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Should College Be Free? The Pros and Cons

Types of Publicly Funded College Tuition Programs

Pros: why college should be free, cons: why college should not be free, what the free college debate means for students, how to cut your college costs now, frequently asked questions (faqs).

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Americans have been debating the wisdom of free college for decades, and more than 30 states now offer some type of free college program. But it wasn't until 2021 that a nationwide free college program came close to becoming reality, re-energizing a longstanding debate over whether or not free college is a good idea. 

And despite a setback for the free-college advocates, the idea is still in play. The Biden administration's free community college proposal was scrapped from the American Families Plan . But close observers say that similar proposals promoting free community college have drawn solid bipartisan support in the past. "Community colleges are one of the relatively few areas where there's support from both Republicans and Democrats," said Tulane economics professor Douglas N. Harris, who has previously consulted with the Biden administration on free college, in an interview with The Balance. 

To get a sense of the various arguments for and against free college, as well as the potential impacts on U.S. students and taxpayers, The Balance combed through studies investigating the design and implementation of publicly funded free tuition programs and spoke with several higher education policy experts. Here's what we learned about the current debate over free college in the U.S.—and more about how you can cut your college costs or even get free tuition through existing programs.

Key Takeaways

• Research shows free tuition programs encourage more students to attend college and increase graduation rates, which creates a better-educated workforce and higher-earning consumers who can help boost the economy. 
• Some programs are criticized for not paying students’ non-tuition expenses, not benefiting students who need assistance most, or steering students toward community college instead of four-year programs.  
• If you want to find out about free programs in your area, the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education has a searchable database. You’ll find the link further down in this article. 

Before diving into the weeds of the free college debate, it's important to note that not all free college programs are alike. Most publicly funded tuition assistance programs are restricted to the first two years of study, typically at community colleges. Free college programs also vary widely in the ways they’re designed, funded, and structured:

• Last-dollar tuition-free programs : These programs cover any remaining tuition after a student has used up other financial aid , such as Pell Grants. Most state-run free college programs fall into this category. However, these programs don’t typically help with room and board or other expenses.
• First-dollar tuition-free programs : These programs pay for students' tuition upfront, although they’re much rarer than last-dollar programs. Any remaining financial aid that a student receives can then be applied to other expenses, such as books and fees. The California College Promise Grant is a first-dollar program because it waives enrollment fees for eligible students.
• Debt-free programs : These programs pay for all of a student's college expenses , including room and board, guaranteeing that they can graduate debt-free. But they’re also much less common, likely due to their expense.  

Proponents often argue that publicly funded college tuition programs eventually pay for themselves, in part by giving students the tools they need to find better jobs and earn higher incomes than they would with a high school education. The anticipated economic impact, they suggest, should help ease concerns about the costs of public financing education. Here’s a closer look at the arguments for free college programs.

A More Educated Workforce Benefits the Economy

Morley Winograd, President of the Campaign for Free College Tuition, points to the economic and tax benefits that result from the higher wages of college grads. "For government, it means more revenue," said Winograd in an interview with The Balance—the more a person earns, the more they will likely pay in taxes . In addition, "the country's economy gets better because the more skilled the workforce this country has, the better [it’s] able to compete globally." Similarly, local economies benefit from a more highly educated, better-paid workforce because higher earners have more to spend. "That's how the economy grows," Winograd explained, “by increasing disposable income."

According to Harris, the return on a government’s investment in free college can be substantial. "The additional finding of our analysis was that these things seem to consistently pass a cost-benefit analysis," he said. "The benefits seem to be at least double the cost in the long run when we look at the increased college attainment and the earnings that go along with that, relative to the cost and the additional funding and resources that go into them." 

Free College Programs Encourage More Students to Attend

Convincing students from underprivileged backgrounds to take a chance on college can be a challenge, particularly when students are worried about overextending themselves financially. But free college programs tend to have more success in persuading students to consider going, said Winograd, in part because they address students' fears that they can't afford higher education . "People who wouldn't otherwise think that they could go to college, or who think the reason they can't is [that] it's too expensive, [will] stop, pay attention, listen, decide it's an opportunity they want to take advantage of, and enroll," he said.

According to Harris, students also appear to like the certainty and simplicity of the free college message. "They didn't want to have to worry that next year they were not going to have enough money to pay their tuition bill," he said. "They don't know what their finances are going to look like a few months down the road, let alone next year, and it takes a while to get a degree. So that matters." 

Free college programs can also help send "a clear and tangible message" to students and their families that a college education is attainable for them, said Michelle Dimino, an Education Director with Third Way. This kind of messaging is especially important to first-generation and low-income students, she said. 

