My name is Alexander and I am currently enrolled in the Higher Education -- Educational Leadership M.Ed program within my current graduate school. This blog has been created as per assignment instructions for my Microcomputing in Education course, EDM-510. This is a group exercise.
Classmates, please review the rest of my post below. Under my picture you will see your instructions as well as a link to an article on the subject discussed in my blog post. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions so have at it! Further instructions are provided in the actual posting.
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| Alexander |
Norway, Germany...America too? Will we join the list of nations offering free higher education?
Class,
There are those, like the author of the article I will ask you to read in this post, who believe that higher education should be free for the people of this country, as it is in other countries currently. Germany most recently abolished tuition fees as Lower Saxony was the last of seven German states to absolve the cost of higher education.
So I'd like your thoughts on the subject. Do you think America should raise taxes to provide students free higher education? Please post a couple sentences on your thoughts; whether your disagree or agree isn't as important as discussing with everyone!
Link to article: http://ourfuture.org/20140319/free-higher-education-is-a-human-right
Alex,
ReplyDeleteGreat question! Although I feel that free higher education would benefit those who are unable to pay for college immensely, I do feel that it would, however, somewhat devalue a college education. Paying for college either out pocket or with the help of financial aid, adds a sense of ownership to one's education. Having to work hard in high school in order to receive scholarships to help pay for college makes students, I believe, work even harder to keep those scholarship. When parents of students have to pay for college out of pocket, it makes them work and study even more so that they not only let their family down, but also do not waste the money given towards their education.
Very astute points Brandon. There certainly is a difference in "earning" a degree that is free and one that sometimes requires a financial burden/hardship. I think you are right in that free education may devalue the college experience as we know it in the United States since we place such value on earning an education.
DeleteFor example, as a grad assistant I worked just as hard as anyone else would during my first year of grad school. Currently, during my second year of grad school, however, I am no longer a grad assistant and pay for the whole cost as any other student would. Now when I compare year one and year two, I feel that I'm working much harder for my grades. I see dollar signs attached to every grade I receive as a sign that I really put in the work and it's going to pay off soon. Similarly, if I don't put enough work into an assignment I see it as if I'm just letting dollar bills just blow out into the wind like it's nothing.
Having a bill attached to one's education is definitely an extra incentive to work as hard as possible. Thanks for your comment, it really made me consider this issue through another lens!
ReplyDeleteI think with all the money they have lost because of students who never end up being successful in college is a waste of money, but it would stop students who come to school just to receive the tuition money and then drop their courses once they receive the money. I think a great idea is for students to get loans for their first two years and if they have proven they are going to be successful they could pay for the next two years of the students tuition or even reimburse them by paying back what they have paid the previous two years. I think by working in the admissions office I have seen how sneaky students can be and I feel they have to work to gain my trust. I think if you would give the student a choice and if they knew they didn't have to pay a course back they would take advantage and drop all of their courses just because there were no penalties.
Brennen, you and Brandon bring up some great, valid points. If anything like this idea was to become possible in the United States I know there would be massive overhauls to the overall structure.
DeleteI don't think that the US Government and Department of Education could simply gift every able bodied student with an education for nothing without any catches. Instead, I think at the very least there would be some sort of contract signed that would involve students potentially being required to "payback" the federal government if they do not properly use this "grant". Perhaps something similar to what you said though, maybe go "half and half" with students based on merit? In either case, I do not believe that we should allow students to put their hands on any of the money like it was a stipend or refund check. Instead it should strictly be applied to the school of choosing from the US Government.
Whereas Brandon mentioned points of how an education may be devalued if it was free, I like how you instead mentioned how there would need to be some sort of extensive regulation to have anything similar to this in the United States. FAFSA is complicated in itself...imagine what any larger amounts of loan/grant disbursement would entail!
I agree with Brandon on this subject. All the hard work and dedication to earn scholarships and pay for college adds to the experience and the lessons learned. College isn't just about getting an education, its about all the other life lessons learned along the way. I believe that free education would take away from some of that.
ReplyDeleteJenna, I'm such a champion for the "lessons learned" aspect of college! Seriously, I am which is why I'm so excited to see someone make that point. Whenever I've discussed my education with my parents (first generation college student here so my college experience is being vicariously experienced by my parents as well) I've always referred to all the learning I've done outside of the classroom.
DeleteSometimes, these life lessons were about money. Throughout six years of a college education I've come to learn how much more valuable my money is compared to my frivolous spending as a high school student. Literally, I think of every dollar I spend, every dollar on a restaurant bill, every dollar spent on dates, everything. Each dollar holds more than just a monetary value to me but an intrinsic value as well. I really don't want to have much debt when I graduate with my masters degree which is why I've worked hard at my on campus jobs and have worked a handful of odd jobs between semesters thus far. Hard work is hard work but at the end of the day I can say I've enjoyed the experience earning my degree and putting in time to pay for it as well.
I really think you could offer such a great perspective as a student athlete also, Jenna. Scholarship athletes and non-scholarship athletes have to work just as hard as any other member of a team. It's great to see athletes who don't just "coast" through an education while playing a particular sport but really, earnestly devote themselves to athletic and academic pursuits.
I have to say that I feel there are two sides to this story. I think that everyone should have access to higher education; however, paying for the education helps to bring a greater value to the education. I think that there should be more opportunities for students to gain access through more scholarships, grants, etc. however, like Brandon said, I was fortunate to have parents that paid for my education out of pocket, and therefore I felt that it was imperative to do my best.
ReplyDelete