Report9 x
Free two-year community college
Alexia Kimble
Ronnie Stephens
English Composition
21 November 2019
Free Two-Year Community College
Allan Bloom, an American philosopher, wisely explained, “Education is the movement from darkness to light.” Without education, Americans could not have blossomed into one of the most powerful nations in the world. In 2015, approximately 21.3% of American are on welfare and it raises a question for our government: how can we reduce this number? The answer is simple, education. The idea of a free-two year community college is arguably one of the most important speaking points of today’s elections because more Americans would live life debt-free, higher income per capita, and it will increase the quality of life for all.
When talking about free two-year community college, It really all started when the HOPE program, a 20-year-old project that started in Georgia. This program gives the biggest merit-based scholarship in the entire country. HOPE was designed to help low-income families afford to send their children to college. Although this is a great step towards tuition reform, America has a long way to go for affordable education. This system completely neglects the middle-class family, who makes up the majority of the population, leaving them with little to no financial aid. In the mid to late ’90s, high school was no longer seen as a luxury, but as a need. If you wanted to be successful then you need a high school diploma. Times have changed. Now if you want to become a manager at McDonald’s, then you need at least a two-year degree. An associate degree is no longer an option for the twenty-first century, it is a requirement to make a liveable wage. A ton of young adults does not attend college because they cannot afford it or do not want to put their family in ten of thousands of dollars in debt.
In the article, “The Reality of Free Community College Tuition,” by Fran Cubberley, She explains how taking away the stressor of tuition will allow an immense amount of new opportunities for students. Cubberley talks about how if students were able to get their associate degree, then they are also likely to get their bachelor’s degree. If all were able to go to a two-year community college for free, millions of students would be able to afford even higher education. Students can even transfer to bigger universities to finish up without breaking the bank. Eliminating students being forced to overwork at part-time jobs while in college, will help students graduate quicker and more educated than before. According to “Active Minds,” two out of 3 students suffer from depression or anxiety and does not seek help which is also why suicide is the second leading cause of death in student. Being forced to pay a ridiculous loan, work one or more jobs, going to college, paying bills, and all other stressors of life really deteriorate on one’s mental health. This can potentially make a person lose everything due to mental illness.
Education reduces the high level of poverty that America battles with. Ignorance is not bliss, but pain and hunger. Those who do not have any college education will constantly be stopped at minimum wage. This results in many parents working multiple jobs and having little to no time for their kids. Then when those kids graduate from high school, their parents might ask them not to go to college, but to stay home and help out with the bills. This is a vicious cycle that will pass down to each generation, creating a growing working-class population. Education can easily pull families out of poverty, but with these immense amounts of loans, they would never get out of the ghetto. Middle-class families also struggle with paying college tuition. Although they have enough money to live in an HOA neighborhood, that does not mean they can pay $50,000 per child for college. The average amount of children a family would have in American is around three. Expecting parents to pay for a college education three different times is next to impossible knowing that the wealthiest one percent own about forty percent of the total American wealth. In the article, “Tackling Tuition,” Roger Fillion talks about the hyperinflation with tuition cost and how to fix it. He begins his article by talking about how much a student can save per year if his tuition was waived, and then Fillion discusses how state funding to aid students to afford tuition, has been dropping a faster rate then it has ever before. In result, forcing students to take out more and more loans. Based on the evidence given in this article, it is not abnormal to take your student debts to your grave.
Works Cited
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
