Argumentative Research Essay
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A� er decades of mounting student debt and rising tuition costs that accelerate at a pace that far exceeds
that of the average national salary, some
among a crowded Democratic primary � eld
are heralding free college as the progressive
change this country needs to empower the
99 percent. Joining the ranks of 2020 issues
like universal healthcare, voting rights, and
immigration reform, many candidates are
positioning access to higher education as a
fundamental American liberty. � e most
sweeping policy reforms come from party
heavyweights, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie
Sanders, whose plans for free college look
strikingly similar. Both propose making
public two- and four-year colleges com-
pletely free by taxing the American upper
class. Senator Warren intends to levy an ul-
tra-millionaire tax for households with over
$50 million in wealth while Senator Sanders
suggests a 0.5 percent tax on stock trades.
While an appealing quick � x to an eco-
nomic epidemic, candidates who champion
tuition free public college have not consid-
ered its consequences. Free college alone
will not solve the problem of access to an
a� ordable college education – it will lead to
the further exclusion of populations already
underrepresented in higher education.
I understand the democratizing impulse
behind the push for universal free college.
Plans for free public college provide a fea-
sible solution to a pressing economic issue
of our time. Higher education is becoming
more of a necessity, both for individuals’
� nancial stability and for the demands of an
evolving American workforce. Yet, the cost
of college, sky-high predatory loan rates, and
diminishing government appropriations are
rendering degree-seekers and -completers
deeper in student debt — the impacts of
which are profound and include delaying or
entirely preventing home-ownership, raising
children, and building savings.
Positioning growing higher education costs
as a barrier to economic success for ordinary
Americans, Democrats claim that free col-
lege o� ers unbridled access. � e problem
is that from the very act of making college
free, another barrier emerges: a surge of ap-
plicants to public universities with limited
institutional capacities.
Consider this thought experiment: come
November 4, 2020, America comes to its
senses and we have a Democratic president,
house, and senate, and a bill for free college
is easily passed for the 2021-2022 academic
year. Generation Z and young-Millennial
applicants, having seen the pitfalls experi-
enced by their Generation X and older-Mil-
lennial counterparts, are already showing
signs of a collective � nancial prudence.
Given the option of leaving college debt-
free (or close to it), common sense logic
says that the interest in attending two- and
four- public institutions in higher education
admissions will inevitably grow, as will the
applicant pool. With the implantation of
various types of free college already avail-
able in select states, increased enrollment is a
well-documented outcome.
Even without free college on the table at
the federal level, researchers have found that
college cost in� uences college-going behav-
ior. Speci� cally, reductions in tuition for
low-income students positively impact their
college attendance, in particular at four-year
institutions. � is is especially signi� cant
given the strati� cation of college enrollment
across an individual’s family income and
socioeconomic status (SES). Although indi-
viduals from lower income families are less
likely to go to college than higher income
peers, reductions in higher education cost
by way of need-based grants have proven
successful motivators for college attendance.
While the Warren and Sanders free college
proposals apply to all Americans regardless
of � nancial need, it o� ers the opportunity to
attend public college for free. Higher educa-
tion institutions will remain as the gatekeep-
ers to college, deciding who will receive the
bene� t. For open-access, two-year commu-
nity colleges, this will be a question of capac-
ity: do they have the operational resources,
the necessary facilities, and faculty and sta�
to serve a potentially larger population.
For universal free college plans to succeed
in democratizing access to higher educa-
tion, simply covering the costs of tuition
and fees to public institutions is not enough.
Local, state, and federal governments must
increase higher education appropriations to
enable them to sustain a growing infrastruc-
ture. Likewise, public institutions cannot
become the only cost-e� ective option for
low-SES and racially minoritized students,
who already take on substantially more debt
than their higher-SES and White counter-
parts. � e Pell Grant needs to increase to
cover the costs of college beyond tuition and
fees (e.g. room and board, books and sup-
plies, meals, co-curricular activities, child
care) so that private college is a viable option
when public institutions reach capacity.
