College Education Should Not Be Free

For most young Americans, college has always been preached to them as being a vital part to their success in the adult world; but as they reach this educative rite of passage many find they must take out inflated loans, work part time jobs, or even become dissuaded entirely due to the exorbitant costs of higher education. We must forsake this current antiquated system in favor of government subsidized tuition. Therefore, college education must be free because of its benefit to the economy, creation of equal opportunity, and the resolution of the student loan crisis.
The first ever federal government backed student loan program began in the 1950s under the National Defense Act (Sourmaidis). This was primarily offered as an incentive for students to pursue math and science degrees to compete with Soviet Russia after the launch of the Sputnik satellite (Sourmaidis). In that year, the number of college graduates were only 432,058 (Sourmaidis) and ever since the demand continually increased as did price. This trend allowed for the student loan crisis to occur which is a problem we face today.
As of 2016, American students have accrued a massive 1.3 trillion in student loan debt. Just 10 years ago, the nation’s balance was only $447 billion (Clements). This ever-present cumulative burden has caused many post graduate Americans to delay important life events such as marriage, homeownership and children because of this substantial encumbrance (Clements). The debt will only continue to grow with neglect, so the most effective action to take would be eliminating the cost altogether.
The argument for free higher education is not only an economic issue but a moral one as well. Currently, social mobility in the United States is at or clos...

... middle of paper ...

...s to fund this program without any strong repercussions; such as “Closing corporate tax loopholes that allow companies to legally avoid paying their full share of taxes” (Redd) or we could also look at “Implementing new taxes on speculative Wall Street transactions” (Redd) as famously advocated by Senator Bernie Sanders and lastly “Cracking down on wasteful government spending” (Redd). All the mentioned solutions could bring about free higher education with no cost on American taxpayer.
Ultimately, the United States should bring forth a free, government subsidized, higher education, because of its benefit to the economy, creation of equal opportunity, and the resolution of the student loan crisis. Even though it will require funding, there are certainly innocuous alternatives that could provide this rather than putting the extra stress on average American taxpayers.