By Melanie Fearon ’27
“Over the past 35 years, college tuition at public universities has nearly quadrupled, to $9,139 in 2014 dollars” (Campos). While this can be seen as a problem, the solution is not lowering tuition fees. The prices of college tuition fees should not be lowered in general. Tuition fees are essential in maintaining the value of higher education, preventing burden on taxpayers, and ensuring students are motivated to graduate from college.
To start, tuition fees remain a value in higher education. For instance, “With the increased number of college graduates, salaries requiring associate or bachelor’s degrees would drop” (Dokson). More evidence shows, “With each higher level of education comes higher salaries. For example, high school graduates earn an average of $30,000 per year. Those with bachelor’s degrees earn around $50,000, and graduates with a master’s earn around $70,000” (Here are the Pros and Cons of Lowering College Tuition). Cheap tuition would cause an increase in graduation rates, decreasing the value of salaries that require higher-level education.
To continue, tuition fees prevent burden on taxpayers. One article claims, “With ‘free college,’ still more of our limited resources would be drawn into higher education, but the cost would be spread out over the taxpaying public” (Leef). Another article says, “Public institutions receive government funding. If colleges were to become free, taxes across the board would increase, and the middle class would receive the majority of this. Those who did not attend college, or couldn’t afford it, may not want to pay for someone else’s education” (Dokson). Both quotes explain that the cost of college tuition would be forced onto taxpayers in the United States. Middle-class individuals would then carry this burden, struggling the most with it. Eventually, these problems regarding college tuition would force tuition prices to be raised again.
Finally, tuition fees are essential in ensuring students are motivated to graduate from college. Experts believe “people might feel unmotivated to take their education seriously since their money isn’t on the line” (Castellano). To continue, “If college were to become free, this statistic would very likely drop because students would think of college as similar to high school and not be as motivated to graduate” (Dokson). These quotes further explain that free college gives students nothing to lose. Without the worry of wasted money, people won’t take college seriously and will have little motivation to graduate; college will be treated as a lower form of education.
From another point of view, college tuition should be free or lowered. Bryce Covert says, “Those further down the income scale would benefit the most if public institutions were free” (Covert). He adds, “It would be more efficient to simply eliminate public college tuition than to spend all that money propping up institutions through a maze of grants and tax breaks” (Covert). This evidence shows that less-wealthy families would benefit from free college, eliminating issues of debt. Additionally, it’s easier to eliminate college tuition as a whole instead of spending money on grants for the public.
This is all true. However, grants and tax breaks are better than eliminating college tuition as a whole because they benefit lower-income families by preventing overwhelming debt from college. This provides financial relief while ensuring the quality of education.
To conclude, the prices of college tuition fees should not be lowered. Tuition fees are essential in maintaining the value of higher education, preventing burden on taxpayers, and ensuring students are motivated to graduate from college. Lower college tuition would ultimately result in more problems than solutions, and would not resolve issues regarding education prices.
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Works Cited
Campos, Paul F. “Opinion | The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much (Published 2015).” The New York Times, 4 April 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/opinion/sunday/the-real-reason-college-tuition-costs-so-much.html?searchResultPosition=1. Accessed 12 May 2025.
Castellano, Kaitlyn, et al. “The Pros and Cons of Having Free College Education for All – The Outlook.” The Outlook, 6 February 2024, https://outlook.monmouth.edu/2024/02/the-pros-and-cons-of-having-free-college-education-for-all/. Accessed 12 May 2025.
Covert, Bryce. “Why Public College Should Be Free.” The Nation, The Nation, 19 December 2019, https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/public-college-buttigieg-tuition/. Accessed 12 May 2025.
Dokson, Ryan. “Free College is Not the Answer – Eagle Media.” Eagle Media, https://eaglenews.org/29701/opinion/free-college-is-not-as-good-of-an-idea-as-you-think/. Accessed 12 May 2025.
“Here are the Pros and Cons of Lowering College Tuition.” UoPeople, 27 November 2024, https://www.uopeople.edu/blog/pros-and-cons-of-lowering-college-tuition/. Accessed 12 May 2025.Leef, George. “Why ‘Free College’ is a Terrible Idea – The Daily Economy.” The Daily Economy, 20 October 2023,
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