Along these lines, it is the federal govern-
ment’s responsibility to put an end to preda-
tory loan practices and cap interest rates on
student debt. Finally, college is just one stop
along the education pipeline. Without com-
prehensive support for K-12 public schools,
discrepancies in state funding will continue
to disadvantage racially minoritized and
low-income populations, who will remain
underrepresented in higher education re-
gardless of whether they have the option of
free college. Free public college has the po-
tential to substantially narrow the education
gap in the U.S., however, without judicious
implementation, the federal government
risks widening it even more. D
— Sarah Sidoti is an assistant director of the
Humanities and Human Flourishing Project
at the University of Pennsylvania.
lastword
Free College for Whom? The Emergent
Barriers of Free Public College Policies
BY SARAH SIDOTI
Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction
prohibited without permission.
Bowditch, Henry . University Wire ; Carlsbad [Carlsbad]15 Apr 2018.
ProQuest document link
FULL TEXT
Publication: Campus Press, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder CO.
Opinions do not necessarily represent CUIndependent.com or any of its sponsors.
Our economy is hyper-competitive, our middle class is under-prepared and higher education is a democratic right.
These are the claims from proponents of tuition-free higher education. I’ll admit, they’re compelling. Even after
taking the Democratic Party by storm in 2016, free college now finds support among a full half of Republicans as
well. Sometimes conservatives, too, just want free stuff.
But, either in preparing the middle class for our hyper-competitive economy or in simply breaking down the barriers
to social mobility, free college isn’t a solution. It makes tuition more attainable, sure, but it doesn’t make an
education more attainable.
Poverty does not simply disappear because tuition falls to zero. Until both political parties join a discussion on
improving sustainable social mobility in America, the misguided infatuation with “free college” is only going to, at
best, confuse the problem and, at worst, seriously hurt the very people for whom it is designed to help most.
First, tuition is only one part of every college student’s story. It’s a big expense, to be sure, but for many state
schools the costs of housing, transportation and student fees can quickly rack up an even bigger bill. And these
are still only the purely financial barriers to higher
education.
Even if they are accepted, as many as 40 percent of low-income students won’t show up the first day. While tuition
sticker shock plays a role, these students are also the least likely to graduate even after they’ve started.
Many of their concerns are financial, but others are more structural. On average, low-income schools do not
prepare students for higher education as well as affluent schools. Low-income children generally do not have a
support system stressing the attainability of a higher education years in advance —as their affluent counterparts
do —making college seem out of reach early on, which in turn discourages their application altogether. This
support system is invaluable both in the preparation for and during the college experience.
So again, poverty does not disappear just because tuition does. Graduating more low-income students from
college requires a tremendous and sustained investment in both K-12 and higher education, improving access to
counseling and mentorship and investing much more in comprehensive student services.
But is this the goal of proponents of free college?
Overwhelmingly, policies concerning tuition-free higher education ignore the extenuating factors I’ve mentioned.
Beyond that, who is paying for these proposals?
Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton wanted to tax Wall Street. A few House Republicans — and another CU
Independent opinion writers —have argued that burgeoning endowments should lower the costs of tuition. And
New York’s Excelsior Scholarship —the only program to expand free tuition to students at the four-year level —falls
to the taxpayers.
There are problems with each approach. While taxing Wall Street is popular —especially in the wake of a global
financial meltdown —it is money out of your pocket just as much as it is money out of Wall Street’s. The financial
transaction tax proposed by Senator Sanders would hit professional investors hard but would equally sap money
away from retirement savings and, ironically enough, college endowments.
To that point, college endowments are only one of many factors that contribute to an institution’s total funding. So,
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all else equal, larger endowments should lower the burden of the school’s operating costs from falling on tuition.
But given historically low state support for higher education, institutions are forced to raise tuition to balance their
budgets because larger endowments simply aren’t enough to close the gap. Tuition reductions from endowments
are more a non-solution than a bad solution, yet that is only a meager consolation.
But by far and away, the worst plan —pursued by Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York state legislature —is
to just front the bill to taxpayers. College is pursued disproportionately by those who are well-off.
Proponents claim this is driven by tuition and, in part, it is. But it’s also driven by the reality that affluent students
have better test scores, better grades and a better chance of success in college, all factors that contribute heavily
to college admissions decisions.
