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Looking into Free College Tuition

Is it possible?

Growing up I never exactly knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a baker, an

astrophysicist, an astronomer, a chemist, a neurosurgeon, a game developer, an animator, a

teacher, and many more things. However, I started to struggle in school, not necessarily by

choice. My parents separated while my mom was pregnant with my little brother. My mom

wasn’t working due to her hard pregnancy, she was 46 at the time she got pregnant. With her out

of a job and my older brother irresponsible with his own money and landing himself in debt. I

was finding that home life was a struggle. After my mom gave birth, my step-dad came back into

the picture only to ruin it again and he left a second time. We couldn’t pay for our house or any

of our other bills. We got a notice that we would have to pay the mortgage or be evicted on

grounds of foreclosure. I was in high school at this time and I didn’t know what I could do for

my family so I ended up dropping out of school, leaving the country with my one-year-old

brother, and moving in with my extended family in the Philippines. I didn’t know the language,

how to get around, or what to do once I arrived there.

I decided that I wanted to continue my education because of how important it was for me,

but I was stuck watching a one-year-old. At the time I was only 17, I went to the nearby schools

to see if I could enroll, but they said I was late for enrollment and would have to try again the

next year so I waited. After a year rolled around I went back to one of the schools to enroll and

they told me I needed to repeat 11th grade (due to not completing it in the United States). I

repeated the year, continued into 12th grade, and graduated high school at the age of 20. This

was tough for me, I felt so behind the rest of my friends and felt the need to catch up to them. I

wanted so desperately to go to college and graduate just like they did in the time that I was still

stuck in high school. So I decided to come back to the United States and continue my education.
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However, I didn’t have anything when coming back. We didn’t have our house anymore and I

had a few hundred dollars in my pocket. I stayed with my older brother, and found a job, and

decided to restart my life. One thing that really stood tall was the issue of paying for school. How

was I going to do it? Was it worth coming back to the United States or should I go back to the

Philippines where tuition is cheaper and my mom could support me though by sending me

money?

Paying for school is on many student's minds and is often why some people choose not to

attend. While researching the topic of free education, I came across something that struck me.

Claire B. Potter states in her article, “It is not possible for most to save enough for college, so

they borrow; they cannot live on what they borrow, so they work. I teach teenagers who fall

asleep after working a night shift at minimum wage. One undergraduate, who worked three gig

jobs, was repeatedly absent and hungry.” As a college student, many would be able to attest that

they work and study, not many have the luxury to be able to simply go to school full time and

have their parents pay for all of their tuition fees. Nowadays, this is rare to find. Even if your

parents pay for your tuition fees, it is likely that you may still have other bills to pay such as your

phone bills, rent, food, transportation fees, and even childcare services.

The author then goes on to say, “From 1980 to 2014, tuition increased nationally by 260

percent, more than twice the rate of other consumer expenses. Federal policy supported a

tuition-based revenue system by shifting funding to student loans; by 2013, they accounted for

over half of the $75 billion federal higher education budget.” Each year, tuition for students

increases. While this may only look like a small percentage of 1-10% it can actually range up to

a few hundred dollars extra than previous years. This change can be detrimental to many students

who are currently just barely scraping by to attend college classes. Retention rates in colleges are
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on a downward slope as tuition rates increase year by year. Because of the increase in tuition

over the years, it is getting harder for students to support themselves and many run into debt,

which is the sole reason that so many people not only want free tuition, but they need it.

To research more in-depth about free college tuition, I decided to interview one of my

previous high school teachers in the Philippines. In the Philippines, they recently started opening

free college tuition at public city colleges. Because free college tuition is such a large topic in the

United States I wanted to ask a teacher about their perspective on free tuition and how it works

(in the Philippines) to be able to apply it to my knowledge of why college tuition hasn’t become

available in the U.S. I wanted to know if it is plausible for it to ever become available in the

United States by looking at how another country makes it possible.

From my interview, I learned that only the city colleges are making free tuition possible.

However, this is not for all students (though this may depend on the school or city). In general,

students would have to submit their parent’s ITR (Income Tax Return) to check their annual

earnings and some schools even do house checks to verify they are a low-income family who

cannot support their students. They would also need to pass the admission and retention

requirements of the city colleges, which includes finishing their degree on time and enrolling in

the required number of units per year. However, there is a catch, the students who do get free

tuition have to do community service by assisting professors, cleaning the school premises, etc.

