Should College Be Free?

By: Brooke Sranske

Background on Student Debt
WHY IS STUDENT DEBT SO HIGH?
- College tuition has grown many times faster than income
- When students enter college, they have little to no credit history. Therefore,
this results in their uneasiness about being able to pay back the loan since
they typically don’t have any previous history with loans or managing that
level of debt.
→ Leads to a higher interest rate
- Statistics show that 55% of college students struggle to find financial support
for their studies. Consequently, 51% of college dropouts drop out because of
Student Debt Now
AS OF NOW
- Few families can afford the higher cost, and many have turned to federal and
private aid to cover at least some of it.
- Most college graduates leave school with $30,000+ in debt.
- More than half, or 56%, of college students say they can no longer afford
their tuition tab
IF CHANGED (PRO)
- More students could attend without having to pay back any debts
- No pressure to finish college as quickly as possibly to reduce the amount of
debts
College Might Not Seem As Important (Con)

- Higher degrees may not seem as much of a value

- Lead to students cutting more class
(Don’t have to get “money’s worth”)
- Price drives college students to finish college sooner and as quickly as
possible to reduce student debt (without this students might lack
motivation to do anything)
 Allows More People To Access College
PROS
- Enrollment at four-year public universities and community colleges
would rise by roughly 18%
→This would allow for at least another 2 million students to apply to
college who weren’t able to apply before
- More people would have better employment opportunities than non-
college graduates
Allows More People To Access College
CONS
- Waitlists might be longer considering how many people might be
coming it
- Taxes would increase
- The larger number of graduating students might cause some jobs to
become too overused. (Many people left unsatisfied with their degrees
because they wouldn’t be able to find a job.)