Dear Mr or Mrs President,

Free college, sounds nice doesn't it? The idea that American students can attend college with no thought of the future debt or the fear of having to drop out because their families and they definitely cannot support themselves. Realistically thinking, I have another question for you: Is free really free? Or is the world Free an illusion created to deceive the american public?  

Of course I feel for the struggling families who do not make enough money to give their children a better future. They see free college as a bright new promising opportunity to avoid the inconvenience of future debt and get free education that will turn into a career to overall better there lives. In ‘Tuition Talk: Side Effects Of College Costs’ it illustrates the rising college costs each year when parents are presented with this type of information they debate enrolling their children in the first place. They know loans are an alternative option, but do not want the burden of having to spend the rest of their lives paying it back. People favor the idea of free college because it gives them optimism for a promising future. 

Despite all of the things free college seems to promise, it's really not helping you in the long run. If the fees of tuition, books and renovation of the campus do not go to the students attending the school they go to none other than the hardworking taxpayers. I live in a household with a single mother struggling to afford house bills, costs of food and car payments these payments are even tougher to stay on top of with the extremely high tax deductions out of her paycheck. In 2014, the average single american who made $50,000 a year had to pay 25% state and federal income and payroll tax according to the ‘Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development.’ Adding on to this will only make the middle class suffer more.

 In the article ‘The Problem is that Free College is not Free,’ Andrew P. Kelly makes some extremely valid points when addressing this issue. He focuses on explaining further how along with free college comes more students wanting to enroll which cost even more money. This also means they have to compromise the student's learning experience to accommodate for growing class sizes. Personally, I don't want to get a degraded experience because more young people are attending college who might not even truly want to be there. Because it's offered to everyone the motivation in high school to meet all requirements may decrease and not give fair treatment to people who worked hard to get there. People who push themselves get what they strive for and some sacrifice may come with the things you are trying to achieve. 

College should not be free simply for the fact that the costs will not disappear but be put on to other people. The cost will increase even more than what they were previously and I do not believe everyone deserves to attend college. 

                                                                                                 Sincerely, Brylee Billings 

Sources

@SurvivinCollege. "Infographic: The Side Effects of College Costs | Surviving College." Campus Riot. N.p., 14 Feb. 2014. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

Kelly, Andrew P. "The Problem Is That Free College Is Not Free." New York Times. N.p., n.d. Web.

Five Charts Show What Americans Really Pay in Taxes." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.