Q: Agree or disagree with the argument that university tuition should be free of charge for all qualified students.
A Seemingly “Golden Opportunity”: Free Tuition
by Lisa Simpson
My African friend told me that thanks to full scholarship at an American university, she can study abroad and can represent her tribe internationally. In her whole tribe, she is the only person who is having a university education. For this reason, she believes free tuition is a path to grabbing a golden opportunity and should be allowed for all qualified students. Although free tuition can relieve financial burdens of students from low-income families, applying it to all qualified students can be unproductive for two main reasons.
Above all, if tuition were free, students would be less motivated to study hard. In my case, I study hard, thinking of the substantial amount of money my parents had to pay for my university. I feel that making the most of my university education through hard work is the way to compensate for the value of money my parents spent. Also, when I taught some adults and teenagers for free, students were irresponsible with their assignments and tended to skip classes. I realized that they were not motivated because they did not need to think of money they might be wasting. That is to say, paying tuition is, in a sense, making a commitment by exchanging value—money—for education. In doing so, students become serious about their study.
What is more, paying tuition is significant in terms of getting high quality education. If students do not pay tuition, doing so would limit money that can be spent on hiring qualified professors. Some successful scholars might refuse the job offer of a university just because the salary is low. Also, lack of money might lead a university to close some labs and museums, which are too expensive to maintain. Besides, university might not be able to purchase enough educational resources for classrooms, libraries, and school websites. Moreover, without tuition income, schools cannot fund many research projects—collaboration of students and professors.
To conclude, although free tuition could provide a chance of education to students who are from disenfranchised families, making tuition free for all students would have negative consequences: students would not work hard in class, and schools would not respond to need of forging the best educational environment. Enabling free education for all students, like a golden apple, might excite many students, but once it is applied (or once the apple is eaten), it might have a rotten outcome—like the rotten flesh of an apple.