Is Free Higher Education an Option?

Adaora Ede

In the wake of the recent shift in the 2016 Presidential Campaign with the dropping of major Republican candidate Ted Cruz, many eyes have shifted to the focus of the Democratic Party with the currently running candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Rodham Clinton. As it is primary season, we hear all about them and their differing platforms. Sanders has been emphasized in mainstream media for his more radical, verging on socialist views over Clinton’s moderate liberalism. One of the viewpoints of Bernie Sanders that has been called to the populace’s attention is his proposal of free college. It sounds completely wild to us American high school students who are used to being urged to get good grades in order to get scholarships in order to avoid loans that we may need to pay off the hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that we anticipate ending up with after we receive our degrees. Free college, in essence, is a concept that sounds entirely too good to be true. What exactly is Bernie Sanders’ plan for it and how is it even rational?

If one would visit Sanders’ campaign website, the second issue listed on the site is actually his stance on college tuition- there shouldn’t be any. Just the placement of it shows how unorthodox much of Bernie Sanders’ platform is to the mainstream, not just conservatives, but moderates and liberals alike. Sanders’ claim is that it is not a radical idea and that this will prevent the federal government from making a profit on student loans and will allow students to engage in the potentially expanded federal work study to gain work experience and financial aid.

The main argument against free college is that it is one of those handout programs. Yes, we get it, you hate welfare and believe that everyone must work for what they want. But what about the bright student with a 3.8 GPA that lives in a 4 member household with a $38,000 yearly income? Should that student just “work harder?” I understand American taxpayers’ aversion to forking over more of their income to support the education system, but there are more students than ever before. In 1910, only about 2.9 percent of young adults were enrolled in higher education. In 2014, that number is at 41% percent, including 18 through 24 year olds.

Even Barack Obama had made references to the idea of subsidized higher education last year by proposing a plan to allow the first two years of college- which is for many, just community college- to be covered by public grants. In Obama’s initial 2015 plan, he also proposed the usage of Pell Grants to allow students to pay for external costs, like room and board, books, transportation, and food. The aspects of Obama’s plan was applied in Tennessee, where 90% of graduating high school seniors had signed up to attend a community college the fall after their graduation following the implementation of a revamped universal college system in the state.

However, as mentioned by Sanders himself, it’s not as if free or subsidized college (subsidized meaning NOT hundreds of thousands of dollars) hasn’t been attempted and existed as a stable system of higher education for decades in other countries. Look to a lot of Northern and Western European countries. Germany, Norway, Sweden and Finland are among some of the nations that have tuition free universities- and many of these nations also have English-language programs in order to attract foreigners. The famously liberal France does charge tuition though- at about 200 dollars at public universities.

The United States is famously known for their high quality public education system, spanning from elementary school, middle or junior high school, and high school. We also do a dang good job at spending a whole lot of money on each student- but the qualm is that our universal K-12 education system is free. Not a lot of other countries can say the same things. Many developing countries make their own students start paying tuition in grammar school or at the beginning of high school, making it impossible for some low-income students to pursue further education. So, the question that arises is whether Americans should be satisfied with the fact that we can get a diploma for free.

The United States was founded on egalitarian principles; Americans have denied the idea of an elite educated class since. Everyone should be guaranteed an education and in an age where a sole high school diploma isn’t enough to give you a middle class lifestyle, we should allow every American the right to attend college. Eliminating tuition completely may not be the most realistic option in the next few years, we don’t need to pile loans and debt onto the prospective leading thinkers, politicians, scientists. Your move, America.