Problem Based Project

This project was by far the most interesting project our class was assigned. As I began this
project, my initial question-or problem- was Why cant the United States offer free college
tuition while some European countries can? As my research progressed, and as I delved further
into the details of this situation, my question transformed into something more along the lines of
why should the United States not implement free college tuition? I came to realize that it
would be an incredibly bad idea for the United States to offer a plan for free college tuition. My
initial standpoint of we as a country absolutely need this to be implemented! eventually
changed to a statement of if we (as a country) were to implement a plan for free college tuition,
our economy and work force would suffer greatly. I valued the opportunity-or the reason that I
had to research this problem, because if I had not, I would still blindly feel that free college
tuition was something that should come to fruition. I learned a few bits about the economies in
other countries as well as our own, and how they differ, and why population sizes play such a
large role in what governments are able to offer their citizens as well.

Free Public College Proposal: The United States and World

Summary: This paper is about why free public college works in other countries, and why it
would or would not work in the United States. I feel like this paper is important to people my
age, as it directly affects them and their finances, as many college students pay for their tuition
and housing on their own. Whether or not free public college would work in America is a
problem I think is worth investigating, because in this years candidacy, one of the greatest
questions being asked is why we cannot have free public education, and whether or not any of
the candidates could make that a reality.
Preconceptions: My initial thought is that free public college works in other countries because
they are smaller and therefore have smaller populations, making it easy for tax payers to make
free public college available. I also think that it wont work in the United States, because in the
current generation, it is a common conception that everyone should go to college, and this was
not the case for past generations. In past generations, only those who were fit for college and
were accepted into universities attended them. Now that more people feel that college is a
necessity for a better life which it almost always is- more people feel that college should be
made available to all, regardless of whether or not they could do anything with the degree they
aspire to claim.
Audience: As stated in my summary, I feel my main audience for this essay would be people my
age, but also could be directed towards those who are involved with politics and the tax revenue
services, and who direct where tax payers money goes. The other members of my group felt this
was an interesting question and was worth investigating.
The Playing Field: At the moment, I have no specific resources available to me, besides the
internet and the library. There are likely studies and statistics, as well as records of what finances

are required to make this idea a reality. The majority of countries that offer free public college
are European countries, so that will be my main location of information.
Resources: As Stated above, the majority of my resources will come from the internet and
library, and they will likely all pertain to European countries. I think the largest challenge I will
face is finding a way to translate the information I can find about European countries and relate it
to Americas current financial and higher education status.
Qualifications: At the moment, the qualifications of my group are unknown to me. It doesnt
appear that anyone in my group has any specific insight that could benefit my research on my
topic.
Project Needs: I think my greatest need will be finding information that I can accurately relate
to Americas situation, and it accurately represent the differences between European countries
which offer free public college, and the United States. My goals for my writing will be to again,
accurately represent the differences between the two sides of public education.

Free Public Higher Education- Draft Copied from WN

In the United States, It costs the average student an incredulous amount of money to attend a
public university or college. To earn a degree, many students take out loans so that they can
afford to attend college. While this is a respectable and earnest way to go about achieving a
higher education, it leaves graduates with massive amounts of debt, little of which they are able
to pay off. Graduates then spend their next 20 years of life paying off their student loans. This is
a problem because it is crippling our (my) generations economy and financial status. This is a
serious problem, because it is likely a solvable one. The problem is buried within how our
country creates functioning members of society, and the extrinsic value placed on a degree. Other
countries, specifically European countries, are able to provide free public education because of
specific conditions that do not exist within the United States. These conditions likely could exist
within the United States, but would take a large span of time to truly implement because of the
great difference in population size and economy status between the United States, and European
Countries.

European countries, like Germany, are able to provide free public higher education because they
have implemented a different system of creating jobs and job training. In Germany, there exists
vocational training, in the form of apprenticeships. Those who do not attend university, enter the
work force as an apprentice in a specific field. This way, those who do not endeavor to earn a
degree from a university, are still valuable to the economy and work force.

Preface

My challenge with this essay was finding sources that could back up the points I was making. I
wrote this paper relying heavily on my own opinion and information. Aside from that, I just had
to establish my ideas and solutions in a manner that was understandable and exact to what I had
to say. I predict you will comment on my lack of sources, and general scattered-ness of my paper.
I chose to add only graphs as images in my paper, because I felt like adding things like clip art
was useless. In regard to my tone, I felt I was expressive, but not overly biased.

