Morning, Morales, Pepi, Matthews, Tunnell

English

Mrs. Hesse

October 28, 2016

College Education

College tuition is major issue that college students are facing. The cost of college is increasing and is causing students to drop out more frequently. Even though there are scholarships and grants its still not enough to cover the costs. We recently interviewed college student, Nathan Morales who is currently having trouble paying for his education.

Speaking on the topic college tuition is a bit of shaky one. Many colleges offer many programs and offers to student of different outcomes. But I think we can all agree that that the overall cost of college in itself is still a substantial amount with many students graduating with debts ranking in the thousands. This may leave many with debts following them well into their adult lives. In the case of Nathan Morales, he is currently out of college for the reason of taking the semester off to get a job, so that he could get a steady flow of income, and can pay for college. In this time, Nathan might become out of practice as a student. If two years of college were free, Nathan would still be going to college. Also the fact that he was not taking many classes that really contribute to what he wants to major in may not motivate him to go back. Although he may not have experienced the burden of college debt, those student loans will eventually rack up!

The topic of free college tuition is full of pros, but along with pros come the cons. On the pro side of this topic, having a college education can change a person's mindset making them better students and people in general. As President Obama stated, “Education helps us be better people. It helps us be better citizens”. But what does this quote mean? What Obama is trying to

say is with education and a degree we feel better as ourselves and it makes us a people feel better about ourselves. Another pro that comes along with this topic is how much money you make with having a college degree. Anthony P. Carnevale stated “Our research shows that individuals with college degrees now make 84% more over their lifetimes than those with only a high school diploma, up 40% since 1983.” This quote shows that students who graduate high school will struggle a lot when it comes to money. Now if people who only graduated high school are

struggling, imagine those who haven't earned a high school diploma. Those people are currently living in conditions that aren't safe or under current living standards.

Many people are against the need for having a college degree just getting lower or equal jobs for what jobs they want. As Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor for National Review, says, “It is absurd that people have to get college degrees to be considered for good jobs in hotel management or accounting — or journalism. It is inefficient, both because it wastes a lot of money and because it locks people who would have done good work out of some jobs.” While this is true in most cases, it not true for everyone. Anyone who has gotten a job where they wanted without the degree is most likely somewhere like a big company that pays for college. Those who don’t get these opportunities, are lacking in their education, and will most likely be poor or in debt. Megan McArdle, blogger for the New York Post,will probably agree with Ramesh as she states,“Mythomania about college has turned getting a degree into an American neurosis. It's sending parents to the poorhouse and saddling students with a backpack full of debt that doesn't even guarantee a good job in the end.” By saying this means that the country is going to be uncontrollable when it comes time for people to go to college themselves and that people who go to college are setting themselves up for a lifetime of debt. So her solution would to be, make college free, or way less expensive.

College tuition is a big problem barring many people from having the proper education to earn enough money to live off of. A possible solution to this issue is to have the first 2 years of college at public institutions paid by the government. As per Nathan, “It’s(Public College Tuition) fairly affordable since it’s a community college for people who don’t have the money right in front of them.” If public colleges have tuitions made to be affordable to an average high school graduate, then surely the government should have the resources to pay for just that bit of our education. Isn’t the American Dream one of opportunity and the future?

Works Cited

"College Costs Rising Fastest for Poor Students." The Hechinger Report Poorer Families Are Bearing the Brunt of College Price Hikes Data Show Comments. N.p., 04 June 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

"The Definition of Neurosis." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

“Mythomania” Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.

Davidson, Adam. "Is College Tuition Really Too High?" The New York Times. The New York Times,

12 Sept. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Carey, Kevin. "The Trouble With Hillary Clinton’s Free Tuition Plan." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 July 2016. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.