The American Council on Education reports the median debt for a community college or a 2 year long college program per student was almost $6,000 in 2003-2004 and students graduating with master’s degree had debt ranging from 26,000-29,000. Student debt can weigh heavily on college graduates, who depending of their major can struggle finding work and providing for themselves post graduation.
USA Today reported the Federal Reserve’s in-depth survey that collected data about family income,and the data concludes, a college degree doubles the typical person’s annual income.
Odyssey writer Trey Anthony Soto wrote, “The process takes time, some longer than others but if you really want to understand differing viewpoints and the people that hold them, then challenging yourself and your viewpoints and beliefs is of great importance,” when reflecting on his time at biola University.Errol Mcneill a 2013 college graduate describes college as an all around “eye opening experience” beyond an education.
But a College education in America is simply not available to all students and comes at a high cost. American Politician and ex presidential candidate Bernie Sanders believes, “education should be a right not a privilege.” Quinn Owen, a 2017 college graduate, said that “all students are entitled to a free education”.
But can Americans whose taxes will raise if a free college system is to be put into effect afford to make it free? “It sounds great and really catches hold with a lot of younger people,” said Greenwich Representative Fred Camillo to the CT Post. Camillo who is also a member of a higher education committee says, “at end of the day, it’s not free. Someone has to pay for it. I want to see how we are going to pay for it.”
Connecticut lawmakers are contemplating moving to a free college system. New York created a scholarship known as the “Excelsior Scholarship” that would offer free tuition to New Yorkers whose families make less than $125,000 a year, and Connecticut may follow in their footsteps.
According to the Connecticut Post, Governor Dan Malloy’s spokeswoman Meg Green thinks “the rising cost of higher education, along with mounting student loan debt, block the path into the middle class for millions of Americans.”
Nearly a billion dollars is spent annually on higher education presently so with the addition of free tuition the price may be too great for the state to sustain, but many still strive for the equal opportunity promised by free tuition.