They say there are only two things you can be certain of in life, death and taxes. Well, we should strongly consider adding student loans to the saying.
Having school loans can literally put a handicap on your life. Some people have monthly payments that are the equivalent to a mortgage or a Bentley. Yes, you need college to get a job in Corporate America, but even union jobs and public service jobs are starting to require a minimum of a two year degree.
So, the argument stands as this; if college is a must why is it not free?
The truth is, college should not be free – unless you earn it.
Giving college away would be a waste of higher education, unfair to students, and would counteract the point of continuing your studies all together.
Why you ask? Well, let me explain.
Issue 1:
Not everyone wants to go to college. Some people have never liked school and if they can find other ways to be successful then more power to them; but what about the students who don’t care about being successful?
Recall if you can, how annoying it was in high school when you were actually trying to learn something and those distracting students in your class made it nearly impossible. Now imagine that, but this time you’re paying to be there. If college was free to everyone, people would use it as a hobby or just another excuse to stall actually growing up and becoming a mature member of society. How mad are you going to be if you’re studying a topic you love and a bunch of inconsiderate people in the classroom are making it nearly impossible to concentrate?
If people want to go to college and waste their time, it’s their time and their money that they are throwing down the drain. Now, if college had a swinging door, then it could potentially become a continued annoyance just like high school was. The worst part? Not learning what you’re supposed to while you’re in college can hinder you from getting a career in your desired field.
Issue 2:
When it comes to choosing a college, you are made aware of the costs. You don’t apply to a college or university you fall in love with, sign your life away and then wait to be surprised at how much you’re going to owe in a few years. When you select a school you’re choosing to take on whatever debt comes with it.
You don’t have to go to Harvard to be a teacher. If you want to, then you must understand that is no one’s choice but your own. Millennials and parents need to start taking into consideration what the career they choose is going to allow their salaries to be as compared to what their loans may add up to. Other factors must be taken into consideration as well; how much -if any- aid you will be receiving, how far you plan on continuing your education, so on and so forth.
It’s true not everyone knows during their undergrad if they will one day decide to go for their Master’s or PhD, but if you don’t have someone flipping the bill, these are things you have to think about. College is actually the first major financial adult decision you’re ever going to have to make, although no one really describes it in that way.
Now consider this, you’re an A student. You work extremely hard all through high school and set goals for yourself because you want to have an excellent higher education. Graduation day comes and you’re awarded scholarships and financial aid because of your excellence and scholastic achievements. That would be an amazing feeling, wouldn’t it?
Well, you could forget ever having that feeling again. If college was free, anyone could go anywhere. They wouldn’t need to work hard at all. Now you could argue the fact the universities could accept you based on grade point average and other factors as they do today, but then you face the issue of people arguing that the college or university is discriminating based on grades.
I know that sounds utterly ridiculous, but keep in mind we live in a time where you can sue Starbucks for having too much ice in your ICED coffee and win. You have to think of all the possible problems that could arise with free college.
Issue 3:
Some may dispute unless you were born into money, you don’t have access to a good education. That is not only a lie, but insulting to everyone who came from nothing and made something of themselves. There are doctors who came from poor communities and the Foster Care System. There are successful people who were left without parents and support; people who were born into the worst situations possible and didn’t let those issues stand in the way of them making something of themselves.
The argument that you can’t receive a good education unless you’re rich is outright disgraceful. The government also provides aid for those who come from poor areas and troubled homes so that they can get out of the cycle and give themselves the life they deserve.
College being free is not the answer, and that’s coming from a person who has over $100,000 in student loans that have to be paid back without any help.
Maybe instead of asking for free stuff all the time, we should open our eyes to the real issue at hand. The banks are using students as profit makers and the government is doing nothing about it. There’s a term called, Discount Window Lending, that everyone should familiarize themselves with. It explains how the Federal Reserve will help the banks out in times of hardship. Yes, the banks do have to repay that money at higher interest rates than usual, but let’s take a wild guess where they’re getting the money to make up for that difference. I’ll bet my education it’s not coming out of their pockets. All we are to the big businesses of the world is collateral damage. The market is going south? Upping the student loan rates is one of their many devious solutions.
Millennials, we’re not stupid and we’re not lazy. We are, however, entitled and ironically enough, uneducated to what the actual issues are. Stop jumping on band wagons and do some research. In case no one has told you, it’s going to take a lot more than free college to fix the mess our generation is in.
image credit: mfi-miami.com
