Should college be free of charge?
Should we have free college education?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of free college – colleges that ask for no fees to be paid towards the cost of tuition?
In some countries (Philippines, for example), scrapping of college fees makes huge sense, given that college student drop-out rates are extremely high.
This is mainly because students are unable to afford the fees.
But, with that, and if college fees are scrapped in countries such as the U.S., the U.K., Australia – the more affluent countries – what are the downsides, if any?
Let’s analyze the advantages and disadvantages of fee-free college.
Advantages of Fee-Free College
1 More students are able to gain access to further education
With “free” comes more willingness to study.
More students – the not-so-well-off and the marginalized – will enroll in college.
2 An enhanced focus on studies
It could be argued that, at least for some students, with fee-free college, they will be able to focus more on their studies as opposed to worrying about the source of loans and paying off loans at a future date.
3 More productive societies
With free college tuition evolves a better educated society.
Arguably, this ought to lead to greater production and a happier society. Or would it?
4 Improved literacy throughout the nation
This point touches on the above point – better educated society which ought to equate to higher productivity and greater happiness overall.
5 Less strain on the finances of parents
Parents that contribute to their children’s costs throughout college life will, in the event of fee-free college tuition, be relieved of the burden.
6 Promotion of equality
Every potential student would be given a fair opportunity to excel academically, and thus, also excel in terms of their future career prospects.
7 The guarantee of high-level education for everyone, including the poorest in society
Through the college loan system, these days, almost anyone can go to college.
Nevertheless, for those countries that have no college loan system in place, through fee-free college tuition, life would certainly look a whole lot rosier for very many families than otherwise.
8 No more student loans
The abandonment of the student loan system would come as a relief to many and would provide opportunity to many more.
Disadvantages of Tuition-Free College
1 Adverse impact on private institutions
Private institutions generally can only thrive through the payment of college tuition fees.
For all of those that are responsible for running private educational systems, the obvious answer to the question “should college be free?” no doubt would be a resounding “NO!”
2 Lesser quality of education
Because anyone could gain access to free college tuition in a world where there are zero college fees, the quality of education would likely be tarnished.
3 Might not exactly be “free”
While a world of free college tuition sounds great for many, alternative costs would still need to be paid.
What’s more, there would be a temptation to bump up fees wherever possible for everything other than tuition fees to make up for the shortfall.
4 Could bring about an increase in unemployment
With free college tuition more people would graduate.
With more graduates, unemployment levels in certain job sectors and at certain job levels would soar to levels that have never been seen previously.
5 Increased government borrowing
In the main, it would be the responsibility of the government to fund free college education.
After all, the money must come from somewhere.
In turn, with this additional and vast budget burden, government borrowing would increase substantially.
6 College facilities would likely become strained
Many schools already have limited resources.
Fee-free studies would place far more pressure on colleges with already limited resources.
7 Mishandling money
Free college tuition would not encourage students to be careful with money.
Perhaps free college tuition would simply lead to an even more debt-ridden society than we have presently.
If you wish to find out which countries offer fee-free college tuition – if you want to study abroad and pay zero college tuition fees, we have a list of those countries for you. Click the table below to read see the full list.
Photo by Jasmine Coro on Unsplash