Free College Increases Graduation Rates and Financial Security

Free tuition programs appear to improve students’ chances of completing college. For example, Harris noted that his research found a meaningful link between free college tuition and higher graduation rates. "What we found is that it did increase college graduation at the two-year college level, so more students graduated than otherwise would have." 

Free college tuition programs also give people a better shot at living a richer, more comfortable life, say advocates. "It's almost an economic necessity to have some college education," noted Winograd. Similar to the way a high school diploma was viewed as crucial in the 20th century, employees are now learning that they need at least two years of college to compete in a global, information-driven economy. "Free community college is a way of making that happen quickly, effectively, and essentially," he explained. 

Free community college isn’t a universally popular idea. While many critics point to the potential costs of funding such programs, others identify issues with the effectiveness and fairness of current attempts to cover students’ college tuition. Here’s a closer look at the concerns about free college programs.

It Would Be Too Expensive

The idea of free community college has come under particular fire from critics who worry about the cost of social spending. Since community colleges aren't nearly as expensive as four-year colleges—often costing thousands of dollars a year—critics argue that individuals can often cover their costs using other forms of financial aid . But, they point out, community college costs would quickly add up when paid for in bulk through a free college program: Biden’s proposed free college plan would have cost $49.6 billion in its first year, according to an analysis from Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Some opponents argue that the funds could be put to better use in other ways, particularly by helping students complete their degrees.

Free College Isn't Really Free

One of the most consistent concerns that people have voiced about free college programs is that they don’t go far enough. Even if a program offers free tuition, students will need to find a way to pay for other college-related expenses , such as books, room and board, transportation, high-speed internet, and, potentially, child care. "Messaging is such a key part of this," said Dimino. Students "may apply or enroll in college, understanding it's going to be free, but then face other unexpected charges along the way." 

It's important for policymakers to consider these factors when designing future free college programs. Otherwise, Dimino and other observers fear that students could potentially wind up worse off if they enroll and invest in attending college and then are forced to drop out due to financial pressures. 

Free College Programs Don’t Help the Students Who Need Them Most

Critics point out that many free college programs are limited by a variety of quirks and restrictions, which can unintentionally shut out deserving students or reward wealthier ones. Most state-funded free college programs are last-dollar programs, which don’t kick in until students have applied financial aid to their tuition. That means these programs offer less support to low-income students who qualify for need-based aid—and more support for higher-income students who don’t.

Community College May Not Be the Best Path for All Students

Some critics also worry that all students will be encouraged to attend community college when some would have been better off at a four-year institution. Four-year colleges tend to have more resources than community colleges and can therefore offer more support to high-need students. 

In addition, some research has shown that students at community colleges are less likely to be academically successful than students at four-year colleges, said Dimino. "Statistically, the data show that there are poorer outcomes for students at community colleges […] such as lower graduation rates and sometimes low transfer rates from two- to four-year schools." 

With Congress focused on other priorities, a nationwide free college program is unlikely to happen anytime soon. However, some states and municipalities offer free tuition programs, so students may be able to access some form of free college, depending on where they live. A good resource is the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s searchable database of Promise Programs , which lists more than 100 free community college programs, though the majority are limited to California residents.

In the meantime, school leaders and policymakers may shift their focus to other access and equity interventions for low-income students. For example, higher education experts Eileen Strempel and Stephen Handel published a book in 2021 titled "Beyond Free College: Making Higher Education Work for 21st Century Students." The book argues that policymakers should focus more strongly on college completion, not just college access. "There hasn't been enough laser-focus on how we actually get people to complete their degrees," noted Strempel in an interview with The Balance. 

Rather than just improving access for low-income college students, Strempel and Handel argue that decision-makers should instead look more closely at the social and economic issues that affect students , such as food and housing insecurity, child care, transportation, and personal technology. For example, "If you don't have a computer, you don't have access to your education anymore," said Strempel. "It's like today's pencil."

Saving money on college costs can be challenging, but you can take steps to reduce your cost of living. For example, if you're interested in a college but haven't yet enrolled, pay close attention to where it's located and how much residents typically pay for major expenses, such as housing, utilities, and food. If the college is located in a high-cost area, it could be tough to justify the living expenses you'll incur. Similarly, if you plan to commute, take the time to check gas or public transportation prices and calculate how much you'll likely have to spend per month to go to and from campus several times a week. 

Now that more colleges offer classes online, it may also be worth looking at lower-cost programs in areas that are farther from where you live, particularly if they allow you to graduate without setting foot on campus. Also, check out state and federal financial aid programs that can help you slim down your expenses, or, in some cases, pay for them completely. Finally, look into need-based and merit-based grants and scholarships that can help you cover even more of your expenses. Also, consider applying to no-loan colleges , which promise to help students graduate without going into debt.

Should community college be free?

