Economic Effects Of Free College Tuition, Its Effects, And The Role Of Government

Republican: “Free” College Tuition
Liberals and conservatives have been debating whether or not college tuition should be free for many years. According to statistics, the dispute is still in the spotlight today. College tuition should be free, according to presidential hopefuls like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. However, many are unaware of the effect that offering free college tuition will have on the state’s economy. In order to make college tuition at a public university free, we would need to drastically raise taxes, which would make the poor poorer and create a vicious cycle where families would grow dependent on the free college tuition. To be able to send each and every high school graduate to college, taxes would need to rise dramatically. The schools wouldn’t have any money to pay the energy bill, the heating bill, teacher salaries, dorm requirements, etc. if no one is paying tuition and every institution is dependent on taxes.

“Free-College Directs and indirect economic effects
Because universities have the right to reject a student based on their academic performance and other considerations, not every student who completes high school chooses to attend college. Reasons for this include not having enough money or making a different option for their future. This implies that not every graduating student will spend the money on tuition, books, and other living expenses, but if they could get all of these things for free, more people would enroll in college. While it may seem beneficial that they are continuing their education, there is a risk that the institutions won’t be able to support all of the eligible students who want to attend their campus. To accommodate all the students, several universities will need to build more dorm rooms. Where will the universities obtain their funding? Because taxes can only go up so much, if there is no money coming in from tuition, there won’t be enough money to cover all of the costs associated with attending college.

People won’t want to increase their taxes to pay for education, particularly if the students are not their own children. The only individuals who favor this tax hike may be parents, since those without children do not profit from it. What about those who have already completed college and have been paying off their student loans? Will they now be required to contribute to the tuition of new students on top of their existing debt? What about the elderly who must pay these taxes during their retirement? They won’t want to contribute to every student’s tuition when they might be spending their money on anything they choose with their retirement fund, much alone maybe helping to send their grandchildren to college. Adults without children will not want to spend their money on sending children who are not their own to college, joining alumni and elderly people who are unwilling to pay these tuition levies. Over half of the people will consider the tuition taxes that states must impose in order to be able to send kids to college for free to be ridiculous.

The academic standing of the vast majority of community college students, the unfavorable consequences that would follow from funding free education, and concerns over the fairness of receiving free college are the three primary challenges surrounding the element of free college tuition. College costs have a detrimental impact on communities, families, and institutions in addition to the colleges themselves.

The cost of two years of community college is already less than that of a four year institution. As a result, 47% of students enrolled at community colleges drop out, leaving 27% of them to complete their studies and the remaining students to continue their education. A free-college economy will have a negative effect since it is predicted that the number of students quitting school would only rise. The answer to the question “why would dropout rates rise” is because the high cost of college programs provides students with an incentive to succeed rather than fail. The same motivation, however, won’t be applicable if the lessons are no longer financially burdensome for the student’s family since they may, in a sense, repeat the classes as much as necessary at no cost to them.

As fewer students enroll in small universities because they can attend their “dream colleges” for free, the economy will only continue to suffer. I personally want to attend the most prestigious institution I can give my grades, but money is always a major consideration. I currently would prefer CSU over Western Michigan if I were accepted, since it is the less costly alternative, even though CSU offers in-state tuition and an excellent chance of receiving a scholarship. However, because money is no longer a concern for me, if I could attend any school for free, I would choose Michigan. How would it be determined which students get free tuition in light of this? Would I be forced to get the free-college if I wanted to attend an out-of-state school where the tuition was free for their state, or would I have to pay since it wasn’t my state? Depending on whether the institution was public or private, would the regulation change? Would there be space to accommodate everyone? Before free education can be considered as a serious possibility, these are the key issues that need to be resolved.

Government’s participation in “Free-College” regulation
comparable to the topics covered in the earlier discussion above. The government would have a significant say in who would pay for each student’s education as well as whether or not college should be free. Although state taxes now provide the majority of funding for public colleges, these taxes would need to be increased in order to guarantee that every kid had access to higher education. If the government is required to cover such a large portion of the tuition fees, our nation will keep piling up debt. Private institutions, on the other hand, depend on tuition payments from students as well as contributions and endowments from other people. Due to the fact that they are not supported by the government, private schools are much more costly than public ones. Given this, if college tuition does really become “free” (a word we use very loosely since nothing is ever truly free; someone will always be required to pay for it), the government will wind up spending much more money to guarantee that these private institutions are also free. According to calculations, “free” education will end up costing the government 79 billion dollars annually, sending taxes through the roof. Our national debt will reach an all-time high, leaving future generations buried in debt that can never be repaid, while nations like China won’t feel any sorrow and will eventually break off trade with the United States.

