America Should Have Taxpayer-funded College Education

According to the Consumer News and Business Channel, approximately 70% of college students graduate with student loan debt. The average American student loan debt is about $37,172, which may take years to pay back. Post-graduation, students are left with this burden while individuals with higher income families leave debt-free. I believe that America should have a tax-payer college education. Shouldn't all people have an equal opportunity to start fresh after college regardless of their financial situation? People may argue that it wouldn't benefit those that need it the most, however, if executed properly, it will give everyone, no matter their financial situation, an equal opportunity to start their independent journey after college with little to no debt.

The opposition may argue that free public universities will cause there to be less educational opportunities available to lower-income students because of the caps, or the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements, that correlates with enrollment. In other words, it wouldn’t benefit the neediest of students, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are different effective systems we can incorporate to aid the underprivileged, as other countries have accomplished. The United Kingdom has developed an income-based repayment program, so graduates are only obligated to pay according to what they can afford. Australia uses its Higher Education Loan Program, which allows debts to become very inexpensive. “Of course, many loans will never be fully repaid (roughly 17 percent of them). But the system has been designed to allow for that.” There are many different approaches we can take to make this concept a reality, and it is more probable than people think.

Many might also be concerned if this idea is sustainable or not, nevertheless, it very well can be if we come together as a unity and fight for it. There are various procedures we can follow to make this happen. Some ways include, 'closing corporate tax loopholes that allow companies to legally avoid paying their full share of taxes', increasing tax on the rich, making new taxes on 'speculative Wall Street transactions', decreasing military funding, reducing wasteful government spending, and so on. If we make an effort, this investment can allow people a chance to live as successfully as others.

Having a taxpayer-funded college education will give everyone an equal opportunity to start their new life, get a good job, start a family, and go on with their lives. While some students are free to start their own life after college; others are left with this burden. As a result, those with debts are restricted from being as successful as their classmates. CNBC states that “Graduates who can immediately begin building equity in housing or stocks and bonds get more time to see their investments grow, while indebted graduates spend years paying principal and interest on loans...'. Isn’t it a free country that preaches equality? Why shouldn’t everyone get this opportunity? This creates a chain that results in descendants of the wealthy becoming successful while those of poorer backgrounds don’t get a chance to create a better lifestyle for future generations.

If we invest in our education instead of spending the nation’s money where it is redundant, we can accomplish this goal. Donald Trump has spent trillions of dollars on the military alone that could have gone to something more beneficial. He has spent $2.5 trillion on the military. It would take $2.2 trillion to “eliminate tuition at public universities, colleges, and trade schools and cancel all outstanding student loan debt.” America already spends much more money on the military than any other country. Another example of unnecessary spending of federal cash is Trump’s border wall, which costs $25 billion. There is money being spent in the wrong places; it must come to an end.

Having taxpayer-funded college education would reduce problems like student debts and will result in more people with college-level education in this country, especially since some individuals don’t go to college due to being financially unstable. People are spending their years paying off college debts when they should be focusing on saving up for retirement, their kid’s college, and other bills and expenses that concur with being an adult. There are many ways we can accomplish this goal; it is not as crazy as people believe. All Americans should have the same opportunities to be successful, regardless of their financial situation.