Source Convo - Why Should College Be Free in the United States? PDF

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Why Should College Be Free in the United States?...

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Why Should College be Free in the US? Galleria Video Script 3/19/2021 Bianca Uhu Beginning: (Bianca) Hi my name is B me (

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n. Introduction (Rachel) Today we are going to be talking about college. More specifically why college should be free in the United States. The cost of college tuition is a problem since up until last year—due to COVID—the tuition kept rising to levels unimagined. A student with many other worries and expenses is left on a tight rope to balance school, extracurriculars, many other costs (that will be discussed as the presentation goes), and tuition above all that. Students want to attend a higher education institution so that they can have an opportunity to a stable career and job. But, due to the steep price college comes with many can't even reach higher education. Dreams shouldn’t be limited by any barriers. Other countries have taken initiative live Germany and Norway to make

college free and they believe that education is a right. In this presentation we will be talking about 4 main points 1. drop out due to financial 2. What other countries are doing 3. Debt and 4. The Future of students. All to come to answer the question of why college should be free in the United States.

Subtopic 1: Drop out due to financial. (Melissa read the slide “Many times students can get stressed with the idea of paying for college because college can be expensive. In this subtopic we will discuss the differences of tuition between private and public schools in the US and explore how high tuition prices can contribute to dropping out of college”.) a. Money at private colleges (Rachel will say: First we will look at money at private colleges) (Rachel speaks) “See average college tuition in 2020-2021” written by Farran Powell and Emma Kerr and it focuses on giving information on recent tuitions. First things first, there are 2 different types of prices that colleges can give: 1. sticker price 2. net price. Farran and Powell define sticker price as “the amount advertised as the full rate for tuition and fees before financial need, scholarships, and other aids are factored in” and net price as “the amount that a family pays after aid and scholarships” (Powell & Kerr, 2020). Most college students won't ever have a student pay a sticker price and so when it comes to comparing the cost of tuitions, sticker prices can give inaccurate comparisons. We will be focusing on private colleges and on the graph here, the amount shown is specifically based on net price (after help is given). Even after help is given to a student, you are able to see that college students are still paying average tuition of $38,087 which is still very expensive. And yes, this is the only tuition. A college student will be prone to

having multiple more expenses that are unaccounted for in the tuition cost and this can make the overall price of attending college skyrocket. These still-high-prices can lead students to take out a loan to help them out. If the student takes the loan, according to other articles that will be mentioned later, a student is more likely to drop out of school. Powell and Kerr mention that “Unlike in recent years, the trend of year-over-year tuition hikes has reversed. The average tuition and fees at private ranked colleges has fallen by about 5%” (Powell & Kerr, 2020). The graph depicts these price falls, meaning that before, the college was getting more expensive by the second and it can be scary to think that it took a pandemic to make college prices drop, but only by a little. If college were to become free, students wouldn’t have to live with the burden of having to pay on average $38,087 for wanting to have a more personalized education since private schools can come with benefits like smaller class sizes. b. Money at public college (Rachel will say: Next we will be looking at money at public college) (Rachel speaks) The same article “See average college tuition in 2020-2021” also shows statistics on the average college tuition of public colleges in-state and out-of-state. You can see that the amount is relatively smaller than going to a private college with average prices of $21,184 for out-of-state public school and $9,687 for public in-state. Although the numbers are lower than private colleges, there is still a load of money that on average a student must pay for wanting to achieve higher education in a ‘cheaper’ school option. It was said that “public schools [tuition have] dropped by about 4%, and the average out-of-state price has decreased by about 6% from last year" (Powell & Kerr, 2020). You would think that public in-state schools would be having more help because more students choose public schools to avoid high prices but by the results, public school tuition dropped by 4% when private tuition dropped by 5%. Think about it

like this, if you get %100 help you will be helped more than if a person gets 80% help. In this case, private schools (5%) got more help than public schools (4%). Tuition is not the only expense students can have in their minds, Powell & Kerr said, “in addition to tuition and fees, students must also pay for other expenses, such as housing, food, and books, which can run thousands of dollars a year" (Powell & Kerr, 2020). With extra expenses that are unaccounted for and the small percentage deduced on tuition, costs are still high. In relation to dropping out, if the student has any other expenses (which they will most likely because tuition prices don’t show extracurricular prices) they can become trapped in the hands of a loan. The loan can lead to debt and debt can lead to dropping out of college which will lead to a lower pay job without higher education. If college is free, it can have better citizens in the community which can lead to many advances. Since no financial barriers will be placed all students will have an opportunity to make their dreams come true.

