colummnist naaman hightower.
It’s said that there is no such thing as a free ride.
Bernie Sanders seems to believe different. Early in his presidential campaign, the Brooklyn born nominee announced his S. 1373 College for All act. Under this act, all public institutions of higher learning would be free for the public.
Striving to bypass the cost of learning in the United States, this act would enable the ability to hire more professors, give students more career opportunities and further our youth as a whole.
It sounds good, but is it realistic? Erasing college tuition at every public institution for undergraduate education is a little bit of a stretch, Mr. Sanders.
Yet, he poses a good point.
“Why do we accept a situation where hundreds of thousands of qualified people are unable to go to college because their families don’t have enough money?” he asks.
What Sanders proposes is his idea of helping the less fortunate. While I agree with his sentiments toward wanting to give more opportunity, I disapprove.
The only way anything in life is cherished is if it’s fought for. Some know the saying, “Without struggle, there is no success.” A free education sounds great, but will it help more students graduate on time?
flickr.com
At Sonoma State, we have a 93 percent acceptance rate, but a 53 percent graduation rate. If people are not taking advantage of the opportunity to educate themselves while having to pay tuition or take out student loans, will making tuition-free schooling assist that?
Sanders is trying to open the dialogue on the lack of opportunity given to lower-income populations. The wealthiest people in the entire world are able to have access to higher education of some sort. Take a peek at the Forbes List, if you don’t believe me. You have Warren Buffet attending Columbia, Bill Gates accepted to Harvard, along with Jeff Bezos going to Princeton and the list echos.
The connection between wealth and education is relevant, and Sanders’ proposed legislation brings it to the forefront.
Meanwhile, rival Hillary Clinton feels differently. She has publicly spoken out against giving free college tuition to “Donald Trump’s kids,” i.e. wealthy children who don’t necessarily have the same financial struggles as everyone else.
Clinton recounts her own story of taking out student loans while working her way through school at Yale.
She proposes a debt free tuition at the community college level. This opens the door foreducation, but ensures that struggle (in the form of student loans or working) will be needed to get anywhere after the community college.
The underlying point for this generation of young adults is hard work. In a world whereiPhones and luxury cars are bought for 16-year-old seniors in high school, struggle has been absent in lives of our future leaders in America. Furthering yourself in life has to be earned.
