With election season in full swing and political hopefuls spouting their policies and ideals, Americans across the nation are looking for a candidate that best meets their needs. Young Americans are rallying around candidates with strong environmental, domestic and education policy. For many, a lack of a stance on that third point can break a candidate.
Free public universities are important to many people across the nation due to the massive student loan crisis—student debt in the United States has reached a staggering 1.6 trillion. As other nations hurried to either reduce or completely eliminate university costs, costs in America have been increasing year after year.
The movement for free universities has existed for a long time, but was propelled into the limelight by Sen. Bernie Sanders in his 2016 presidential run. Ever since then, many politicians have tried their hand at policy both at the state and national level.
Critics of the free university movement always cite the prohibitive costs. Sen. Brian Schatz from Hawaii has put up a 90 billion dollar first year price tag on his policy for nationwide free university, and while his plan happens to be an outlier—Sen. Bernie Sanders’s plan has that figure hovering around 47 billion—these figures are high nonetheless.
Politicians also differ on what route they want to take in bringing in said revenue, some have highlighted that they would balance the budget, others have said that they would undo the tax cuts instituted by President Trump. Some have suggested taxing the rich directly.
Straying away from nationwide change, many states are also trying their hand at the process. Twenty states across the nation have propped up different initiatives to help out these graduates and those just getting into the process but these initiatives still don’t hit the mark in that they do not provide enough support to those who need it the most.
Many of these initiatives target tuition as the primary cause of the student debt crisis and aim to reduce the costs for students going in but for many, due to government aid, the cost of tuition is heavily decreased. What ends up becoming the issue for these university hopefuls is the cost of living associated with attending institutes of higher education; from every level, starting at community college to four year private universities, the cost of room and board continues to be a determining factor as to why so many students from less fortunate backgrounds struggle with debt.
Free university proposals from the state to the federal level are great, as they foster a discussion that leads to changes that severely impact the lives of many for the better. But there is an inherent disarray in the direction that this conversation is going. For the better good of the next generation, hopefully the leading figures in this debacle come up with a plan that best addresses everyone’s needs.
Article by Yeabsira Moges of Wheaton High School
Graphic by Claire Yang of Winston Churchill High School