For the longest time, I had a hard time believing that people could not afford a college education. I was one of the fortunate ones that received enough aid to cover 99% of the costs. I thought, "Wow, if I can go to school for free, why can't you?" I come from a middle-class family that could not have been able to afford much of my education.
So why is this important to me?
I want my peers to have the same opportunities that I have been lucky enough to have.
College should be free because there are many benefits to having an education:
College should be free because a bachelor's degree does not guarantee you a job after graduation. It's equivalent to what a high school degree was in the 70's and 80's (when it was easy to find a good-paying job straight out of high school). To make a decent amount of money this world requires higher education (higher than undergraduate studies, if that wasn't clear). Of course, there are some majors that are an exception. Majoring in nursing will guarantee you a steady income with benefits. But we are not all that fortunate in what we choose to study.
To get into graduate school we have to have certain training, recommendation letters, research experience, and decent grades. On top of that, we have to make sure that a certain amount of our school is paid for before registering for classes next semester. Also, not many students get the type of aid that covers all of their schooling. Even loans are minimal, the rest has to come out of the pocket. So imagine the stress. Then there is the issue of those that cannot afford to attend college at all because 1) they are poor 2) parents cannot help because reason one, 3) parents do not have the credit score to be approved for loans, and 4) loans that are approved only cover the cost of textbooks.
For those that think free college will only lessen the amount of opportunities for the ones that are paying in college, I am here to tell you that it isn't so. The teaching, engineering, psychology and technical fields could all use more people like you.
It's too bad teachers don't get paid a whole lot, so add student loans and now they are living in poor conditions.
So for those that don't think college should be free. Do you want to be in debt for the rest of your life? Do you want you children to be in debt? Because there are many ways we can at least reduce the cost of college in ways your taxes will not get higher. If you don't believe me, check out Bernie Sander's campaign website. He has great ideas.
