Should college education be free, or should university students be required to pay tuition fees?
Some countries have free education from kindergarten to university, while students in other countries have to pay at every step of the way. This essay will look at some of the reasons for this difference at university level.
Free third level education has several advantages. First of all, everyone can attend, so the gap between rich and poor students decreases as poorer students have more opportunity. The economy also benefits from the increased pool of highly educated labor. An educated workforce attracts employers and foreign investment. Socially, a more educated population should have more choices regarding nutrition, jobs and lifestyle. An additional point is that university fees only contribute a small proportion of the university budget.
However, some people are opposed to free education. First of all, through their taxes, poor families subsidize rich students who can easily afford to pay fees. A second point is that spending government money on free education is often not possible or desirable when a country needs hospitals, roads, and primary or secondary schools. A third point is that a university education is a choice, not a requirement. People who finish college with advanced qualifications are going to earn large salaries and can easily afford to pay back loans. Furthermore, when people get something for free, they often do not value it. If college is free, many students will go there just because they cannot think of anything else to do.
In conclusion, free third level education is not always a good thing. Governments need to think carefully about their policies and ensure that they are using their resources to help all the people in the country equitably.
Webmaster says:
Education is widely regarded as a key factor in the economic and social development of a country, but there are different attitudes about whether students should pay or not. Some regard education as a basic right, which should therefore be provided free, while others think the individual student should have to shoulder some of the costs of his or her education. This essay will examine some of the arguments for and against free education at third level.
There are several reasons why university education in particular should be paid for by the students who receive it. First of all, a university is a choice, not a requirement. Nobody is forced to attend third level, and those who do are hoping to enter very well paid jobs. Students entering professions such as engineering or medicine will be well able to repay loans or the cost of tuition. A second point is that if students from rich families are receiving free university education from the state, they are increasing the load on the university and ministry of education and reducing the resources available for poorer students. Furthermore, when people pay for something, they often value it more. Students who get free education may enroll purely because they don’t want to work or because they can’t think of anything better to do, and this can lead to poor motivation and poor study habits.
However, there are sound economic and social reasons for making third level education free to all. In the first place, a modern country needs highly skilled graduates of all kinds, rather than just high school leavers. For many families, the high cost of tuition would discourage participation in third level education. An important point is that the contribution of fees to the budget of any good university or college is relatively small, since almost all colleges rely on large amounts of government or philanthropic funding. The money from fees may represent only a small part of the college budget. A third point is that third level education is not purely vocational. Students at college are not just being given technical skills desired by employers, but are questioning, analyzing, synthesizing and creating new knowledge, and this will be a tremendous resource to the society as a whole.
In conclusion, to allow as many people as possible to develop to their full potential and to develop the country, we need to make third level education available to all. Restricting access to the elite will have detrimental effects on the society and the economy.
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SIMPLE BOY says:
Education is widely regarded as key factor in country’s economic and social development. Many believe pupils should pay some proportion of wealth for university education while , other opine education should be made free regardless of their income. before reaching to a conclusion, this essay will examine both arguments.
Those who believe that education should not be made free for number of reasons. First of all, cost of education is increasing and university needs to invest a lot of money to ensure quality and further standard education and if they are made paid it will certainly maintain their standard. Moreover, they value it more if they are made paid. Furthermore university education is not compulsory to all , its a choice . Government even cant afford to invest huge money on free education as there are other basic areas t= such as health education and many more .