Name: Should College Be Free?
Uploaded: 2015-05-13T01:25:54.000Z
Duration: 2 min 55 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

President Obama wants to give Americans two free years of community college, in part to

help boost the economy. Critics argue that the country is already in a huge amount of

and can’t afford such a program. They also question the effect that this plan will have

the economy. So, what value does this program really offer and how important is it to make

According to the White House, higher education is the best way to climb the socio-economic

ladder. They see education as a way for low income students to break into the middle class

they see growing the middle class as a way to fix our economy. A White House report states,

“The benefits of postsecondary education are well documented and have major implications

for economic growth, equality and social mobility.” A fact that many studies on both sides of

the aisle corroborate, including reports by the left leaning Economic Policy Institute,

Brookings Institute, and the more conservative Heritage Foundation.

However, it’s important to note that the education-economy relationship has been extensively

studied for decades, and no consensus has yet been reached. Studies in the early 2000s

that factors other than increased education, may be more beneficial to economic growth,

like improved personal health and inherited riches. So there is some cause for more study.

Supposing the White House is right and the U.S. economy will benefit from having more

college grads -- Why make higher education free? Well, Obama wants to lower our nations

average student debt, so that college grads have more spending power, which will naturally

put more money directly into the economy. And there is some evidence that a free or

college system could work. Thriving countries like Germany, Finland, Norway, and Sweden,

have already adopted similar systems that offer free or low cost higher education. In

places, GDP is high and unemployment rates are low. So, if the U.S. wanted a model to

new system off of, there are available options.

On the other hand, the world’s most expensive universities in America and the UK dominate

the top ten spots on world university rankings. So, there’s something to be said for both

educational system and a costly private one.

Even without Obama’s proposed legislation, it’s worthwhile in the long-run, to get

degree. Higher levels of education correspond to improved health, a longer lifespan, higher

rates of pay, and lower rates of unemployment. Children of the highly educated also experience

benefits of greater health, cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and lower chances of

To learn more about the state of higher education in the US, watch this video about “What

Happens If You Don’t Pay Off Your Student Loan Debt”. Thanks for watching, and subscribe