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Student Opinion
Should College Be Free?
Do you think other states should follow New Mexico in making higher education tuition-free? What would that mean for society?
By Callie Holtermann
Do you plan to go to college? Are you or your family concerned about paying for it?
In the past three decades, the average cost of attending a private college in the United States has tripled — landing at around $50,000 per year.
Should college cost this much? How would our society change if college cost nothing at all?
Amid declines in enrollment , states including Texas and Michigan are experimenting with plans to reduce or eliminate tuition for many students. Starting in July, New Mexico will go a step further: It will completely cover tuition for all state residents who attend public colleges and universities.
In “ What if College Were Free? This State Is Trying to Find Out. ,” Simon Romero writes about the state’s plan, which received bipartisan approval:
As universities across the United States face steep enrollment declines , New Mexico’s government is embarking on a pioneering experiment to fight that trend: tuition-free higher education for all state residents. After President Biden’s plan for universal free community college failed to gain traction in Congress, New Mexico, one of the nation’s poorest states, has emerged with perhaps the most ambitious plans as states scramble to come up with their own initiatives. A new state law approved in a rare show of bipartisanship allocates almost 1 percent of the state’s budget toward covering tuition and fees at public colleges and universities, community colleges and tribal colleges. All state residents from new high school graduates to adults enrolling part-time will be eligible regardless of family income. The program is also open to immigrants regardless of their immigration status. Some legislators and other critics question whether there should have been income caps, and whether the state, newly flush with oil and gas revenue, can secure long-term funding to support the program beyond its first year. The legislation, which seeks to treat college as a public resource similar to primary and secondary education, takes effect in July.
The article continues:
Other states are assembling their own programs: The University of Texas System created a $300 million endowment in February that expands tuition assistance for thousands of students. Michigan provides free college to residents who were essential workers during the pandemic, while also covering tuition at community colleges for people ages 25 or older. Reflecting challenges before and during the pandemic, some initiatives have not produced the desired results. Even after California recently expanded free tuition opportunities, enrollment at its community colleges fell by nearly 15 percent in 2021 from a year earlier. The push for tuition-free higher education comes amid a broader enrollment crisis in the United States. Total undergraduate enrollment fell by 6.6 percent from 2019 to 2021, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Students, read the entire article , then tell us:
What do you think of New Mexico’s plan to provide tuition-free college to state residents? Do you think college should be “a public resource similar to primary and secondary education,” as New Mexico is treating it? Do you think that your state should adopt a similar plan? Why or why not?
Do you want to attend college? Why or why not? How does the cost of higher education factor into your thinking?
Do you think everyone should go to college — or do you think there should be more alternatives to higher education? If so, what should they be and why?
Why do you think universities across the United States are facing declines in enrollment? Do you think plans to make college less expensive or entirely free are the right way to increase enrollment?
Do you think making college tuition-free is worth the cost? (As the article points out, the money for the first year of the New Mexico program largely comes from pandemic relief funds. After that, legislators will need to draw funds from other sources to keep the program going.) Is it more realistic to do what states like Washington and Tennessee have done and limit tuition assistance to community colleges, exclude some residents because of family income or impose conditions requiring students to work part time?
Mr. Romero describes New Mexico’s initiative as “unusually inclusive,” given that it extends free tuition to inmates, unauthorized immigrants and some Native Americans from neighboring states. Why do you think New Mexico’s legislators decided it was important to make members of these groups eligible for free tuition? What might be some of the long-term effects of free college for all?
Want more writing prompts? You can find all of our questions in our Student Opinion column . Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Callie Holtermann joined The Learning Network as a senior news assistant in 2020. More about Callie Holtermann
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Even after California recently expanded free tuition opportunities, enrollment at its community colleges fell by nearly 15 percent in 2021 from a year earlier. The push for tuition-free higher ...