Thesis Statement: For millions of young people rising college costs are putting the American dream on hold or out of reach, the United States government needs to pay the full tuition for every high school graduate to go to college.

  1. Intro: College tuition and fees have increased 1120% since records began in 1978, far outpacing the price of inflation. (Bloomberg)

  2. Body: The United States, as a whole, needs to find a way to make college more affordable for everybody.

    1. College by Income

      1. There is a vast inequality between the have and have-nots. We need to further narrow educational inequalities by understanding that these inequalities exist

      2. It is a well-known fact that children from affluent families tend to do better in school.

      3. Yet the income divide has received far less attention from policy makers and government officials than gaps in student accomplishment by race.

      4. Affirmative action is all but dead in United States universities. Lost in the debate of affirmative action is a simple fact, income not race, is a real determining factor in higher education today. Millions of kids are not attending college. Not because they are unqualified, but because they simply cannot afford it.

        1. Families that earn in the top 25% of income in the United States send 80% oftheir children to college. Of the bottom 25% of income earners in the US less than 10% of the children go to college

        2. Family income is the new predictor of a childs future achievement. Educationshould be the great equalizer in American society. Education can lift less advantaged children and improve their chances for lifetime success as adults. The achievement gap between rich and poor is the new racism in the United States

    2. College as a Culture

      1. There are major advantages for students from families with more economic resources.

      2. Wealthy parents can invest more time and money in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors and weekend SAT prep classes

      3. Why are children from privileged backgrounds more successful in school? Why do these advantages persist over time? These are complex moral dilemmas. Over time, cultural and social differences combine to preserve privilege across many generations. Unequal school financing across school districts is also unfair.


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    4. Reasons We Need More College Grads As a nation, we need more college graduates in order to stay competitive in the global economy

      1. 85% of Forbes' 2012 America's 400 Richest People list were college grads.

      2. Based on economy and job projections calculated by Georgetown University, in 2018, approximately 63% of jobs will require some college education or a degree

    5. Better for Society as a Whole: People who do not go to college are more likely to be unemployed and, therefore, place undue financial strain on society, making a college degree worth it to taxpayers.

      1. In Apr. 2013 the unemployment rate for college graduates over 25 years old was 3.6% compared to 7.5% forhigh school graduates. The median income for families headed by a bachelor's degree holder was $100,096 in 2011 — more than double than that for a family headed by a high school graduate.

      2. Young people "not engaged in employment/education or training," are called NEET by the US govt., are more likely to receive welfare than youth in general, they are more likely to commit crimes, and they are more likely to receive public health care, all costing the government extra money.

      3. In total, each NEET youth between the ages of 16 and 25 impose a $51,350 financial burden on society per year, and after the person is 25 he or she will impose a financial burden of $699,770.

      4. The total cost of 6.7% of the US population being NEET youth is $4.75 trillion, which is comparable to half of the US public debt.

      5. So it simply makes financial sense for the US government to finance educationfor everybody.

    6. College debt Is Crippling the Nation

      1. On Feb. 3, 2012, an advisory council to the Federal Reserve also warned that the growth in student debt "has parallels to the housing crisis." As of Jan. 2013, the rate of default on student loans hit 15.1%--a nearly 22% increase since 2007.

      2. Between 2003 and 2012 the number of 25-year-olds with student debt increased from 25% to 43%. Their average loan balance was $20,326 in 2012--a 91% increase since 2003.

      3. According to the US Congress Joint Economic Committee, approximately 60% of 011 college graduates have student loan debt balances equal to 60% of their annual income.

      4. student loan debt now tops credit card debt among Americans.

      5. prices are rising rapidly for higher education because of the predominant role of third-party payments -- federal student loans and grants, state government support for institutions and students, private philanthropic gifts and endowment income.

      6. When some else is paying a lot of the bills, students are less sensitive to the price, thus allowing the colleges to care less about keeping prices under control. And the nonprofit nature of institutions reduces incentives for colleges and universities to be efficient.

  3. Conclusion so what can we do? The government already subsidizes education for many people the time has come for the American government to simply pay for every single high school senior to go to college, in the long run it will make the entire nation richer. Make college not part of the American dream but part of the American reality.

"...The richest nation on Earth has never allocated enough resources to build sufficient schools, to compensate adequately its teachers, and to surround them with the prestige our work justifies. We squander funds on highways, on the frenetic pursuit of recreation, on the overabundance of overkill armament, but we pauperize education." From a speech given by Martin Luther Kingon March 14, 1964, when he accepted the John Dewey Award from the United Federation of Teachers