According to Google dictionary, College is an educational institution or establishment. According to Merriam Webster broke means penniless (not having money). People who are associated with one word usually have nothing to do with the other and if they do, both words are synonyms. People that usually go to college or that can afford college are rich, upper-class people.
A lower class individual or a middle-class individual can go to college but not without loans more than likely. Because college has a hefty price tag that comes along with it most students are in debt before they even finish their first semester. The first college created was the University of Santo Tomas in the Phillippians in 1611, this was when the Philippines was still a United States territory. It is a private, Roman Catholic research university founded by Miguel de Benavides and Archbishop of Manila.
Now that the Phillipeans are no longer a U.S Territory there has been some debate about who was the first university/college. Mainly because there has always been a debate about the difference between the meaning of college and university. College is typically a smaller institution that offers only undergraduate programs. Nonetheless, Harvard University, founded in 1636 is said to be the first University in America but it was not recognized until October 1779 by James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, and John Adams. During the colonial period, wealthy families sent their sons abroad for higher education (College Of Charleston).
As of February 2018, 70% of students leave college with nearly $1.5 trillion collectively and just think that is only the American debt (44 million Americans). The effect of more people coming into the world of student loans, student loan payments have increased from $227 in 2005 to $393 in 2016. The Federal Reserve Board of Washington, D.C. found that because of how much debt college students are in when they get out they will less likely be able to own a home for the simple fact of having to pay off student debt. Also, kids cannot retire at the age that most people have.
A study predicts that students who graduated from college in 2015 will have to postpone retirement until the age of 75. If America would have free College our lives would be much easier. If college was free the problem of so much debt would only be chopped down to credit cards and bank loans for houses/businesses. Many of the college graduates could be able to buy their own houses and do the things they want to do, which would be an increase in Americans overall stress level.
Money is one of the main problems people have and it is one of the main reasons for stress. There are many countries that do not have to pay for college. For example, a college student in France said he is happy to not have to worry about the price of college. If college was free many students in America would pick the subject they find most interesting not the one that is the cheapest. If the United States decided to make college free it would level the playing fields for students that are impoverished. Everyone would have the same opportunity to learn things that usually are only for the middle to upper class.
The United States should make college free not only to better Americans day to day life but to improve America as a whole. With the increase of high school students going to college, it will most likely lower the number of individuals in jail. With individual being able to go to college they will be able to work a regular job and not worry as much about money as they would paying for college. Individuals would have to spend most of their time worrying about when the next assignment is due not how much they should sell a gram of weed for. There are many ways free college/universities would benefit Americans. The U.S just as to be willing to give the idea of free college an idea.
Citation
- A Brief History of the College. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cofc.edu/about/historyandtraditions/briefhistory.php
- First university in the United States. (n.d). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_university_in_the_United_States#Official_designation_as_a_%22university%22
- Broke. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/broke
- History. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ust.edu.ph/about/history/
- MIKOLUK, K. (2014, May 19). College vs. University: Key Differences in American and British English Usage. Retrieved from https://blog.udemy.com/college-vs-university/
- Hess, A. (2018, February 15). Here’s how much the average student loan borrower owes when they graduate. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/heres-how-much-the-average-student-loan-borrower-owes-when-they-graduate.html
- Weller, C. (2017, December 01). 5 people from around the world share what it’s like to get free college education. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/free-college-education-what-its-like-2017-10