Reasons the First Two Years of College should be Free

College is where students begin to discover themselves, make new friends, and often begin to sink in the quicksand that is the cost of college. There’s no doubt that college is expensive, nor is there any denying that the student loans people take out can wage a heavy and increasing debt over their heads for the long haul. The first two years of college should be free when student loans are rising above student’s heads at a rapid rate and having free college would allow students to focus more time on passions and their major rather than working long hours day in and day out so that they may pay back the money they borrowed.

When student’s debt begins to be too much, and their student loans are hindering more than helping, the is some higher chance that students are to drop out of school (Huelsman). An online article called “Make The First Two Years of College Free, A Cost Effective Way to Expand Access to Higher Education In America,” notes that, “Sadly, students from families of modest means have also become more likely to drop out from public colleges and universities- leaving with debt, not degrees” (Goldrick-Rab, Nancy Kendall, 2018). This said issue could all be avoided if financial aid was not only so frustrating and inaccurate with how much a family does/does not earn, but revamped by helping students who qualify for school, to help them complete their first two years of college free of charge. All could be done by a simple deliverance to people of all backgrounds: If you have your high school degree, this country will see to it that any student may obtain their freshman and sophomore year of college for free, if the students apply themselves in their work while attending college. With college loans being a burden, that means crushing the younger generations, which means that the students could better contribute to the economy (Anderson). When a person takes on a student loan, the assumption is that that student will finish school are graduate, but what about those who don’t graduate? Those non-graduates who drop out with debt and likely struggle with their loans for what seems like forever. Then there are those who’ve developed a hearty fear of debt who may never attend college as a full time student in order to stay afloat by working long hours, which in the end could be a contributing factor to as why they may drop out due to simply not having enough time in the day, or even worse, never applying in the first place to avoid for college to begin with. With an access to help students, this would include the students who previously would have had to go straight into the workforce after high school because lack of funds, so, instead of not being able to attend college because of not being able to afford it, or afford the debt in tow with attending, that obstacle no longer exists. Some students today even go to the extent of not wanting to have student loans that they basically flee the country and go overseas to countries who do offer free college to places like Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and Mexico. If the U.S. can become another country with tuition free colleges, our citizens won’t have to travel far and wide for a smart and practical solution to attend college.

A population of educated individuals would help our society immensely, and in more ways than one. Think about it, our economy necessitates for a better educated workforce. We are no longer living in the nineteen-forties or fifties, our world has changed considerably, our world now more knowledge based or call advanced technical skills than they ever have in the past. Needing more educated people, but not having enough to fill the positions because there aren’t enough employable people qualified. Having a workforce would be a blessing to the economic growth of America all while increasing tax revenues. In an article that lists pros and cons, one of the pros being is, “If there are more people in our society who have solid jobs, the need for other forms of public assistance would decrease. Having more well-educated population could result in smarter, decision-making at every level of society, which could lead to faster progress in solving our most difficult, collective challenges.” According to titled, “Should College Be Free? Pros, Cons, Alternatives.” If there is a larger collective of people who are using their minds together, faster problem solvers and new innovations are bound to follow in the sense that our world could advance at an ever faster pace than what it is now. If there were more Americans living up to their potential with the help of a free two years of college, a positive ripple effect would ensue in social classes by being undoubtedly separated. Giving lower class level people an opportunity to be successful in the future like their more financially stable peers, free college levels the playing field. The fewer people being in poverty is also a benefit of the first two years of college, because people would have a jumpstart that makes them able to obtain better paying jobs.

Creating the possibility to which not one, but the masses can enroll into a college free of charge would simply create boundless opportunities for this generation, and the ones to come. For those people who have paralyzing student loan debts, for those who cannot even afford to attend college to begin with, or at least not enroll as a full-time student, for those who quite literally evacuate the country for a better education, would all benefit from the first two years of college being free. Having that shining light of hope for a better education and better future in result of having a degree, would increase the number of attendants in college because students who could never afford it would enroll, those who otherwise would’ve had to drop out due to the debilitating effect of student loans, will produce more educated individuals to be integrated in society to help propel the economy and society itself forward. More educated people with higher paying jobs will help bridge the poverty gap line, produce a more community oriented whole of individuals, society will be propelled because now those people who are saving money by not having student loans are going to purchase cars, buy homes instead of apartments. Every level of society will benefit because there will be a decreased number of people in poverty, and a more distributed collective of educated people being embedded into communities.

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