Removing one barrier to higher education —tuition —will do incredibly little until the college preparedness of low-
income students is brought up to a level commensurate with their affluent counterparts. Free tuition only helps
students who actually get into college, and that is a big part of the problem.
So long as higher education is disproportionately pursued by the well-off —and it will be until the second part of
that problem is addressed —then fronting the bill to taxpayers will only benefit the affluent at the expense of the
rest.
Social welfare programs have been intended to keep the least well-off afloat, never to help the most well-off stay
sky-high. Why should anyone’s path to a permanently higher income be the burden of the lowest-income earners?
And yet, the policies pursued by Senator Sanders, Governor Cuomo and Congressman Ellison do exactly that: they
make poor people pay for rich kids’ education while providing low-income students relief from only one of many
barriers they face to higher education. Even in the case of the aforementioned Excelsior Scholarship, the rich will
benefit most. While the scholarship technically has an income threshold, that threshold is being phased out.
Funding should be stripped from those who don’t need it in order to pay the non-tuition expenditures of those who
need it most —expenditures including books, housing and fees. And, more comprehensively, much more money
should be invested in lower-income schools to better prepare their students for a successful experience in higher
education.
After all, college is an opportunity, not a commodity. Social welfare programs that address higher education need
to start by conferring upon all students the ability to take advantage of that opportunity. Only then will the
American Dream of social mobility be truly possible.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Henry Bowditch at henry.bowditch@colorado.edu.
Credit: Henry Bowditch
DETAILS
Subject: Higher education; Students; Schools; Low income groups; Cost control; Tuition;
Endowment; Social mobility; International finance; Expenditures; Welfare; Upward
mobility
Location: New York
People: Cuomo, Andrew M
Company / organization: Name: Democratic Party; NAICS: 813940; Name: University of Colorado; NAICS:
611310
Publication title: University Wire; Carlsbad
Publication year: 2018
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Section: News
Publisher: Uloop, Inc.
Place of publication: Carlsbad
Country of publication: United States, Carlsbad
Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals–United States
Source type: Wire Feeds
Language of publication: English
Document type: News
ProQuest document ID: 2025249488
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- Red, Right and Blue: Free college isn’t free
FREE TUITION DOESN’T MEAN FREE COLLEGE
Students Point Out
Thompson, Carolyn . The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education ; Paramus Vol. 27, Iss. 8, (May/Jun
2017): 14-15.
ProQuest document link
ABSTRACT (ENGLISH)
Or Buffalo State College junior Avery Edwards, who despite similar financial aid expects to owe $20,000 after
collecting his degree next year. All differ from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ no-tuition plan, which
became a major issue during the presidential campaign. The New York program also comes with a push to get
students to tap into existing state and federal financial aid programs that could lower their costs even more.
Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York City and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this
report. * The New York program also comes with a push to get students to tap into existing state and federal
financial aid programs that could lower their costs even more. SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher estimated New
Yorkers leave $174 million of federal aid untouched each year. . at around $6,500 a year, is just about a third of the
typical four-year students…
FULL TEXT
Buffalo, n.y. (ap) – They don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but…New York public college students who would stand to
gain from the nation’s most ambitious free-tuition proposal are quick to point out a sobering reality from their own
meager finances: Free tuition doesn’t mean free college.
Take Brooklyn College senior Florencia Salinas, who despite having her tuition nearly covered in full through
scholarships and grants, still expects to graduate with a daunting $50,000 in debt. Or Buffalo State College junior
Avery Edwards, who despite similar financial aid expects to owe $20,000 after collecting his degree next year.
That’s because tuition, at around $6,500 a year, is just about a third of the typical four-year student’s total public
college bill in New York. Room and board are the bigger-ticket items at nearly $13,000 a year, and student fees and
books tack on another $3,000.
Those extra expenses would not be covered under Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Excelsior Scholarship
proposal, which would pay only the difference between financial aid and tuition at State University of New York or
City University of New York campuses for full-time students from families earning $125,000 or less.
Students interviewed by The Associated Press said that any tuition help is welcome, but they could also use help
paying for the many other costs of a college education.
“It’s less that my parents would have to pay. It’s less that I would have to pay,” said Nigel Peters, a sophomore at
Buffalo State College, part of the state’s sprawling public college system, which includes 64 State University of
New York and 24 City University of New York institutions.