The Problem with Free Tuition

In the United States, It costs the average student an incredulous amount of money to attend a
public university or college. To earn a degree, many students take out loans so that they can
afford to attend college. While this is a respectable and earnest way to go about achieving a
higher education, it leaves graduates with massive amounts of debt, little of which they are able
to pay off. Graduates then spend their next 20 years of life paying off their student loans. This is
a problem because it is crippling our (my) generations economy and financial status. This is a
serious problem, because it is likely a solvable one. The problem is buried within how our
country creates functioning members of society, and the extrinsic value placed on a degree. Other
countries, specifically European countries, are able to provide free public education because of
specific conditions that do not exist within the United States. These conditions likely could exist
within the United States, but would take a large span of time to truly implement because of the
great difference in population size and economy status between the United States, and European
Countries.
The problem is the stigma that surrounds earning a college degree. This is a problem because
society has placed a value on a college degree, and created an illusion of it being a gateway to
success which in some ways, it is. But because of this false sense of value, many people,
specifically my peer group, feel they absolutely must attend college. To attend college, the
majority of my generation has to take on student loan debt. This situation is a spider web of
problems, but I feel they all originate in the idea that success is not achievable without a college
degree.

This situation severely affects people in my own peer group, being college students, but its
burden extends beyond graduation.

Figure 1- Student Loan from 1993-2015

Student Loan Debt weighs on graduates for years after they have left school. The average college
graduate will owe $28, 950 in student loan debt. (ticas).
This problem is solvable, but it requires a multi-faceted approach, as the steps to solving this
problem are not simple. Free public college could become possible if changes were made to the
United States tax system, its economy, the working classes and how they function, and the
curriculum of primary education.
European countries, like Germany, are able to provide free public higher education because they
have implemented a different system of creating jobs and job training. In Germany, there exists
vocational training, in the form of apprenticeships. Those who do not attend university, enter the
work force as an apprentice in a specific field (Business Insider). This way, those who do not
endeavor to earn a degree from a university, are still valuable to the economy and work force.

Figure 2- US Corporate Tax Rates 1947-2011

The greatest culprit of prohibiting free tuition is actually large corporations, from a financial
stand point. If corporations were to pay taxes at the same rate at which they paid them in 1961,
not only could the countrys national debt be eliminated, but homeless and college tuition could
also be ended (Julani).
In this years candidacy for the presidential election, candidate Bernie Sanders has repeatedly
preached his desire to implement free college tuition. Met by ridicule, his plans are not as
unrealistic as they initially appear. If we were to raise the rate at which the upper classes and
corporations are taxed, then we could indeed implement free college tuition. However, is this the
solution that the United States needs? I dont think so.
If college tuition were to be eliminated, it would open a floodgate for almost all capable
members of society to attend college and receive a higher education. On the surface level, this
seems wonderful and as if it were the answer to our countrys problem of it being difficult to earn
a job without a college degree. However, from my research, and of my own opinion, I have
found that eliminating college tuition is not the answer to the problem of creating a better
functioning and educated society. What I feel the solution is, is to make attending public
universities more difficult, therefore reducing the size of the institutions, and increasing the value
of the degree. This seems aligned with my previous statement on the stigma of college degrees,

but that is because it is only the first step. After the amount of people attending universities is
decreased, the curriculum in primary schools must change so that more vocational education is
taught. In addition to this, a system similar to the one in Germany must be implemented so that
those who chose to not attend college, still have the opportunity to be a functioning member of
society. The idea that everyone should attend college is what is fueling student loan debt. When
we create a cultural norm of it being equally viable to become a member of the work force after
the primary education is finished, we will then be able to find a balance between blue collar an
white collar work, and a balance between those with and without college degrees
The situation with my generation is that we all feel the need to go to college. It has become a
societal norm; once you graduate high school, you must attend college. If we replace that norm
with separate and viable options, we will then decrease student debt, by reducing the amount of
people who attend universities. When the amounts of people attending universities decreases, the
easier it will be for the federal government to better fund those institutions.
At the end of this, the solution will be for only those capable of attending college, to attend
college. And those who choose otherwise, or are unable because of non-financial restraints, will
join the workforce via vocational training and apprenticeships. This will eliminate the societal
expectation of attending university directly after graduating high school. Whether or not this
could be ever implemented in the United States will likely always be speculation.

Citations
Zaid Julani. "If Corporations And The Rich Paid Taxes At The Same Level As The 1960s, The Debt
Would Disappear." Think Progress. N.p., 25 July 2011. Web.
Jackson, Abby. "Free' College in Europe Isn't Really Free." Business Insider. N.p., 25 June 2015.
Web.
Sparshott, Jeffrey. "Congratulations, Class of 2015. Youre the Most Indebted Ever (For Now)." Wall
Street Journal. N.p., 8 May 2015. Web
"Corporate Tax in the United States." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.