispanic, and female students.” (Phys org, 2020). This shows that free college programs
have been shown to be successful in not only increasing the amount of students that attended
the university, but it also increased the attendance of minority groups as well. This is important
because money can often be a major barrier for these groups and with that stripped away it
allows for these groups to not only be represented but also be able to participate in higher
education as well. This allows for a wider variety of people to receive a college education and
eventually would even lead to a wider representation in the workforce.

The last major reason that colleges in the U.S should be free is that it would allow for
students to pursue classes or majors that they would enjoy rather than just doing what is
“rational”. College is an exciting stage for students, it is a time where you finally get to choose
classes based on what you like and what you want to do in the future. But this is often
overshadowed and students instead have to choose classes that will help them get a job or
complete requirements for their degree. In my own experience I have had multiple friends who
have gone with more “rational” classes that would be better for the money they are spending,
rather than actually taking classes that they would enjoy. This is a common theme for many
students all over the country, and I strongly believe that if college was free students would be
more able and encouraged to pursue what they are passionate about. This would in turn lead to
students who actually want to be in the classes that they are taking and not feel like they are
there just to complete a requirement.

While there are many reasons that people believe college should be free, there are a
couple of reasons that people might not agree with this stance such as, it would increase the
taxes that people would have to pay and if it was free college might not be taken as seriously
anymore. When looking at the first reason, it is actually a really good point, if college were to be
made free the funds would need to come from somewhere and the most likely solution would be
from increasing the amount in taxes.” It could cost around $680 billion annually to provide free
college at public institutions in the U.S” (Ali, 2022). This is important to take note of because this
would mean that all Americans would be affected by this decision whether they go to college or
not. Almost everyone in America pays taxes and many people across the U.S are already
struggling to pay what they have to, so raising taxes in order to fund free education might not be
the best solution. While this is a good point, it doesn't account for the fact that there are already
many countries around the world who have free higher education such as Germany, Argentina,
France, and many more. Another thing these countries have in common is how they fund being
able to have free education. All of these countries do fund their free college programs through
the use of increased taxes. While people in the U.S might not prefer this method, this does
show that it can and has worked for other countries around the world.

The second main reason that someone might oppose the implementation of free college
in the U.S is because students might not take college as seriously if it were to be made free for
everyone. While this is a good point, due to the fact that college costs money it does motivate
students to work hard for the classes that they are taking. This can also motivate students to
only take classes that would help them progress towards their potential degree. But what this
doesn’t account for is the fact that whether college is free or if it costs money it is still up to each
individual student about how seriously they take their classes. This reason also implies that
students would take advantage of their education if it were to be made free and forcing students
to pay for their education is the only way to ensure they take it seriously.
 Whether or not you want to focus on the effects of stress, the possibility for increased
diversity, or the ability for students to have more freedom when choosing classes, the benefits
for making college free in the U.S far outweigh the costs. Students are the future of our nation
and as a country we owe them to take this step towards helping them with their future. Even if
the U.S doesn’t make college completely free for its students I still believe that it is extremely
important to take the first step towards helping students all over the country.

Sources:
Barnes, Adam. “Majority of Student Loan Borrowers Link Mental Health Issues to Their Debt: . .
Survey.” The Hill, The Hill, 26 Sept. 2022, https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrich . . .
ment/education/3658639-majority-of-student-loan-borrowers-link-mental-health-issues . .
-to-their-debt/#:~:text=Fifty%2Dsix%20percent%20of%20those%20whose%20mental . . .
%20health%20is%20affected,about%20a%20third%20suffered%20depression.

Barnes, Shirin Ali & Adam. “Free College: How Do You Pay for It?” The Hill, The Hill, 9 June . .
2022, https://thehill.com/changing-america/enrichment/education/3516518-free-college . .
-how-do-you-pay-for-it/.

Hahn, Alicia. “2023 Student Loan Debt Statistics: Average Student Loan Debt.” Forbes, . . . . .
Forbes Magazine, 24 Mar. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/advisor/student-loans/average . .
-student-loan-statistics/.

X, Science. “Free-College Programs Have Led to Large Enrollment Increases at Two-Year . . .

Institutions.” Phys.org, Phys.org, 20 Oct. 2020, https://phys.org/news/2020-10-free- . . . .
college-large-enrollment-two-year.html.

Reflection:
What writing did you choose to revise? (In what context did you originally write it
and what genre was it?) What genre did you choose to revise it into and why?

- For this project I really struggled to find a place to start. When I graduated
highschool they removed access to all of my old essays and projects so for this
assignment I really had to start from square one. I knew for this assignment I
wanted to write an argumentative essay but I struggled to find a topic to base it
on and as a result I restarted the essay a couple of different times with different
topics.

Describe your approach to word choice, sentence and paragraph structure, and
overall organization in this project.

- When looking at the word choice that I used in the essay, I chose to stick with
words that made sense to the subject (free college education). Then when
looking at the sentence and paragraph structure I chose to have the introduction
followed by three main paragraphs (each featuring one of the main points that I
stated in my thesis at the beginning), after that I chose to have two paragraphs
for the counterclaim (this is a very important element for an argumentative
essay). Finally the last paragraph that I added was a conclusion that restated my
thesis and overall wrapped up my essay.

Describe your approach to tone in this project and how your genre determined
how you addressed your audience.

- The tone that I used for my argumentative essay is serious and kind of a call to
action. I chose to write my essay like this because it is argumentative in nature
and I believe it is the most effective for this genre. The genre and the topic that I
chose both influenced the audience for the essay. For example I believe my
essay is directed towards college students (due to the fact that it is regarding the
price of college education) and I think it is also directed towards the people who
make decisions regarding the cost of college education.

How has your writing and writing process developed over the course of the
semester that is evident in this project?

- I believe that over the semester I have learned how to add more details to my
writing. I believe that it is shown through the way I am able to explain evidence
that I show in quotes and show how it can connect to the overall message that I
am trying to show in my writing. I also believe that I have gotten a lot better at
 reflecting throughout the semester. I believe that this is shown in the reflections I
have done for each of the main projects over the semester. I feel like I have
gotten better at really taking my time with my reflections and I think this really
shows in my responses.

What else do you want your instructor to know? What additional context is there
for this project?

- There is no additional context that is needed for this project.