Governments should offer a free university education to any student who has been admitted to a university but who cannot afford the tuition.
Write a response in which you discuss your views on the policy and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider the possible consequences of implementing the policy and explain how these consequences shape your position.
The speaker suggests that governments should offer free education to students attending university. I do not think that offering a free university education is the best idea. The speaker asserts that those who cannot afford higher education should receive it, but I believe that such a policy would do more harm than good
There are many reasons why I believe free education would be counterproductive and could actually be detrimental to students. First, it would overburden the taxpayer with the costs of supporting students. Governments have a limited amount of money, and they already struggle to support essential programs such as social security, health care and defense. When students begin receiving a free education, the government will struggle even more. This added cost would likely lead to cuts in programs that help the poor and middle class, such as healthcare or social security. Furthermore, it could lead to higher tuition costs for everyone else, since the government would be spending more money on free education
For this reason, I believe that the government should offer a free education only if it gives the income-earning citizens a tax break for supporting the poorer students. If those students paid their own way, the government would not have to spend as much money in order to fund their education. Another option would be to levy a tax on the education industry, and use the revenue to fund free education. However, this option would limit higher education to the wealthy, since it would require a large enough tax base to fund free education for everyone. It would also lead to a rise in tuition costs for everyone. Both of these options would be unfair, especially to students who struggle to pay for their education
It would also be unfair to students. First, the tax breaks or taxes levied on the education industry would penalize those students who work, or attempt to work, to help pay their way through college. These students would have to work long hours as a barista or in retail in order to pay for their education. In addition, some students may have to work two or even three jobs while attending school, which would make achieving a higher education very difficult. Furthermore, since education is often a determining factor in employment, the students who do not graduate with a degree would likely face more difficulty finding a job
Finally, offering a free university education to all students would be unfair to the students who do graduate and who struggle to repay their student loans. Since many students attend university for many years, finishing a degree could take several, or even several dozen, years. Thus, they would have to pay back their loans for decades. Many students are already struggling to pay off their student loans, and the burden of paying back the government would be overwhelming. Furthermore, students would struggle to pay for food, housing, transportation, and other expenses, which would make living a middle-class lifestyle nearly impossible. Free university education should serve those students who genuinely cannot afford to attend, not everyone who merely desires to attend
A free university education would do more harm than good. Governments have limited resources, and offering a free university education would be extremely costly. Furthermore, it would cause more harm than good because many students would struggle to pay for their education, while others would be unfairly punished for their attempts to work while attending school. For these reasons, I believe that governments should offer a free university education only to students who truly cannot afford to attend.