The debate about whether high education should be free or not has been debated for decades with compelling arguments on both sides. While some argue that it offers equality among social groups, other individuals believe that it can bring negative consequences for society, particularly for students. The following essay will examine both views, before stating my own opinion.
On the one hand, proponents of the former view argue that by making University education free, governments can ensure economic boost and fairness among people. The main reason is that a large number of families from disadvantaged backrounds cannot allow themselves higher education because of its excessively high costs. Consequently, many talanted individuals are being not able to study at Universities because of the economic backrounds, but making high education fully free can hugely reduce imbalance between peoole. For example, in Asian countries, such as China and India, there were excessively high levels of inequality, before crrating support programs for students from low-economic backrounds. As a result, a large number of educated individuals lead to creating new job places, thereby helping boost economy and reduce inequality.
On the other hand, advocates of the latter opinion believe that reduced income from tuition fees may have negative effects on students themselves. One reason for this is that making higer education completely free will encourage governments to allocate less money for Universities and other social programs, as a considerable amount of state’s budget comes from students’ fees. As a result, the quality of education and healthcare may lower because of not sufficent funding.
In conclusion, while non-paind education can fight inequality, it can also hamper the effectiveness of high education and other social services. Personally, although maintaining fairbess among the society poses a huge importance, I am of the opinion that the overall well-being and competiveness of students play a more crucial role.