One thing that I did learn that surprised me was that they were providing free college tuition

whereas basic education is still a struggle in the country. Many students actually end up dropping

out before completing high school due to financial circumstances, so the only students able to

avail free college tuition were those who were able to still pay through K-12.
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I thought that this information was interesting and it provides a different side of the topic

on free college tuition. By putting it in perspective and changing the narrative to fit the United

States, instead of making all universities in the United States free, being able to support local

community colleges and holding students for retention rates would be the first step.

Professor of Sociology & Medicine at Temple University, President and Founder of the

Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice in Philadelphia Sara Goldrick-Rab states in an

article, “States should aim for tuition-free funding models for everyone, supplemented by

means-tested programs to ensure that all students have access to food, housing and the

transportation they need to succeed. But states can't do this on their own. We need a commitment

from the federal government to provide whatever additional funding is necessary to make this

work.” This is important for people to be committed to for the long term to allow everyone,

especially struggling students, to be able to have access to these essential needs. Without the

right commitment from the people and the cooperation from the federal government, students

will be struggling more than ever to pay off their college and university tuition and many

institutions would close down due to the lack of students enrolling thus, not having enough funds

to support programs and schools.

There are so many reasons why we would need to make sure that colleges and universities are

able to stay open. This would allow individuals to succeed and contribute to society, but this

would also produce a better-qualified workforce to later evolve the economy. Many companies

are starting to look for a bachelor’s degree in candidates that apply for the job, however with

inflating tuition rates there are many who simply cannot attend due to the tuition rates. Potter in

the New York Times states in her article, “Covid-19 closed American colleges and universities,

and the cards came tumbling down. Millions of dollars in refunded housing and dining fees
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created yawning budget gaps. And the crisis isn't over, especially if students don't return in the

fall. In the United States, tuition payments represent, on average, about a quarter of a public

college's budget, and about 35 percent of a private college. For many, it is far more.” With high

tuition rates colleges or universities, we will be suffering qualifications for applicants in the near

future without graduates from the higher education system. Many parents and students feel that

we should have access to free higher education as it will help people contribute to society better

and allow more people to go to college without having to worry about the cost.

Neal McCluskey is the director of Cato’s Center for Educational Freedom and is the

author of the book Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and

Compromises American Education. In an article from the Wall Street Journal, McCluskey states,

“‘Free’ would have to be paid for with tax dollars and looking at colleges' current tuition and fee

revenue, and income directly from the government, gives a rough sense of how much it would

cost. Using the most recent federal data, it comes to roughly $339 billion annually or about

$1,360 for every adult in the United States. If you live to age 75 and pay that annually in taxes

starting at age 18, that's $77,500 -- not free at all.” This goes to show that even if we opened up

colleges for free we as a nation would be in crippling debt to pay the taxes to maintain and keep

these institutions open. On top of this, there are many extra fees that you have to pay as a

student, some of these basic things being books (and other school supplies), transportation, food,

childcare, and housing costs. While many upper-class families are able to support their children

who are students, most lower and middle-class families struggle to afford the high costs of

tuition so while free education seems to be a great idea, there are many places that we could

improve. As such, the Philippines didn’t allow all universities to be open and free, they had to set

restrictions and guidelines for this to be in place. So instead of paying such high taxes for all
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universities in the country, it would be significantly reduced by selecting community colleges

and then having students transfer to a four-year institution.

That being said, I think that there are many places for improvement within our

educational system and where we set our funding. Being able to provide a good education and

providing qualifications for those entering the workforce is important for improving our society.

This in turn also allows us to have a more educated population who will be conscious of their

actions and gives a better chance to those who are within the poverty levels. While we might

have to pay more in taxes, wouldn’t it be worth it for those who are able to attend school

debt-free (or have a reduced amount of debt)? This change wouldn’t only affect us, but future

generations will be able to benefit from it as well.

The change in how much we get taxed is something to be expected, but if it is something

that helps other people (especially low-income families) be able to put their children through

college, I’d say it’s worth it. As a college student today, I see many students who are struggling if

not worse than when I came back to the US. I didn’t have much, but I worked hard to be able to

attend school. Some people just don’t get the same opportunities that I’ve had.

