Benefits of Free College Education

Most of the Americans believe that it is essential to have a college degree or education beyond high school. Some of them, however, have not enrolled in the colleges. The most common reason for this outcome has been shown to be the cost of college education (Dynarksi 638). The increase in college fee has brought forward multiple concerns that have affected the positive development of the country.

Free tuition has helped to reduce the burden of education on some of the American citizens. It is however not efficient if the target is to reduce the debt incurred by poor families or to increase the access to college education. The American post-secondary school education is very progressive. Families usually pay the tuition fee based on the income generated thus rich families support the poor ones. The free tuition strategy may be a little regressive since it subsidizes much on the rich students’ payment and a heavy burden is placed on the poor students (Cellini 180). This system of financing includes loans as the first-line financing methods for students while in the past loans were used as the last option.

America has adopted a new policy that provides two years free education to college students to ensure that the students get post-secondary education. This policy provides for free two years education at the college level giving every student a chance to succeed. This strategy puts across a message to all the students interested in pursuing college education. It states that when a student completes a high school degree, they can get a 13th and 14th

grade education in exchange of a measurable work amount while attending the school. In this case, free means that the student will not incur any cost related to tuition, books, fees and will get an employment opportunity at a living wage to cater for their expenses.

Statistics on students’ debts

Statistics show that America has been greatly affected by the students’ debt. It has skyrocketed over the last decade from $240 billion in 2003 to more than $1.2 trillion in 2015. Statistics reports of February 16, 2016, indicated that the debt was approximately $1.337 trillion. Projections from undergoing studies suggest that with this rate, student debt will exceed $2 trillion by 2025. Student debt has been shown as the second leading debt after mortgage debt. Recently, it has been identified that among the 44 million loan borrowers, there is a debt of about 1.48 trillion dollars. This results to almost 70 percent of the college students spread across specific loan programs and types.

Financing free college education

Paying for free education in the U.S is a wholesome contribution of every stakeholder. This includes the federal government, individual states, private businesses and banks, students and families. Through the federal government, America can adopt a need based financial approach.  This is a very effective method of reducing college burden which can make America Dream of Free education come true. It is executed by providing dollars in aid via grants, loans, tax credits, and work-study support. This is according to the law of the Higher Education Act of 1965 that regulate financial assistance. This law introduced the approach which provided for distribution of grants according to families financial income in order to enable learners to be given subsidies. However, it is likely to be limited by high admission to colleges, low family status, inadequate funding for government and unregulated state and institution funding(Cellini 195).  Fortunately, financial aid is not the only available approach that can be utilized to ensure affordability of college education.Collaboration of the federal government with states, private sector, public colleges and institution of higher learning and societies will help in achieving this.

On the other hand, States funding can be used as another method of funding college education. Public colleges in America get most of their revenue from two known sources: tuition fees and state subsidies. The two covers on average half of their operation share. The stipend which has been noted to reduce is used as instructional costs, administration, support spending, and construction (Dynarksi 635).

For the wider country and the exiting graduates, building a Skilled Workforce to Revitalize State Economies can be an excellent source of resources to pay college. As evidenced in 2016, economic anguish and need for more formal jobs was largely needed. The inequality between those with and without education is considerable. All opportunities that were available were given to those with minimum postsecondary school education, while other required a high school diploma or less.

Benefits of free college education

Providing a Free Two Year College Option (F2CO) is a new policy approach founded in logical distribution of tasks across all beneficiaries of postsecondary education. This will mark a greater step by the local, federal, and state governments, colleges, universities, private partners, communities and individuals.

Having two years free is a sure way that every student out of high school can access two years in college consistently (Cellini 201). This model is considered effective compared to the financial based aid that bears a number of limitations. It has been discovered that supporting students complete their studies but unaccountable to their funders is unjust to low, moderate and middle income families all over America.

