Society in the United States pushes the narrative that in order to obtain a successful career and make a lot of money, an individual needs to go to college. But going to college costs a lot of money. The situation makes this a bit of a catch-22. If someone needs to go to college to make a lot of money, they already need a lot of money to begin with. I argue if favor of raising a $15-hourly wage not only because so workers can make a sizeable living, especially in cities where rent is skyrocketing as their wages remain stagnant, but so that they have extra money to spend of goods and services, which boosts the economy. This is the same reason I argue in favor of free college. With more money saved from working hourly wages, there's more opportunity for them to pursue their larger goals in life. Mai Nguyen reports that the average cost of public colleges cost an average of $9,400 for in-state students. As result, she states, about seven in 10 students go into debt, and owe an average of almost $29,000. The total amount, as of 2019 has reached $1.3 trillion (https://www.vox.com/sponsored/10793966/student-debt-keeps-growing-whats-the-government-doing-about-it). Many European countries have embraced the notion of free college. In 2006, Germany experimented allowing public colleges to charge tuition, with fees up to 1,000 euros per year. As a result, students protested en masse, starting with a citizens' initiative that collected over 70,000 signatures (https://www.vox.com/2014/10/5/6900301/germany-is-making-college-tuition-free). The same article notes that the US has the most expensive universities in the world partly due to the advocation of private education, which amasses roughly 16 percent of students. Contrast that with 1 percent in Germany, this makes the country's decision to make public college tuition-free all the more reasonable for the benefit of its students. Tuition, sometimes, is not even the biggest expense for most students. On top of tuition, students have to figure a way to pay for room and board, meals, transportation, and other various living expenses. Sometimes students have to work in a part-time job, or take a full-time job and go to school part-time, to get by. Admittedly, free college does not solve everything. It certainly will not solve how students balance their work-school schedules. Furthermore, Sweden, a country with free higher education, still has about $19,000 in US dollars (124,000 Swedish krona) per graduate. This is primarily because students in Sweden take out loans to pay for living expenses such as rent and food as they go to school full-time (https://www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment/free-college-in-sweden-high-student-debt/). But I argue that free college tuition is not only the endgame for solving many problems that plague students struggling to get by. I argue that it is a step. Free college tuition will be a small step but a giant leap for students' ability to pursue their passions easier. And who wants nothing more than to pursue their passions easier? CITATIONS: Maggie. “College in Sweden Is Free. So Why Do Students Have so Much Debt?” College Financing Group, 11 June 2013, www.collegefinancinggroup.com/student-loan-repayment/free-college-in-sweden-high-student-debt. Nelson, Libby. “Bernie Sanders's Big Idea: Make College Free for Everyone.” Vox, 18 May 2015, www.vox.com/2015/5/18/8621759/free-college-bernie-sanders. Nguyen, Mai. “Student Debt Keeps Growing — What’s the Government Doing about It?” Vox Creative www.vox.com/sponsored/10793966/student-debt-keeps-growing-whats-the-government-doing-about-it. Yglesias, Matthew. “How Bernie Sanders Convinced Me about Free College.” Vox, 10 Mar. 2016, www.vox.com/2016/3/10/11194158/bernie-sanders-free-college.

If college in the US would be free then there would no longer be top schools for certain fields. We wouldn't have prestigious college professors. There would be no competition. If there is an option for free colleges and colleges where you have to pay then that may be able to work. But it would still create some problems. There needs to be some sort of competition or there is no point. Education would begin to lack. The k-12 system in the US is lacking. There are many schools that are struggling with a lack of classroom supplies. Where teachers have to pay for supplies out of their teaching salary. This is not okay. If college in the US became free eventually we would run into the same problem.

**tl;dr: College being free would reduce incentives to become professors. It would reduce competitiveness and a sense of personal achievement.** College being free would have a lot of advantages. It would do a lot of good. But, it will cause more harm than good. Lower salaries will lower the percentage of people who end up being professors. Professors need to study for years before they can teach at a college level. They have already spent years without a decent paycheck. Significant pay cuts would mean that the quality of education will come down. The COVID-19 pandemic is an excellent example of this. Many colleges have reduced the faculty's salaries. This provides less incentive to take on an extra class for professors. Remote learning is hard enough, with money being taken away (one of the major motivators for the job). Colleges offer a lot of scholarships and financial aid. Harvard provides free education for students who earn less than a certain amount every year. Scholarships also look great on a resume because they are incredibly competitive. Competition is a major part of higher education. Aiming to get fellowships and scholarships increases motivation and focus. If college were free, then scholarships with stipends and prestigious research fellowships would be unavailable. Contributing to the family by getting a significant scholarship and convincing the university to give you aid is a major accomplishment. It is a tangible accomplishment that teaches you to deal with and enter into the real world.

So the US has free education up the High School. I guess the question here then becomes should free education continue to Undergrad, postgrad even PhD? Should money be the determining factor in this? Now whilst it is painfully obvious that too many people attend college in the US, but I'm not sure that cost is the right way to bring that number down. Maybe tougher entrance requirements but make it free? Or more ability-based grants so that the brightest and most studious don't pay fees?

There is an argument to be made that paying for colleges create a sense of accomplishment within an individual or that it will reduce competition and incentives post-college... **What's the point of college then?** There's a consequential intuition that happens: you are born, then start school at the age of five, finish HS at the age of eighteen, then finish college at the age of twenty-two, work for the middle class for years to come, then retire at around your 70s. I feel that's an unconscious stigma majority of Americans go through. I feel as though, there is some unweighted pressure on us that we have to go to college, to flourish in the middle class. You also have to remember: college is NOT an guarantee that you will find a middle to upper class-paying job. Theoretically, if I were to pay thousands of dollars for college just for me to not be financially set, would I have wasted years of my life and money I have earned for some job I could have gotten back in High school? I'm aware that there are some jobs that provide financial need if you intend to be a part of the middle class without a college degree, but only so many people fit the mold. The least we can do is to make college free, as though we have a higher chance of having financial immorality and thrive the middle class.

I live in a country where education is free for all students, and it works excellent. Why? - Who gets the oppertunity to develop intellectually is completely independent of their parents socio-economic status. This means we do not miss out on great resourceful people who would otherwise never afford education. - Proffessors still get paid well - by society, happily. - A society that wants an educated population who can make good, ethical, productive deciscisions should be willing to pay for said education. - Competition still exists. Competency and passion based motives for competitnion. Economic insentives is not the only thing that drives people. Those who end up in academia as professors are people with a burning desire for their field in itself. They want to engage in the best litterature and science of the day, because they have a passion for it. They hold great respect for their institution and uphold proud standars out of love for their craft. You shouldn't have to pay to know basic, important stuff about society and the world. And you certainly shouldn't pay to become a resource to your society. Economics based competition is not the best incentive to hight quality intellectual achievement.