The choice of whether or not to go to college is a stressful decision as it is. Deciding where to go, what to major in and what scholarships to apply to are all contributing factors in the process. In addition to these, one of the most stressful and anxiety inducing dilemmas that many Americans are faced with is how to pay for college. Taking into consideration tuition fees, room and board, textbooks, the list goes on and on. In order to be able to pay for all of this, a majority of students opt to take out student loans. According to nerdwallet.com, 92 percent of Americans today have gone into debt because of college. By making college tuition free, it would greatly reduce the amount of people with debt and in turn reduce the stress associated with it.
Not only are these people out of money, but according to The Motley Fool, a personal finance website, student loan debt causes more stress and mental health issues than any other kind of debt. A study done in 2019 by a student loan planner concluded that one in 15 students said they considered suicide due to their student loans, and 90 percent of borrowers experience significant anxiety due to their debt.
An article from thebalance.com stated that 51 percent of students were forced to drop out during the 2018-19 school year because of financial issues. The ridiculously high tuition rates for colleges in the United States takes the right to an education away from so many underprivileged people living in this country. Getting rid of tuition fees would substantially reduce the amount of stress experienced by these students.
Some might say that the country does not have the money to afford tuition free college, but little do they know, there are already several tuition free programs in the U.S. For example, schools in Tennessee and Oregon offer free tuition in their community colleges using state funds, and many Ivy league schools such as Harvard and Princeton offer similar financial aid opportunities for middle class families. And on another note, if President Trump can spend up to 1.3 trillion dollars in an attempt to stabilize the stock market, the United States most definitely has money to cover college tuition for public schools.
It has been proven time and time again that student loans cause a tremendous amount of problems for college students, and it follows them throughout their entire lives. If college tuition was free in the United States, then it would significantly drop the amount of stress experienced by students and give them more opportunities for the education they want to pursue.