The Two Year College Option is significant to students in various ways. F2CO will provide desirable outcomes. The system will have high quality end results since it will put public interest first and will be supported by the government. The government will oversee this to ensure that students begin and complete quality college studies. Students will be treated with universality (Bloom 301). As opposed to the need based aid meant for low, middle and moderate families this grant will reach everyone.

Learners will also enjoy simplicity of F2CO. It has no communication difficulties rather indicates what people want to hear. It is presented in an attractive wording thus attracts students from low-income families as compared to the complicated price tagged existing model. This is important since students do not follow numerous structures (Bloom 299).

In addition, it will convert supporters of limited resources to champions and facilitators of college learner’s excellence. Inclusivity is core in this model. All parties are jointed together in pursuit of a common target. Federal, state and local government mandate will be clear. The expectations of students, families, community and private businesses will be met and incase of any fault it will be experienced by the as a collection and correction.

Finally, sustainability will also be ensured. This model will be stable and with foreseeable outcomes (Dynarksi 639). Feasibility and success of this model is based on its continuous political support. Having this support enables students foretell funding hence they will plan adequately.

Effects of free college education on employment and economy

In addition to helping reduce the burden of the students’ debts due to education loans, free college education has the potential to be influential and one of the sources of positive progress in reducing the skills gaps in America. Over 9.1 million of Americans are unemployed while millions of others are underemployed (Dynarksi 645). At the same time, 4.8 million jobs are not fulfilled since there is limited human resource that has the suitable skills in performing these jobs.

Participating colleges are required to have attained high academic profiles in regard to programs in high demand areas. This is to ensure that the skills gap in America is filled and to ensure that students who benefits from this program attain skills of high value. These are skills that prepare the students for the future employment opportunities. This is achieved in little or no cost to the students. If this program is well implemented, it will improve both the employment opportunities and the future economic status of the country (Bloom 295).

Americans require the proper skills to compete and hold a stand in the global stage. The effects of globalization and computer based automation on the economy is widely noticeable. They are squeezing out lower-skill jobs in the economy posing much risk for the future. The type of degree and the acquisition of occupation- based associate degree will increase the ability of America to hold a stand in the global competition. It will increase the knowledge and skills that are required in major companies and various fields of occupation. At the same time, this helps to reduce the level of unemployment especially jobs lost to outsourcing.

Free community college will help to reduce the level of student debts that is piling up the country’s economy. The debt incurred by students due to college loans has crippled the economy, the students and the parents (Cellini 176). The debts lead to increase in default rates on loans thus increasing the difficulty in the loan payment. Free education reduces the level of debts thus avoiding these difficulties and saving the economy of the country from negative impacts.

There is a wide perception that community college education leads to middle-skill jobs that pays less with no chances of advancement. The reality is that these jobs provide upward mobility in the various fields including manufacturing and health services provision. Despite this, vocational training has often been diminished and seen as less respectable. This path however provides a reliable way to rewarding and interesting careers. It has greatly reduced the rates of college students’ under-employment and unemployment (Bloom 306). The presence of unemployed individuals and unfilled job opportunities creates the economic strain. Free community college education will help to ensure that this gap is filled and the economy reaches its full potential.

Conclusion

College education has become a cornerstone in the UnitedStates. This has been shown in projections by scholars and analysts that by 2020, 45% of all jobs opportunities in the U.S. economywill require a college degree. With a deficit of individuals to be employed, free college education has been piloted in America to reduce the gap. Existing and new approaches to promote free education are being implemented to meet the growing college joining students. 

Works Cited

Bloom, Hartley, &Rosovsky.Beyond private gain: The public benefits of higher education. International Handbook of Higher Education,(2006): 293-308.

Cellini and Goldin.“Does Federal Student Aid Raise Tuition? New Evidence on For-Profit Colleges.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, (2014): 6(4): 174-206.

Dynarksi.Hope for whom? Financial aid for the middle class and its impact on college attendance.National Tax Journal, (2000):53(2), 629-662.