As the Republican and Democratic conventions continue to loom everywhere, none of them has deeply discussed the issue of higher education. This is very unfortunate. The American economic security demands each generation to be educated so as to conquer the environmental, social and technological challenges. This requires a great access to university or college education.
The third president of America, Thomas Jefferson, asserted that it is very imperative to have the majority of the population well educated that having only a few individuals being enlightened with the rest of the population being left in ignorance. He was of the opinion that democracy needed a well-educated population since they could participate best in government issues. Ignorance, or simply a lack of knowledge, is the worst adversary of self-determination and President Jefferson wanted all the defects in educational facilities corrected. In August 2010, at Austin’s University of Texas, President Obama said that having the best education was a mission that was very important for the current generation of American leaders. The president was of the idea that this would open up the right channels for everyone hence giving everyone equal opportunity to reach their full potential. The most important question at the moment is; how can we make college education free in United States?
The first step in achieving free education in the colleges is by making tuition to be free in the public universities and colleges. In America, there are already some colleges that offer tuition free education to the scholars. These institutions either have religious connection or state-administered residency obligations. The institutions in turn ask for trade of service such as unpaid jobs in college or part-time working. This can be done in more colleges to ensure that the students get free education and the institutions in return gain from the students.
There are several countries that provide free tuition to their students in higher education facilities. These are in form of either tuition covered outright or full/near-full scholarships. These countries include Germany, Finland, Norway, France among others. These programs can also be scaled up to fit the high population in United States. If these countries, whose economy is lower than that of America can finance the education for their population, then using the right channels America can also achieve the same.
The federal government should stop making profit on student loans so as to help attain free college education. It is estimated that, in the next one decade, the feral government will make an over $110 billion profit on student loan programs. This is not only morally wrong but also bad economics. This money should be used on lowering the students’ loan interest rates so that more students can have access to them.
According to Weismann (2014) in an article that was published in the Atlanti, the federal government needed to spent merely $62.6 billion to offer free tuition in public universities in 2012. That figure is the total amount that the public universities and colleges received from scholars doing their undergraduate. Although this may seem to be a large amount, it is very easy for the federal government to collect it (Weissmann, 2014).
The federal administration has used up several billion dollars on different fiscal aid undertakings like Pell Grants that are meant for low-income learners, funding work education and tax breaks. For instance, 69.43 billion dollars were used in financial aids in the financial year 2013. The loans were not included in this amount. Around 75% of all students attend public universities and colleges. However, a significant amount of the money, as much as 25%, goes to for-profit and private schools. This financial aids can be terminated and this amount used to pay the tuition fee for all the students in public colleges and universities.
Americans should be allowed to refinance the student loans at the current lower interest rates. Currently, people can obtain auto loans with a 2.5% interest rates, however, millions of college graduates must pay 5-7% interest rates or more for decades. If these graduates are allowed to refinance their student loans at the current low rates, a lot of people would be able to pay them very fast. The money obtained can then be used to finance other students.
The government should pay tuition money directly to the institutions instead of giving the money to students. Sometimes, when the money is given to the students, some waste it by living classy lifestyles and buying things that they do not require such as drugs or using it for luxurious activities. Other students get the money ad never attend college at all. If this money is given directly to colleges based on the registered students, the government can save a lot of money which goes to wastage instead of helping in the education sector.
In conclusion, there are various methods that can be used to make college education free. If effectively used, all Americans can access free college education. It is now the time to work on past challenges and make college and university education free in America. This will be a driver to a new era of prosperity in America. There will be a stronger democracy and a stronger economy.
References
Weissmann, J. (2014). Here's Exactly How Much the Government Would Have to Spend to Make Public College Tuition-Free. The Atlantic. Retrieved 18 May 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/heres-exactly-how-much-the- government-would-have-to-spend-to-make-public-college-tuition-free/282803/