Mary Clare Amselem of the Philadelphia Inquirer states in her article, “European

countries that offer tuition-free higher education also struggle with the issue of completion.

Finland, for example, ranks first among all Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development countries in terms of subsidies for higher education, with 96% of all higher

education funding coming from public sources. However, Finland ranks 25th among OECD

countries for degree attainment.” So while free education is available in other countries, how

much is it really helping these students? I think that while there are still some issues, free

education still helps students out a lot.

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I think that many students struggle with figuring out what they want to do after high

school and many students tend to drop out for a while to think about their options before

continuing school. Alternatively, I think that many students who end up dropping out struggle

paying for things such as rent and other basic needs so in order to pay for those, they often have

to work one or even two jobs with no time for school. I think that we should be finding ways to

help these students out so they are able to stay in school without being afraid where they will

find the money to afford their next meal or their housing situation because even though students

might have free tuition, they will still likely need to work on the side in order to pay for these

basic needs.

In the end, I do think that tuition-free or reduced tuition rates are possible especially since

other countries have been able to find solutions. While other problems might arise from free

education, I think that we should be focusing more on the students needs and the fact that tuition

rates are rising faster than ever. We need to be able to look at both sides of the problem to be able

to address the issue and by looking at other countries we can use what works and adapt to the

change. When you address and fix one problem it doesn’t mean the issue is resolved. Usually we

find that while we fix one thing, another thing will always need fixing. So focusing on the issue

at hand is something that we should be doing now and worrying about the other issues later on

when they arise. We should be taking more time to address these issues to ensure our future

generations will be successful.

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Works Cited

● Amselem, Mary C. "Europe has Free College. Here's how it's Working Out."
Philadelphia Inquirer, 21 Jan 2020. SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://explore-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/si
rsissuesresearcher/document/2356163111?accountid=28671.
● Becker, Scott, and Bradley Jackson. "Building our Workforce with Tuition-Free
College." The Jackson Sun, May 28, 2018. ProQuest,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/new
spapers/building-our-workforce-with-tuition-free-college/docview/2045175452/se-2?
accountid=28671
● "Don't Give Free College Tuition to Illiterate Kids: Letter: Don't Give Free College
Tuition to Illiterate Young People." The Poughkeepsie Journal, Jan 13, 2017.
ProQuest,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/new
spapers/dont-give-free-college-tuition-illiterate-kids/docview/1858094272/se-2?accou
ntid=28671
● "Editorial: Make College Tuition-Free." University Wire, Sep 19, 2019. ProQuest,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/wir
e-feeds/editorial-make-college-tuition-free/docview/2292689336/se-2?accountid=286
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● "Free College Tuition is Not as Crazy as some might think." The Poughkeepsie
Journal, May 15, 2016. ProQuest,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/new
spapers/free-college-tuition-is-not-as-crazy-some-might/docview/1788830152/se-2?ac
countid=28671
● Goldrick-Rab, Sara, and Neal McCluskey. "Should College Education be Free?"
Wall Street Journal, 19 Mar 2018. SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://explore-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/si
rsissuesresearcher/document/2265922483?accountid=28671.
● Jones, Tiffany. "When 'Free' College Isn't Free." New York Times, 19 Mar 2019.
SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://explore-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/si
rsissuesresearcher/document/2266172032?accountid=28671.
● Potter, Claire B. "The Only Way to Save Higher Education is to make it Free." New
York Times, 07 Jun 2020. SIRS Issues Researcher,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://explore-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/si
rsissuesresearcher/document/2421609410?accountid=28671
● "Proposal for Free College Tuition Ignores those Burdened with Debt." Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle, Feb 02, 2020. ProQuest,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/new
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spapers/proposal-free-college-tuition-ignores-those/docview/2349611501/se-2?accoun
tid=28671
● Trotter-Lawson, Michael. "Pros, Cons and the Reality of Free College Tuition as
Sen. Sanders Proposes." University Wire, May 05, 2020. ProQuest,
https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libprox1.slcc.edu/wir
e-feeds/pros-cons-reality-free-college-tuition-as-sen/docview/2436197540/se-2?accou
ntid=28671