Anyone paying attention to the news would know that education is a hot topic right now. First of all, Obama recently mentioned it in the State of the Union Address. He proposed that the first two years of community college should be free. But the real question is, will it provide the proper outcome expected? In my personal opinion the answer is no.
I agree that higher education is really important. However, I don't think that making it free is the solution we need. Community college would provide the education needed for better jobs but that doesn't mean that there will be jobs ready for the graduates. This is the flaw in Obama's proposal. A higher education would prepare people for better jobs but just merely having the credentials won't create jobs. The purpose of going to college is to provide the training experience to secure a higher paying job to make providing for yourself and others easier.
Yet another reason why community college should not be free is that paying for college provides an incentive for the student to take the course seriously. If you are going to spend your money on something, you might as well get your money's worth, right? You wouldn't want to purchase a car and only drive it once, you want to drive it all the time so you know your money was well spent. The same general concept applies to how you spend your money on college.
This reason can be seen by the experience of Thomas W. Miller, Jr. Miller taught a week long course at a University in Paris an explains how different the behaviors of the students were. The students in Paris would be on their phones or walk in and out of class while most students in the United States are respectful of their professors and were attentive. Miller talked to his students about the issue and he realized that since his students in Paris payed little money for college, they didn't value it as much. He posed the question " so why should I expect them to value it?". And I agree with Miller. If you are not paying for something, there isn't as much motivation as there would be if you were.
I feel that free community college is to extensive. Instead, college prices should be lowered. This would cause people to still work towards their goals and provide an incentive for students to strive for the best they can do. Meanwhile, the government needs to work on producing more employment opportunities for our graduates.
Miller's Experience
I completely agree with your blog! Your blog incorporated many good examples, which made it very persuasive. Not only did you successfully use logic to support your statements, but we could hear your voice throughout the entire blog. Also, your use of a rhetorical question really got me thinking about the proposal, proving that you effectively used the question. Lastly, I really like how you added your opinion on what should be done instead of offering free college. The last paragraph showed your voice again and it was a good ending paragraph, because it proposed a call-to-action that got the reader wanting to make a change too.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you. Even though the thought of having free college sounds amazing the actual costs of it is quite detrimental. Like you said, free college will interfere with the jobs and how there won't be any left if there is an influx of graduates. I think that if community college was free then it would be thought the same as public schooling and the students wouldn't be as willing to participate and get involved in the classes. I also think that paying for college helps to prepare the student for adult life, making them more financially responsible. Like your rhetorical question provoked me to think, I have a question too. Who would actually be paying for the college? It would be the taxpaying citizens, so you would have to qualify to get free college, not everyone would be able to get this experience. Lastly, I like how you put your own input in about how the prices should be lowered instead of being cut, it really adds a touch of you're voice which helps to make your argument more persuasive.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the ideas in your blog post. This was such an interesting topic to write about! I especially agree with your point that paying for college gives you motivation to take college seriously and to work hard. To add an idea of my own, I do not think it's fair to make college free for everyone when some students work harder than others to get into college. I really like the way you introduced your topic, by stating you heard in it President Obama's State of the Union Address. Also in the first paragraph, I liked how you used a rhetorical question to grab the audience's attention and to engage their thinking. In the fourth paragraph, I liked how you provided an example from Miller. I think it built up your ethos by providing information about his position. Finally, I enjoyed how you made a compromise in the last paragraph when you said that instead of college being free, the price should be lowered. I think it's sophisticated that you provided an alternative to Obama's proposal. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your topic. At first I thought that free college would be a good thing; especially for anyone who is financially unable to pay for College. The further I read into your blog the more I realized I was wrong. The idea of free college is nice but the reality of it is weak. I noticed your use of voice was very evident I your blog and I felt that helped further your argument. Your uses of evidence instead of just relying on your own opinion also helped further your argument. I believe you picked a very interesting current issue and executed it with ease. Nice voice and use of rhetorical questions. Overall good blog and topic.
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