But “enough?” he said. “No, not at all.”
The 19-year-old’s parents in Queens work overtime to keep the financial burden off of him and his twin sister, who
attends college in Delaware. His mother, who already juggles positions in accounting and retail, recently picked up
a third job, at an arena box office. They make too much to get aid now, he said, but “we don’t make enough so that
my parents don’t have to work their behinds off to put me and my sister through school.”
He would welcome tuition help, he said, especially with plans to pay his own way his senior year. But even if it’s
covered by then, Peters said, he still will likely work at his minimum-wage job over breaks and need loans to pay for
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everything else.
Most of Salinas’ debt comes from housing costs, so the Cuomo plan probably wouldn’t have helped her graduate in
better financial shape. The 22-year-old computer science major said she would rather see the state put the money
into the faculty and facilities at CUNY.
Cuomo’s proposal, which still faces approval by lawmakers, is one of an increasing number of plans across the
country that seek to address the nation’s suffocating $1.2 trillion in student debt.
Democratic Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimo ndo has proposed making two years of community college or the final
two years of a four-year degree free at a public college in that state. A plan from Democratic Colorado
gubernatorial candidate Mike Johnston would require volunteer service as a condition of two free years of college
or job training.
All differ from independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ no-tuition plan, which became a major issue during the
presidential campaign. Sanders’ plan would have eliminated tuition at public universities and colleges, while
Cuomo’s “last-dollar” approach pays the tuition after awards from the state and federal sources of aid are applied.
It’s a distinction that troubles advocates for lower-income students, who say the program, while expanding aid to
the middle class, won’t improve anything for them because their tuition is already covered. They warn it might hurt
needy students if it takes away some of the flexibility they now have to use federal Pell awards for expenses other
than tuition.
“Our goal is to provide the most students with the greatest opportunity,” Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever said,
“and that goal is met by the Excelsior Scholarship program.”
The New York program also comes with a push to get students to tap into existing state and federal financial aid
programs that could lower their costs even more. SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher estimat. ed New Yorkers leave
$174 million of federal aid untouched each year.
Lawmakers at a budget hearing earlier this year also worried that the $163 million estimated cost of the New York
proposal is too low. Cuomo budget officials said they based the estimate in part on free community college
programs in other states. The program would also draw on the state’s existing $1 billion Tuition Assistance
Program.
SUNY enrolls 403,000 undergraduate students and CUNY 245,000 students. Based on 2014-15 enrollment, about
40,000 students who meet the criteria would begin to have their tuition paid.
Said state Sen. Kenneth LaValle, a Long Island Republican: “All the bean counters say there’s no way.”
Associated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York City and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this
report. *
Sidebar
The New York program also comes with a push to get students to tap into existing state and federal financial aid
programs that could lower their costs even more. SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher estimated New Yorkers leave
$174 million of federal aid untouched each year.
Sidebar
. at around $6,500 a year, is just about a third of the typical four-year students total public college bill in New York.
Room and board are the bigger-ticket items at nearly $13,000 a year, and student fees and books tack on another
$3,000.”
AuthorAffiliation
Written by
Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press
DETAILS
Subject: College students; Political campaigns; Tuition; Costs; Presidential elections; Student
financial aid; Scholarships &fellowships; Community colleges
Location: New York Delaware
Company / organization: Name: Buffalo State College; NAICS: 611310; Name: Associated Press-NYC; NAICS:
519110
Ethnicity: Hispanic
Publication title: The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education; Paramus
Volume: 27
Issue: 8
Pages: 14-15
Number of pages: 2
Publication year: 2017
Publication date: May/Jun 2017
Section: MONEY MATTERS
Publisher: The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education
Place of publication: Paramus
Country of publication: United States, Paramus
Publication subject: Education–Higher Education, Hispanic, Ethnic Interests
ISSN: 10542337
e-ISSN: 24716448
Source type: Magazines
Language of publication: English
Document type: Feature
Document feature: Photographs
ProQuest document ID: 1903884266
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- FREE TUITION DOESN’T MEAN FREE COLLEGE Students Point Out