Education is one of the most important aspects of our lives. It determines our future and the level of success one attains in life. Education is a choice for some and is not a choice for others. Equal opportunity and freedom mean that kids in different parts for the country can go to school, earn a college degree, and get a job. However, for many kids, education is usually not an option. Students that come from difficult backgrounds can find it difficult to get adequate education. This is because the entire process of gaining education comes at a huge cost. Some believe that education should be free while others disagree. This paper proposes that education should be free for everyone and tries to convince education legislators in the United States House Committee on Education to make education free.
Education should be free for everyone as free education will foster equal opportunities for people that come from different backgrounds. There are poor people that are smart, intelligent, and capable. However, the state and government do not provide education for this group. It is unfair to have a group that cannot have a proper education because they lack the means to pay for it. It is unfair for people that have less money and are brilliant to miss out on different opportunities. A free and fair society should provide open opportunities for its people. Free education, especially provision of free higher education, could open up a series of opportunities to people that could not have had the opportunity. The fact that some people cannot go through education because for financial reasons should not be the case.
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Offering universities for free will increase the equality of opportunities for everyone and could eliminate the huge amount of debt in the education sector. The current expenses for education are huge and many students cannot afford to get a proper university education without getting into debt. Many students are dissuaded from getting a university education because it is too expensive and it could lead to huge debts that one is unable to pay. Some students have opted for working part-time and taking loans to pay for their education. However, this creates a huge amount of workload and debt for the students making most of them opting out of education. Many brilliant students are usually locked out of pursuing an education in technical fields like medicine, engineering, science, and law. If education was free, many people would have pursued the courses and would have led to a general increase in these professionals and the country would have benefited.
Free education will also foster economic growth and development. An improvement in the literacy levels of a country ultimately increases economic growth. Education enables different people to engage in skilled labor which pays more. Additionally, if everyone gets a well-paying job, they will be able to contribute greatly to society through payment of taxes. Free education will enable a large percentage of the population to finish school and pursue professional career development which increases the standards of living. A higher standard of living ultimately leads to economic development.
The provision of free education in the university level and higher education will lead to specialization of work. Today’s world is sophisticated and requires a high standard of work for one to be successful. Getting on with average work is not acceptable anymore. Free education will mean that several individuals can specialize and acquire a specific set of skills. Studies by Benos and Zotou (2014) show that countries that have increased higher education have faster developments and higher growth rates. If governments decide to support universities financially, the money does not go into waste but is utilized in the future once the students join the workforce.
Making education free will eliminate one of the major reasons many students do not graduate. Some students drop out of college because they cannot pay for college for the entire four-year period. Education that is free would eliminate this reason for students that choose not to graduate. It may also help to improve college graduation rates. Fewer students would feel the need to drop for part-time or take a break from education as a result of financial reasons. People that come from marginalized communities and racially inferior groups may start experiencing higher graduation rates. Their education would improve the well-being of the communities and build economies in their region (Spring, 2016).
Free education will also enable students to choose and pursue a major which they enjoy. One of the factors that influence the choice of majors that students undertake is the post-graduation income. Parents usually pay out thousands of dollars for college education and would want their children to pursue majors that have a quick return on investment. In case paying huge amounts of dollars is no longer the case, parents and students will feel a greater degree of freedom in pursuing courses that do not necessarily have returns. Education will be a form of pursuing one’s interest and joy. Students will no longer have to pursue majors for the potential monetary returns and this will prevent burnouts.
Those that oppose free education note that it would increase the amount of taxes paid by citizens. The increase in tax will be done to provide education that is not mediocre. Countries in different parts of the world that have made free education but not allocated enough funds have seen inadequacy in their schools and universities. The increase in tax will be compensated by a later improvement in the economy (Holter, 2015). Individuals that get free education will later compensate for the expenses through their input to the economy. In the United States, scholarships and grants are usually offered for qualified students. This allows brilliant and able students to earn degrees even when they may not be able to afford education. The students are given a chance to advance their research and the economy benefits from their input. The grants may appear as a burden to the government but create a positive impact after some time.
Some also argue that making education free may open up colleges and universities to a huge number of students leading to a reduction in the quality of education. This may not be the case since there are adequate institutions in the United States that can support education. Additionally, there have been grants and loans awarded to students in the past few years without a surge in the number of students. The government can also fund various initiatives to expand the classrooms and ensure that optimum quality and standards of education are maintained.
Those that oppose free education note that it could lead to different people staying around for years getting educated as they exploit tax payer’s money. While this could be the case, the provision of free education may open up opportunities for several people that are willing to make use of the opportunities available. For instance, in case a student decides to undertake a series of law qualification programs, they may have to undertake five to seven years of education which can be quite expensive. In case such costs are removed, the individual may stretch their qualification period and take time to study in a comfortable manner. Students that would like to make use of opportunities can decide to finish their education faster and go out in the professional field and advance their careers quickly. Instead of spending several years as a low-income student that is building debt, the student can have a comfortable educational experience and spend more time working in a qualified field.
Individuals that oppose free education also note that it is physically impossible to offer quality education while charging students nothing. They note that someone has to pay for the education. If it is not the students that take care of their responsibilities, then the burden is transferred to the government, and ultimately to the taxpayers. They note that taxpayers are already involved in the payment of grants and scholarships and it would be wrong to put an additional burden on them. However, by looking on the bright side, government expenditure and investment in education can lead to better returns than investment in any other sector of the economy. Free education will improve the welfare of the citizens, improve the number of the skilled workforce, and ultimately lead to an improvement of the economy. Investment in education is a long-term investment that leads to huge returns after several years.
In conclusion, education should be free starting from basic to higher education. All qualified students should have equal opportunities regardless of their incomes and backgrounds. Free education may help improve the economy as it leads to a huge workforce. Making education free for everyone will reduce the pressure of debts and studying part-time for many students. Student loans are today difficult to get and Universities and colleges have raised their prices to very high levels. Making education free would be a way to combat the huge fees. While making education free can lead to an increased tax, the general population should see this as an investment that will have huge returns in the future.
References
Benos, N., & Zotou, S. (2014). Education and economic growth: A meta-regression analysis. World Development , 64 , 669-689.
Holter, H. A. (2015). Accounting for cross ‐ country differences in intergenerational earnings persistence: The impact of taxation and public education expenditure. Quantitative Economics , 6 (2), 385-428.
Spring, J. (2016). Deculturalization and the struggle for equality: A brief history of the education of dominated cultures in the United States . Routledge.
