Dear Editor,
In debates about the cost of college we repeatedly hear terms like “free college” and “affordable college”. Unfortunately, many advocates as well as opponents of free college proposals are not aware that the term “free college” can stand for a variety of proposals that differ greatly and many politicians use the vagueness of terms like this one to their advantage.
When taking a closer look, most free college proposals only suggest free tuition and do not address fees or other expenses that lead to student debt. However, tuition is only a fragment of the cost that most college students are confronted with. Therefore, free tuition wouldn’t have as much of an impact as many people hope. At Mount Wachusett Community College, for example, students pay $ 25 tuition and $ 177 college fees per credit hour. The tuition makes up less than 15 percent of the college cost, not even considering additional fees like registration or technology access fees.
Data from the “Trends in College Pricing 2015” report shows that tuition and fees combined make up for only 20 percent of the overall expenses of a student who attends a public two-year institution and pays for off-campus housing (The College Board, 2015). The cost for room and board, books, etc. far outweigh the cost of tuition and fees and considering that the tuition is by far the smaller cost factor when it comes to tuition and fees, it raises the question if free tuition would truly make a difference.
Advocates of free college education often talk about countries like Germany or Sweden, in which college is tuition as well as tuition fee free. However, that does not mean that students attending colleges in these countries graduate without debt. According to an article by Matt Phillips 85 percent of students in Sweden graduate with debt while in the United States only 50 percent of students graduate with debt (Quartz, May 2013).
In addition to the argument that tuition is not what forces many students to take out loans, many opponents of free tuition are concerned that it might lead to lower quality in education. Catharine Hill, president and professor of economics at Vassar College, warns that free tuition could lead to fewer resources for students or even result in lowering financial aid, which would hurt students who receive financial aid at the moment and only benefit students who can already afford college (New York Times, November 2015).
Overall, free tuition would cause a financial deficit that more than likely will have to be picked up by the taxpayer or could lead to a decrease in education quality while not taking the major financial burden of the student. There are many alternatives that could help to reduce student debt without passing the burden on to the taxpayer, like encouraging more students to attend community colleges or better payment plans for students loans.
Sincerely,
Jana Murphy
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