How Would Colorado’s Economy Fare
All Colorado seniors would have to pay for their own tuition if college was free, and the state would also be responsible for the average 80% of high school graduates. Since 724,015 students graduated in the 2016–17 school year, the state of Colorado would be responsible for covering the cost of tuition for each and every applicant to a Colorado college. The state of Colorado would need to come up with around $19,186,397,500 if all 724,015 students decided to attend CU Boulder or CSU, since their average in-state tuition is over $29,000 at CU Boulder and around $24,000 at CSU. The universities can’t house that many students at once, and once students reach their second year at the college, they most likely will want to move out of the dorms, which raises the new issue of housing. Furthermore, if tuition were free, the graduation rate would increase, which seems like a good thing and is. Although this will certainly boost the economy since house prices will rise, it will force developers to construct more homes close to the colleges, which will lead to overcrowding and a decline in the aesthetic appeal of the surrounding neighborhoods. Most college students want employment so they can support themselves, go out with friends, and live comfortably. Overpopulation is a serious problem. It would be more difficult to find and retain a job. Since there is no such thing as free education, the taxpayers would be responsible for covering the cost.

Impacts on History, Politics, Society, and Culture
Would students who have previously attended college start receiving free tuition if free college started in 2020? Would they get reimbursed for the money they spent? Or maybe they’ll simply lose that cash. When we begin making things “free,” we need to take all of these factors into account. Political supporters of free college include Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. They think that everyone should be eligible for a free college education. In addition, Bernie Sanders wants to address the $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. As I write this, 45 million Americans are in debt for their education. Senator Elizabet Warren also wants to provide debt relief, but she limits it to anybody whose family income is above $250,000; Senator Bernie Sanders has dubbed the expense of higher education a “national disgrace.” Since US universities are state-run institutions, the governments would have to support the programs. The various states must concur with the federal government under Sanders’ approach, which is identical to Warrens’.

If everyone had the same level of knowledge, would someone who earned the same as a doctor who earns over 10 times as much choose to be a trashman? This would result in an all-time high in demand for these kinds of minor projects. Does this imply that in order to maintain the world functioning and prevent it from turning into a dystopia, we must boost the pay for the lower-paying positions that no one wants to do? The total amount of debt in the world now is $23 trillion. It is not feasible to increase the pay for these low-skill professions, which presently pay around $30,000 annually, unless we want to burden future generations with debt.

Do you like March Madness television? Do you like unwinding on the weekends by watching college football on TV? How do you suppose such programs are funded? What would a student athlete answer if you asked them whether they would want to give up the sport they devoted their lives to in order to compete at the collegiate level or if they would be prepared to give it all up so that everyone could get the same education? For some of these children, becoming professionals is their best hope of succeeding in life. College athletics would presumably be outdated if tuition were free for everyone. College athletics are another option for universities to generate revenue and boost their school’s reputation. As things are, collegiate athletes aren’t even compensated for the school’s usage of them in commercials. Most schools would have to stop sponsoring less well-liked sports like women’s basketball and most women’s sports if we even paid students for their popularity. This is another strategy used by private universities to stay afloat and retain their “private” reputation.

Economics of Supply, Demand, and Growth
We are unable to have free college tuition due in large part to supply and demand. You may not be able to get into your preferred school since the supply and demand imbalances at most institutions are already problematic. To choose the best applicant for their institution, admissions officers now have to sift through hundreds of applications every day. Everyone would apply to the best universities, such as UCLA, Stanford, Clemson, and others, if they could all afford them. Simply making it more difficult for individuals who deserve to attend such universities. Knowing that everyone had an equal chance of attending such elite institutions and colleges would encourage pupils to strive less hard to do so. Admissions to these elite colleges are already more competitive. As things are, there isn’t enough space in the schools to accommodate all the pupils. They would have to labor 10 times harder to shelter, feed, and educate all of these kids if college tuition was free. Higher education would be in much more demand than it is possible to provide. Would additional schools need to be opened? Alternatively, would we have to transform community colleges into universities? People attend community colleges in order to save money; if they could attend any institution for the same cost, no one would choose to do so.

Instead of promoting economic progress, more college enrollment actually slows it down. Regarding the link between state higher education investment and economic development, experts have conducted hundreds of regression models. The connection is constantly bad, which is not surprising. If we were to impose additional taxes on the private sector to pay for education, prices would have to go up to cover the expense of the new tax burden. The broader economy would experience inflation as a result of this. This would be negative since it would result in higher pricing across the board. Not everyone must attend college. There is a severe lack of skilled labor in the trades right now, and there are too many recent grads searching for positions that don’t exist. Taxes and population have a very beneficial link. Small firms would go out of business and individuals would leave the states to avoid the higher taxes if taxes were to rise. A total government takeover of the environment would result from increasing monopolies, despite the fact that this could seem like a desirable thing given the fast population expansion.

Arguments from opposing teams
The majority of people believe that college costs should be lower. Approximately a century ago, attending high school was becoming a requirement for the wealthy rather than a luxury. Today, college is becoming more of a necessity than a higher-income luxury. Why shouldn’t college be free since K-12 is currently accessible and free because it benefits society and the individual? According to recent research, a college degree is the key to a brighter future in terms of one’s financial stability and quality of life. It has also been shown that high school dropouts don’t have to spend the rest of their lives running a fast food joint. According to studies, attending college is the best investment someone can make for the rest of their life. According to one analysis, investing in additional public universities would raise the number of students they would enroll, which would boost economic activity more than a tax cut. Additionally, it revealed that graduates from colleges smoke less, commit fewer crimes, rely less on social support, and pay more taxes overall. The schools in Tennessee, where free universities were just approved, are now employing more instructors and faculty members than before.