Bianca speaks: The article “Why College Should Be Free” by J.W. Mason talks about the analogy of fire protection services and college. These two different things are similar in some way. In the article, it mentions that if you don’t oppose to free fire protection services then you won’t be opposed to free college. Obviously, not everyone needs free fire protection services because the homeless don’t have a home to save. Some people might not want to go public college. This analogy shows how beneficial it would be in people lives’ if these two were free. This article shows a correlation that just as much as fire protection is important, so is college. If higher education has measures that keeps the rich from getting free education at public institutions which ends up excluding the lower income people, that’s a big cost. Distribution of

student debt and tuition increases with income, but our goal is for it to be free from all. This shows that money at public colleges should be free of worry.

C. Dropping out because of debt. ( Rachel can say: now with this information how does this relate to dropping out?) (Rachel) The article “Gender Debt and Dropping Out of College” written by Rachel E. Dwyer, Randy Hodson, and Laura McCloud base their research on the gender differences and the probabilities of taking a loan as well as what can happen after they do. They do some research on the idea that women are more likely to take out loans because their drive to go to college is higher since there are fewer job opportunities out there that will offer them good pay, unlike men that can do heavier work that pays relatively better (Dwyer et al., 2013). The big takeaway from this article however is a graph they showed in the middle of their studies. The authors have a curve graph that shows the probability of both genders dropping out of college after they take out a specific amount of loan. From the graph, a correlation can be seen between men and women dropping out of college the higher the debt they get into. They mention in their research that they saw “A downturn in graduation probabilities above $10,00” (Dwyer et al., 2013). If we remember back to the amount of net price average tuition that public schools had, their resting amount was around the $10,000 mark leaving even the ‘cheapest’ option for schools to still be prone to taking out loans of that quantity that can lead to students dropping out. Now imagine the greater amount of loan a student that goes to a private school will have at taking since private school is more expensive. The ideas together form a realization that debt can be a slippery slope which can lead to not attaining higher education because students can tend to drop out all

because college tuition is expensive. If education was free, the students wouldn't fall down the debt slide and would have more chances of graduating.

Subtopic 2: other countries (Melissa will say: Other countries have been moving towards the idea of having free higher education system. In this subtopic we will discover Germany and Norway. a. Germany (Melissa): The article “Do tuition fees affect enrollment behavior? Evidence from a ‘natural experiment’ in Germany” was written by Malte Hubner and it is about how the price of colleges and universities plays a big role in the decision-making process of students when they are picking which school they want to go to. This experiment has proven that college tuitions have a negative impact on students because it is an added stress to schoolwork. It also explains how if the students get more financial aid from the government, that the number of students that want to go to that school goes up. This is a primary source which had the purpose of informing the audience about the effects of tuition on college students and how it stressed them out. It was an experiment conducted to show how much of a difference it makes when students have a lot of money they must pay because a lot of times they do not know what they are getting themselves into with these expenses. It shows how other countries besides the United States are willing to make a plan and figure something out in order to help college students have one less added stress. b. Norway (Rachel will say: Now let's look at Norway's ideas)

(Rachel speaks) “Norway Free College: Your Guide to Choosing” written by the University of the People that talk about Norway's free education system. One of the main principles that the Norwegian government follows that isn't seen in the U.S is that “Norwegian government believes in education as a human right, and therefore, there are no tuition-fees for both citizens and international students alike” (University of The People, n.d.). The University of the People also says that there are however some schools that are private that have a small fee but then say that “in fact, less than 10% of the population of Norway attends a private institution because the publicly funded system is so strong"(University of The People, n.d.). With Norwegian having no tuition fees and students that prefer to attend free-tuition institutions, there are already more people getting an education without having to worry about when the next payment is going to be. The article emphasizes the idea that higher education should be a right which is an idea that could be deemed more beneficial if it were expanded to places where education is not free like the US since it can allow students to be free of financial stress. This tuition-free country is helping students to never see any barriers between them and achieving their dreams. In the US, where the average college tuition is expensive as depicted in Powell and Kerr’s article, students may feel the need to take loans to have a chance at fulfilling their dreams. Adopting an idea like Germany or Norway can help students in many different areas since they won’t have to be worried about paying for something that could potentially be life-changing for them and their futures. Subtopic 3: Debt (Bianca will say: This section focuses on the debt that student might have because of all the expenses of college. Students might not attend college or might drop out because of the amount of tuition for all four years and the huge weight of student loan.) a. Underestimating student loans

(Melissa): The article “Most college freshmen underestimate student debt” it is talking about how most college students do not put much thought into the finances that come with going to college. They think about their classes and meeting new people in a brand-new environment. Students are excited about this new chapter in their lives and do not realize that it comes with a lot of expenses. This results in students being in way over their heads with debt which is bad because they are digging themselves in a hole. Student loan rates are only going up from here which is not good because students deserve a break. This is a secondary source that is trying to inform their audience about the negative effects of student debt on college students. It talks about how a lot of times students do not know how much they are going to end up paying back to schools just to have an education and a career. It explains how this is an added stress factor to the students that already have to worry about their schoolwork, adjusting to a new environment, and sometimes work or sports. DID NOT HAVE SLIDE

