College is an expensive endeavor in life. One that can cost on average $32,405 per year in tuition for private colleges and $9,410 per year in tuition for public colleges. Whether you pay your way through school by working or scholarships, or your parents are paying for you to go to school, college carries a hefty price tag.
In recent news, some students have started an initiative called Million Student March (http://studentmarch.org). The initiative is a strike put on by students who are demanding that the government increase minimum wage to $15 per hour, cancel all student debt and make public college tuition free. At first, this seems like a grand idea. But then again, if the money is not coming out of our pocket then whose pocket is it going to come out of? In the case of these students putting on the strike, they believe that the college debt and tuition should be paid for by increased taxation of citizens of the United States.
Taxes are a part of everybody's life. If you are a resident of the United States of America and hold a job, then you are taxed. But you know what they always say, "you have to spend money, to make money". The government taxes its citizens in order to have a source of revenue to fund things for the good of the country. Now there is taxation on two different levels, state and federal. But for the sake of the argument we are going to focus on federal taxation. Living in a country that was founded when it broke away from unfair taxation without representation, our tax system falls under great scrutiny. Taxation in the United States is based on the income of the individual. Brackets have been developed which calculate the amount of tax that is paid based on income.
As it stands right now, there are 4 different brackets based on filing status of single, married-joint, married-separate, and head of household. Within each bracket there is a proportional amount of taxation that is based on your filing status (aka the bracket) and the amount of income earned by that individual. The taxation in each bracket starts at 10% and increases. There are seven steps within each bracket. Each step above the 10% level then includes the amount of proportional taxation, plus an addition percentage of the income over a certain level. (see http://www.irs.com/articles/2015-federal-tax-rates...).
Now back to the main point, how college is getting paid for. In an interview with Fox News, a member of the million student march, stated that they believe that the rich should pay for tuition. I mean after all they have so much money right? (http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/11/12/cavuto-inter...). While this is true, and there is a percentage of people in America that have a higher income, we are forgetting that taxation is proportional. Lets say for this sake that it is a single individual that is filing his or her taxes with an annual income over $413,20. That individual is already paying 29% of their annual income in taxes, plus an additional 39.6% of the amount that is over $413,201. They are paying almost 1/3 of their income to the government already and yet we want to take more from them? At that point what is to stop them from leaving the country and taking their business elsewhere. The fact is that all the money from the top earning 1% of people in America combined, could not support healthcare for 3 years, let alone pay off student debt and pay for tuition.
The bottom line is that while in theory free college sounds great, it still comes with a cost. For now we will have to continue to be fiscally responsible for our education and realize the balance that hangs in our taxation. Our tax system is like a full plate, and adding education would make it spill.