It’s a big question with varying viewpoints. Supporters of free community college cite the economic contributions of a more educated workforce and the individual benefit of financial security, while critics caution against the potential expense and the inefficiency of last-dollar free college programs. 

What states offer free college?

More than 30 states offer some type of tuition-free college program, including Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington State. The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education lists over 100 last-dollar community college programs and 16 first-dollar community college programs, though the majority are limited to California residents.

Is there a free college?

There is no such thing as a truly free college education. But some colleges offer free tuition programs for students, and more than 30 states offer some type of tuition-free college program. In addition, students may also want to check out employer-based programs. A number of big employers now offer to pay for their employees' college tuition . Finally, some students may qualify for enough financial aid or scholarships to cover most of their college costs.

Scholarships360. " Which States Offer Tuition-Free Community College? "

The White House. “ Build Back Better Framework ,” see “Bringing Down Costs, Reducing Inflationary Pressures, and Strengthening the Middle Class.”

The White House. “ Fact Sheet: How the Build Back Better Plan Will Create a Better Future for Young Americans ,” see “Education and Workforce Opportunities.”

Coast Community College District. “ California College Promise Grant .”

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “ The Dollars and Cents of Free College ,” see “Biden’s Free College Plan Would Pay for Itself Within 10 Years.”

Third Way. “ Why Free College Could Increase Inequality .”

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. “ The Dollars and Cents of Free College ,” see “Free-College Programs Have Different Effects on Race and Class Equity.”

University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. “ College Promise Programs: A Comprehensive Catalog of College Promise Programs in the United States .”

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Should Higher Education Be Free?

• Vijay Govindarajan
• Jatin Desai

Disruptive new models offer an alternative to expensive tuition.

In the United States, our higher education system is broken. Since 1980, we’ve seen a 400% increase in the cost of higher education, after adjustment for inflation — a higher cost escalation than any other industry, even health care. We have recently passed the trillion dollar mark in student loan debt in the United States.

• Vijay Govindarajan is the Coxe Distinguished Professor at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, and faculty partner at the Silicon Valley incubator Mach 49. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His latest book is Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI Will Power the Industrial Future . His Harvard Business Review articles “ Engineering Reverse Innovations ” and “ Stop the Innovation Wars ” won McKinsey Awards for best article published in HBR. His HBR articles “ How GE Is Disrupting Itself ” and “ The CEO’s Role in Business Model Reinvention ” are HBR all-time top-50 bestsellers. Follow him on LinkedIn . vgovindarajan
• JD Jatin Desai is co-founder and chief executive officer of The Desai Group and the author of  Innovation Engine: Driving Execution for Breakthrough Results .

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Right Now | Subsidy Shuffle

Could College Be Free?

January-February 2020

Illustration by Adam Niklewicz

Email David Deming 

Visit David Deming's website.

Hear David Deming discuss free college on HKS PolicyCast

etting ahead— or getting by—is increasingly difficult in the United States without a college degree. The demand for college education is at an all-time high, but so is the price tag. David Deming—professor of public policy at the Kennedy School and professor of education and economics at the Graduate School of Education—wants to ease that tension by reallocating government spending on higher education to make public colleges tuition-free. 

Deming’s argument is elegant. Public spending on higher education is unique among social services: it is an investment that pays for itself many times over in higher tax revenue generated by future college graduates, a rare example of an economic “free lunch.” In 2016 (the most recent year for which data are available), the United States spent $91 billion subsidizing access to higher education. According to Deming, that spending isn’t as progressive or effective as it could be. The National Center for Education Statistics indicates that it would cost roughly $79 billion a year to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. So, Deming asks, why not redistribute current funds to make public colleges tuition-free, instead of subsidizing higher education in other, roundabout ways? 

Of the estimated $91 billion the nation spends annually on higher education, $37 billion go to tax credits and tax benefits. These tax programs ease the burden of paying for both public and private colleges, but disproportionately benefit middle-class children who are probably going to college anyway. Instead of lowering costs for those students, Deming points out, a progressive public-education assistance program should probably redirect funds to incentivize students to go to college who wouldn’t otherwise consider it. 

Another $13 billion in federal spending subsidize interest payments on student loans for currently enrolled undergraduates. And the remaining $41 billion go to programs that benefit low-income students and military veterans, including $28.4 billion for Pell Grants and similar programs. Pell Grants are demand-side subsidies: they provide cash directly to those who pay for a service, i.e., students; supply-side subsidies (see below) channel funds to suppliers, such as colleges. Deming asserts that Pell Grant money, which travels with students, voucher-style, is increasingly gobbled up by low-quality, for-profit colleges. These colleges are often better at marketing their services than at graduating students or improving their graduates’ prospects, despite being highly subsidized by taxpayers . “The rise of for-profit colleges has, in some ways, been caused by disinvestment in public higher education. Our public university systems were built for a time when 20 percent of young people attended college,” says Deming. “Now it’s more like 60 percent, and we haven’t responded by devoting more resources to ensuring that young people can afford college and succeed when they get there.” As a result, an expensive, for-profit market has filled the educational shortage that government divestment has caused.

