Moe Eh 

Professor Weaver 

ENGL 1102 

25 April 2022 

“Should Community College be Free?” 

What is a community college? Community colleges are publicly supported low-cost public colleges. The highest degree you can get at a community college is an associate degree. In today’s world, people are easily judged or rated depending on their college degree. Higher education or degree means higher salaries and employment. The purpose of this research is to see will free community college give students a better chance for success after graduation.  

Free higher education has become a major policy discussion over the past few years. Many famous political figures such as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have been debating whether colleges should be free. In the article “Who would benefit most from free college?” Matthew M. Chingos discusses that both politicians want to help students with college, but some people are going to benefit more than others. The article mentions how Hillary Clinton criticized Bernie Sanders’s free college proposal as a giveaway to wealthy families and it is not helping the low-income families.    

Students who struggle to pay their bills and tuition are most likely to drop out of college or have a challenging time focusing on class. Most low-income students started college at community college, which gives them less worry about the tuition price, and most of the time their financial aid covers the cost for them. If the community college is free for everyone, low-income students would have less worry about the cost and students would be able to focus more on their studies rather than worrying about how they going to pay for their tuition. The article, “The Impact of Free Community College” by Forbes states, “Results from the Kalamazoo Promise program—a local college promise program—shows a 25 percent increase in the likelihood of a student earning a bachelor’s degree.” This means that free community college increases the chance of students earning their degrees. Another article, “The Effect of Tuition-Free Community College” by Christopher Lau states, “I find that free community college increases enrollment by 26 percent, welfare for all students, and degree completions by 20 percent.” This shows that if community colleges are then more students will attend and that means more college graduates. College graduates are good for the economy because they are most likely to be employed by big companies. This is due to their skills and education.   

Conclusion 

The goal of this study is to see how a free community college can give graduates a greater opportunity to get the following jobs or graduate on time. Over the last few years, free colleges have become a major procedural consideration. Many well-known politicians, such as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, have debated whether colleges should be free. Hillary Clinton regarded Bernie Sanders’ proposal for free college as a gift to wealthy families, and the depressed-gains classifications are not allowed. Students who are struggling to pay their bills and continue their education appear to drop out of school or have a questioning opportunity focused on class. Free community college increases enrollment and helps students get their degrees.  

Citation  

Whistle, W., 2022. The Impact of Free Community College. [online] Forbes. Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/wesleywhistle/2021/03/30/the-impact-of-free-community-college/?sh=2cff30b04bdf> [Accessed 25 April 2022]. 

Federal Trade Commission. 2022. The Effect of Tuition-Free Community College. [online] Available at: <https://www.ftc.gov/reports/effect-tuition-free-community-college> [Accessed 25 April 2022]. 

Chingos, M., 2022. Who would benefit most from free college? [online] Brookings. Available at: <https://www.brookings.edu/research/who-would-benefit-most-from-free-college/> [Accessed 25 April 2022].