Grandinetti 1

Deven Grandinetti
Pd. 1
College Comp
Mrs. Cramer
Motivation, Money, and Diplomas

The vision of free tuition for the college of your dreams has a ring of

perfection in theory, but what are the consequences? There has been a

plethora of policies brought to the table to give students free college. But all

of the policies that are introduced are repealed because they are far too

unrealistic and expensive to make college free. College tuition should not be

free for the money it will cost. I do agree that students need an equal

opportunity to succeed if they dont have the income of other students. But it

is too far fetched to make college tuition free for the simple fact of how are

the colleges going to have funds? Also students who are not at a level to get

scholarships because of their academics should not earn the right to get the

education for free. Scholar students get scholarships because of their

previous academics which makes them applaudable for college.

For instance, America has an overwhelming turmoil of poverty, that

restricts a large portion of students to find the motivation to do good in

school1. These students believe if they dont have the money for college why

try in school. Making college free is only gonna less motivate students. With

the prices of tuition now students should be more motivated rather than not
11 Pathos- shows sadness and sympathy for these people
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caring for their future. To say that students dont try because they are

apprehensive of the tuition is unrealistic. Colleges and universities are

looking for extraordinary students to come to their school and achieve

greatness. If we can make the mindset of these students that if they do try in

school they will get scholarships to college. Students can achieve an

education if they just put forth the effort in high school. Everyone has the

opportunity to set out and achieve the unknown, if they apply what they

know to get the attention of a college("Pros).

Next, I will agree that college is very expensive and it makes it hard for

people to afford, but the colleges need money. If people think that making

college free of tuition will make it easier financially they are wrong. They are

wrong because the money has to come from somewhere. If the money isn't

coming from the tuition it is going to have to come from taxes. In the year

2012 62.8 billion dollars was collected form undergraduates2(9Weissmann).

So this means if the federal government were to make tuition free college

they would have to take out 69 billion dollars in taxes each year3. The

American people would suffer in poverty if our government were to give

students free college. It is cheaper to keep college tuition rather than pay it

out in taxes. If people are only paying college tuition for themselves they

won't have to pay for anyone else. The step towards free tuition means the
22 Exemplem shows an example of what the taxes would be

3 Logos - shows how much they would have to pay in taxes

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taxes that come from the people, will go to everyone else's college. This is

not a fair action for people who have earned the scholarships to go to

college. Why should people who have earned the great academics and

scholarships pay for the other people who have never gave the effort to

make it possible for themselves to go to college. I you have a good job and a

degree because of your hard work in school, if they were to make college

free the good job means nothing. Taxes will take so much out of the money

you would have earned to pay for the other students college. The hard work

all those years means nothing if the money you earn is going to someone

else(Josephson ).

Also, free college could possibly take the financial weight off student

graduates. If they dont have the debt they also might be able to contribute

more to the economy. Graduates wouldnt have to conserve expenses

because they would have the money to get whatever their life and career is

started. It would be an easy transfer from student life to the workforce

without the debt. The thought of no debt is imposing, but it isn't teaching the

students about financial budgeting. Students learn to take a loan from a bank

when they pay for their college tuition. Which makes them financially

cautious and pay back the loan. This experience will help them in the future

when they go to take a loan out for a house. This gives them the experience

they need to better manage their finances later in life("Pros and Cons of ).

Furthermore, free college would also increase the amount of students

that would attend college. This would be outstanding if more students have
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the opportunity for a degree, but this is only going to devalue college

diplomas. When a student attends a prestigious school that is not just

expensive but long and intensive, makes the job search easier is some cases.

Businesses look at what degree a individual has and what school they went

to. If college was free how much would the diploma mean to the employer?

Getting into a admirable college will no longer hold importance to graduates

looking for a career in that field. If the student no longer has to work there

way to those scholarships then the grades won't withhold if they are not

required. Free college will not push students to academic greatness to

achieve their role in society. One student could have outstanding grades and

go to the same college with a student who rarely attended class. Free college

is not a fair practice to the students who actually tried to get to their goals. It

makes a D student at the same level as a A student because they will be

getting the degree for free.

Finally, what would the motivation be in a free college setting? With

paying for a scholarship students feel the need to "get their moneys worth".

This is very true in most cases. If a student has paid thousands of dollars in

college tuition they are going to want to try very hard. Students would not

breeze through college if they spent so much money on it. In a free tuition

settings the students would no longer feel the need to be motivated to do

their best at college. There would be no repercussions if students were to

drop out of a college. No money would have been spent meaning nothing

really changes. The students who drop out of one college could just go to
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another one without any financial restrictions. I will agree college is

expensive and makes it hard for many families to put their kids through

college, but the money is required. Free college would make it sociable

acceptable for students to slack off and not complete the task that is

required of them. All of these points devalue the degree at a job they student

is applying for. The employer will be fully aware that a student with bad

academics can achieve the same degree. Making the employer not

impressed with the diploma you have for the job because anyone could have

acquired it. This would increase the competition in the higher paying jobs.

More students will have the same degree making it harder for them to get a

job.

In conclusion, this has been a very thoughtful process in deciphering if

free college could work in today's America. With close analyzing the cons

have proven to out way the pros. As everything that is good about giving

students an equal opportunity with no tuition there has been a plethora of

repercussions to follow. The thought of saving money because of free college

would only take the money from hardworking people from their taxes

increasing the poverty rate across the country. Also what would the degrees

be worth if any level of academics could achieve them? Free college teaches

no skills in financial budgeting if everything is handed to them by the

government. The students would have nothing to strive for because the

government is hand feeding the education with no motivation from the

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students to do well. These are all the reasons free college could not withhold

across the boards.

Josephson, Amelia. "The Pros and Cons of Free College." SmartAsset. N.p.,
15 Sept. 2016. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
"Pros and Cons of Tuition-Free College." College Raptor. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar.

2017.
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Weissmann, Jordan. "Here's Exactly How Much the Government Would Have to
Spend to Make Public College Tuition-Free." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 03 Jan. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.