Who pays for this free tuition?
The government? Wall Street?
A recent article “I’m A College Student Who Is Against Free Tuition” is dedicated to this issue. While scrolling through the comments, I became bothered by some conditions proposed.
Right, there are many smart individuals who cannot obtain scholarships to afford college. But is it really to afford college, or afford the college they want? There is a difference between receiving a college education, and attending the college of one’s own choosing.
Financial aid is offered to low income families. The table below from the IRS shows the qualifications for EIC, a federal tax refund for low income families and individuals. Generally speaking, one would be considered a member of a low income family if the qualification applies.
In NYC, the Federal Grant and State Grant can max up to $10,000 for low income family students. The City University students generally pay less than $5,000 a semester, and international students pay less than $10,000 a semester. Maybe some of these students did have the grades to attend the so called “better” colleges, and couldn’t afford them. But they are in college, affordable college, and on track for a college degree. Yes, they may have gone to a “better” college if there is free tuition, but who is going to pay for this?
Yes, there are many students who have been admitted to the college of their choice, but couldn’t attend due to expensive tuition. But that’s just the unfairness of society and capitalistic America. If you’re not on the same starting line as some, you’d have to work harder than all to then, perhaps, be able to keep up with their pace.
I saw a comment on a post related to free tuition. Somewhere along the lines of, if someone is receiving thousands for a college degree, then someone else is paying thousands for something they are not getting.
Tax wall street. Tax the wealthy. Why? Because they have the money to be taxed? Would anyone want to take an extra, let’s say, 3 percent, out of their income to pay for something they aren’t getting? If you make $30,000 a year, you would want to purchase an apartment for maybe $120,000. If you make $50,000 a year, you would want to purchase an apartment for, say, $150,000 or more. Few ever think they have “enough” money to spend, and those who do sometimes choose to share it with society and donate to charities or establish scholarships.
Disregard the reasoning behind free tuition, and take a look at the tax bracket for year 2015 for a brief moment.
If your household makes $51,000 (median salary of the US), you would be receiving $44,272. Affordable housing is considered less than 30 percent of the total income, which would be $15,300 a year, but count it as $10,000 for the sake of this calculation. There would be around $34,000 for utilities, groceries, medical insurance, and other expenses.
Everyone wants to be on the receiving end of things, and complains about it when it doesn’t happen. But for anyone to be on the receiving end, there has to be a giving end. Who should be on the giving end?
