By Evelyn Velazquez

College can be very expensive, and could take years to pay off tuition fees. Therefore, college education should be free. Free college education tuition would give students in low poverty an opportunity to be able to partake in any career they would like to do without dealing with large amounts of debt that will take them many years to pay off. The free tuition would decrease the amount of understaffed people and increase the safety of people in the community. It is stated by Ramsey Solutiona that many college students that paying for tuition can keep young people in debt for over 2 decades! For professional graduates, it takes over 45 years to repay student loans, said by BankRate. Free college tuition will bring in more students, it will decrease the amount of high school students who don’t want to go to college due to the large fees, and would give for a more educated society.

I interviewed multiple high school students to explain how they feel about the college tuition fees and one student said,  

“College should be free because it would make the workforce more educated, and allow more opportunities,” said Mackenzie Coughlin, a student at Batavia High School.

Studies show that the more college graduates there are, the more high quality jobs they can get. As a matter of fact, over 50percent of students drop out of public universities because they can’t afford it. College tuition can be very expensive, which can discourage individuals from attending college. According to ‘Best Colleges’, between 2000 and 2021 average tuition fees have gone up by more than 70 percent. Even so, college is very important and one should have the opportunity to be enrolled in it in order to open doors to other great opportunities. Students could concentrate on college and learning, rather than worrying about paying off their college debt. Not paying money for college could lessen many students’ worries, as well as many other benefits. For example, it could benefit whole communities, which could result in better economic outcomes and upward mobility. 

“I think college should be free because students could get more education than they already get from high school, and not everyone can afford it,” said Alexa Thompson, another Batavia High School student.

Did you know that the main reason why people don’t attend college is because of the cost? Some of the adults without a degree who aren’t currently enrolled claim that the tuition fee is the main reason why they aren’t in college. The thought of college debt that students might have can cause issues such as anxiety, depression, and personal difficulties, which can make it hard for college students to focus. This emotional stress is what students say often leads to a pause in enrollment or even a decision to drop out. 

In conclusion, college education should be free for everyone, and people should be able to enroll in this type of education. This only would benefit them, but also benefit the entire society. This would call for greater educational access, a healthier economy, and reduced loan debt. These are all reasonable reasons for why college should be free.