(Bianca speaks): The article “The higher education crisis” by Maria Ferguson is an article that talks about how the road to college is not easy especially for low-income students and families. Even close graduates are still in crisis because they’re trying to figure out their next move while their parents are dealing with costs and expectations. It mentions how higher education can be unfair. Debt has increased a lot, “According to the Federal Reserve, student loan debt in the U.S. has now reached 1.6 trillion.” (page 2). This discusses the debt crisis. The article provides a basic idea of how higher education could be a crisis for the low income. This source correlates to student loan debt and the other expenses students can have. This source mostly focuses on lowincome students and students of color. In the article, it mentions that policy solutions such as some form of the student debt relief don’t appear to be a high problem in Washington. Based on

the date, Income inequality is increasing. They wish for some opportunity to bring ideas to this crisis, since there’s nothing much being done. This ties in with how beneficial it would be if college were free.

b. Other expenses students have

(Bianca speaks): The article “Should College Be Free: Pros And Cons” by Ellen Anderson talks about the pros and cons of college being free, but it focuses more on the pros. Some students drop out because they’re not able to pay for tuition for all four years. If tuition were free, this would improve college graduation rates. It mentions that without the weight of student loan debt, more college students might be able to buy houses instead of apartments. This means that college students could contribute more to the economy. This article seems useful in this matter because it’s telling that if we drop the tuition and if college is free, student debt wouldn’t crush the younger generations. The source talks about the effect if students didn’t have tuition or debt to worry about. This source mostly focuses on student debt crisis and how important the affordability of college education is. In the article, it mentions if this were the case, fewer students would feel the need to drop out or take a break from college for financial reasons. This ties in with how easier people would follow through with college if there wasn’t so much to pay for.

Subtopic 4: Future (Melissa will say: Now what impact does having a college degree have versus not? In this subtopic one will explore the differences in the futures of those students who were able to attain a college degree to the lives of students who did not.) a. Lives of students with degree (Rachel speaks) When looking at how a student's life plays out with higher education, you won't be surprised to know that students who attend college are better off in life in the future. According to the article “Should Higher Education Students Pay Tuition Fees?” by Gudrun Biffl and Joe Isaac, the authors go in-depth on how the lives of those who attend college differ from those who don't. The authors say that “Apart from personal satisfaction, private benefits also accrue to graduates in the form of human capital whereby they enjoy a higher income during their working lives and greater employment security"(Biffl & Isaac, 2002). They also mentioned that having educated people in the community will create “Larger pool of skills can promote a harness technological development to facilitate higher productivity and economic growth”(Biffl & Isaac, 2002). This means that if more people attend higher education, there will be more educated people walking around that can contribute to benefits like economic growth and higher productivity like mentioned. This is the table that shows relative earnings of 25–64-year olds by highest educational achievement level. The 1st column is for people who reached pre-primary to lower secondary education. The middle column is for people who reached the 1st stage of tertiary education or programs leading to professional qualifications and the last column is for people who reached an equivalent of a bachelor's degree through a doctoral degree. The higher the number, the better the earrings. People in the first column have lower numbers as compared to those in the last column showing that people who had higher education, were more financially stable. With this being said, students go to college for almost the same goal; trying to achieve a

more secure career and fulfilling their dreams. By the article having data that higher education ensures a person of attaining a better future financially, students shouldn’t be limited by the cost of rising tuitions to try and better themselves. Having a free education will open up opportunities for those people that want to succeed in life and want to continue learning without having to worry about falling into the abyss of debt.

“Helping Students Design an Education” by Elizabeth Guertin (Bianca speaks) The article “Helping Students Design an Education” by Elizabeth Guertin talks about helping students design an education. In the article, it states “Institutions of higher education are now expected to be accountable not just for retaining and graduating the students we admit but for student outcomes beyond graduation.” (Guertin 1). This is for the lives of students with a degree. It’s important for students to achieve an education that is meaningful to them and then be granted a degree. Adding a degree to your life shows a lot of emphasis. It’s encouraged for new students to get ready for the future, not the past. The source talks about the future and thinking about their plans after college. This ties in with the lives with a degree because the article explains how life with a degree could be. If colleges were free, many people would have the opportunity to get their degree without worrying about any debts or loans. Students do have to take education seriously if they truly want a better life. b. Lives of students without degree (Melissa): This source is about how people in the United States that have a college degree are healthier than those who do not. It states that people who are college educated have a higher

advantage than the people who are not. It is mostly talking about how they took a survey and most people who are not college educated said that have more health problems than the people who are educated. It explains how adults that are educated have better mental health and a better sense of self control. This is a secondary source that serves the pu...