As college debts have taken an upswing enormously in the past decade overburdening students and parents alike, U.S. President Barack Obama's presidency took the initiative to counter the cost of education to Americans. "America's College Promise" aimed at making community colleges completely free, an idea noble enough but simultaneously seemed too good to be true.
The former socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the leading democratic contender Hillary Clinton have also been advocating similar proposals behind their political campaigns, following the footsteps of Barack Obama. According to University Star, President Obama sought for "the first two years of community college free, for everybody who is willing to work for it."
The said scheme deemed applicable for all those students enrolled at a minimum of half-time. It's also applicable to those who have scored at least a 2.5 GPA.
The only limitation to America's College Promise is that it'll be implemented only in states that have conformed to its legislation. Most of the incurring budget would be catered by the Federal government, whereas the remaining tuition costs are to be accommodated by the respective states.
With that said, college tuition still wouldn't be free of cost. Its burden will be lifted off from students' shoulders but nonetheless, someone ultimately has to bear the brunt of this so-called "free-education."
This echoes both Clinton and Sander's blueprints, where all community colleges would be free to attend. But those students belonging to families under the $125,000 annual income mark would attain cost-free tuition in their respective state's public universities.
It may seem logical to enact on these initiatives but if they were to become a reality the fallout would far exceed the benefit. It was said that Obama's plan to rid tuition at community college level would cost the U.S $60 billion over a whole decade, whereas Clinton's proposal would reach a titanic value of $350 billion in ten years.
Even though brainstorming may seem appealing, executing these ideas into practical systems is far easier said than done. According to the Business Insider, countries like Sweden, France and Germany, which offer free college education, are few in number but their high levels of federal tax rates allow free-college initiatives to bear fruit. If the same results are to be attained in the United States on a practical level, the federal government will have to raise its taxation from 31.5 to 50 percent, just like the aforementioned countries.
