I recently read Alyssa Sicko's article on why she is opposed to the idea of free tuition. I shared said article on Facebook where I ultimately sparked a debate between my friends and me.

On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a plan that would make New York public colleges free for in-state students whose families earn $125,000 or less as their annual income. The plan once approved, would provide students with an additional scholarship to supplement current state and federal aid so that qualified students could attend two or four-year SUNY and CUNY colleges tuition-free.

College can be considered a privilege,but I believe that if one wants to continue their education after high school they have every right to go to college. The idea of continued education after high school, such as attendance to a 2 or 4-year undergrad college, has become a costly expectation in society. Young adults are pressured into attending, and the ideas of attending a vocational school or pursuing a "gap year" are frowned upon. Everyone should have the ability to attend college, and it should not only be for the people who can afford it outright. There are plenty of brilliant and hardworking individuals who want to, and deserve to, continue their education but unfortunately cannot due to the extreme expenses. Likewise, there are plenty of wealthy individuals who do not work hard and use their money to get whatever they desire.

I am for the idea of free tuition, but I do think that there should be some stipulations in regards to who receives it and how. I worked hard to get where I am, starting in high school where I was ranked 6th in my class in addition to being on the Honor Roll each quarter and a member of a multitude of extracurricular activities, to applying and getting accepted into college, to currently holding a work-study job as a dual-major with an average GPA of 3.7. I have applied to countless scholarships, both through my school and from other organizations. Though it will not be fair to all of the hardworking and driven individuals if they were to receive free tuition, as well as the slackers whose greatest accomplishments are winning beer pong and getting a C instead of D. Now I am not saying that all those who party are slackers and do not receive good grades, but I am trying to say that why should the below-average scholars attending college reap the same benefits of free tuition as the hard-working and driven scholars? To those who prioritized their education, the idea of a proposal for free tuition is a dream come true. An acquaintance of mine, actually my boyfriend's best friend, has chosen to not attend college, not even a 2-year community college because he did not wish to burden his parents anymore. Despite not being what he wanted to do after high school, my friend has procured a steady job where he was recently promoted and is currently looking to move into an apartment so that he does not burden his parents anymore by living with them. Are you seeing a theme? Because I sure am. Just the idea of free tuition symbolizes hope.

Governor Cuomo has already enacted a similar program, specialized to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students who attend SUNY and CUNY schools, called the New York State STEM Incentive Program which is supposed to "encourage the best and brightest high school students to pursue high-demand, high-tech careers and build their future in New York" by providing a full-ride tuition scholarship to a SUNY or CUNY school for "top performing" students who pursue and work in the STEM field for five years after graduation.

"By helping New York's best and brightest students launch their careers in-state and in STEM fields, we are laying the foundation for a truly world-class workforce" -Governor Andrew Cuomo.

So what I do not understand is why the proposal for the idea of "free" tuition for SUNY/CUNY students is so opposed and heatedly debated when some of the students already receive free tuition and there wasn't a huge fuss about that. If anything, I believe that Cuomo should enact a similar program with this proposal for free tuition.College should be made free, or least more acccesible to every individual because education at all levels is never a privilege- it is a human right as stated in Article 26 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights:

"Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit."

The belief that education is a privilege, reserved only for those who can financially afford it, is the basis of a lot of the world's issues and a reason why people are so opposed to the idea of free tuition for students when it will ultimately benefit society in the long run. Society needs to stop oppressing the future generations simply because of the idea that we do not work hard enough or because of the fact that older generations did not have the opportunity for such benefits, then neither should future generations. To quote Andrew Cuomo, "The rule of the game as that everybody has a fair shot at success. That is America".

A college degree may be earned, but we should be granting everyone an equal opportunity to earn it.