2020 Presidential Candidates continue to call for free college tuition, in at least some circumstances. Public schooling is free from K-5 to grade 12. Some suggest that public colleges and universities should also be free. I disagree, higher education is a privilege not a right. Just like having a driver’s license, it is a privilege. I agree that everyone should have the opportunity to go to college, but that is where scholarship and grants come into play. The American tax payers cannot afford to send anyone who wants to go to college for free. We already pay enough in taxes as it is right now. After you graduate, you get a job and then guess what, now you are paying for all of these people to go to college on your hard-earned money. Next, if you flood the college system with hundreds of thousands of new students, you devalue the degrees. Now everyone can have the same education as you. How are you going to be marketable for a job when you have the same degree as everyone else that is applying for the same position? You can only go so high in the education system.
I say all of this to let people know that if you want something in life you have to go and get it. Nothing is free in this world. Everything comes with a price. So when people are complaining that college is too expensive and they can’t afford to go to school, I agree, but in order to get ahead in life you have to make sacrifices.
There are many solutions to going to college for free or for a reduced price. You can apply for scholarships and grants. However, many of these need to be revised. College tuition has risen so much over the past 10 years, now scholarship and grant processes need to catch up with the times. You can work for a company that offers college reimbursements. Many employers will help pay for your college tuition if you just ask. Then, there is the military. They truly offer free college tuition, but just like everything else in life, it’s not really free. You have to serve our county in order to come out with a college degree. So the moral of the story is if you want a college degree, “suck it up buttercup” – you have to pay for it just like everyone else.