The vast majority of states have continuously divested in public education in recent decades, pushing a higher percentage of the cost burden of schools onto students. Deming believes this state-level divestment is the main reason for the precipitous rise in college tuition, which has outpaced the rest of the Consumer Price Index for 30 consecutive years. (Compounding reasons include rising salaries despite a lack of gains in productivity—a feature of many human-service-focused industries such as education and healthcare.) Against this backdrop, Deming writes, “at least some—and perhaps all—of the cost of universal tuition-free public higher education could be defrayed by redeploying money that the government is already spending.” (The need for some funding programs would remain, however, given the cost of room, board, books, and other college supplies.) 

Redirecting current funding to provide tuition-free public-school degrees is only one part of Deming’s proposal. He knows that making public higher education free could hurt the quality of instruction by inciting a race to the bottom, stretching teacher-student ratios and pinching other academic resources. He therefore argues that any tuition-free plan would need to be paired with increased state and federal investment, and programs focused on getting more students to graduate. Because rates of degree completion strongly correlate with per-student spending, Deming proposes introducing a federal matching grant for the first $5,000 of net per-student spending in states that implement free college. “Luckily,” he says, “spending more money is a policy lever we know how to pull.” 

Deming argues that shifting public funding to supply-side subsidies, channeled directly to public institutions, could nudge states to reinvest in public higher education. Such reinvestment would dampen the demand for low-quality, for-profit schools; increase college attendance in low-income communities; and improve the quality of services that public colleges and universities could offer. Early evidence of these positive effects has surfaced in some of the areas that are piloting free college-tuition programs, including the state of Tennessee and the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan. 

Higher education is an odd market because buyers (students) often don’t have good information about school quality and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime decision. Creating a supply-side subsidy system would take some freedom of choice away from prospective undergraduates who want government funding for private, four-year degrees. But, for Deming, that’s a trade-off worth making, if the state is better able to measure the effectiveness of certain colleges and allocate subsidies accordingly. Education is more than the mere acquisition of facts—which anyone can access freely online—because minds, like markets, learn best through feedback. Quality feedback is difficult to scale well without hiring more teachers and ramping up student-support resources. That’s why Deming thinks it’s high time for the public higher-education market to get a serious injection of cash.

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College & Careers

Tuition-free college is critical to our economy

Morley Winograd and Max Lubin

November 2, 2020, 13 comments.

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To rebuild America’s economy in a way that offers everyone an equal chance to get ahead, federal support for free college tuition should be a priority in any economic recovery plan in 2021.

Research shows that the private and public economic benefit of free community college tuition would outweigh the cost. That’s why half of the states in the country already have some form of free college tuition.

The Democratic Party 2020 platform calls for making two years of community college tuition free for all students with a federal/state partnership similar to the Obama administration’s 2015 plan .

It envisions a program as universal and free as K-12 education is today, with all the sustainable benefits such programs (including Social Security and Medicare) enjoy. It also calls for making four years of public college tuition free, again in partnership with states, for students from families making less than $125,000 per year.

The Republican Party didn’t adopt a platform for the 2020 election, deferring to President Trump’s policies, which among other things, stand in opposition to free college. Congressional Republicans, unlike many of their state counterparts, also have not supported free college tuition in the past.

However, it should be noted that the very first state free college tuition program was initiated in 2015 by former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican. Subsequently, such deep red states with Republican majorities in their state legislature such as West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas have adopted similar programs.

Establishing free college tuition benefits for more Americans would be the 21st-century equivalent of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration initiative.

That program not only created immediate work for the unemployed, but also offered skills training for nearly 8 million unskilled workers in the 1930s. Just as we did in the 20th century, by laying the foundation for our current system of universal free high school education and rewarding our World War II veterans with free college tuition to help ease their way back into the workforce, the 21st century system of higher education we build must include the opportunity to attend college tuition-free.

California already has taken big steps to make its community college system, the largest in the nation, tuition free by fully funding its California Promise grant program. But community college is not yet free to all students. Tuition costs — just more than $1,500 for a full course load — are waived for low-income students. Colleges don’t have to spend the Promise funds to cover tuition costs for other students so, at many colleges, students still have to pay tuition.

At the state’s four-year universities, about 60% of students at the California State University and the same share of in-state undergraduates at the 10-campus University of California, attend tuition-free as well, as a result of Cal grants , federal Pell grants and other forms of financial aid.

But making the CSU and UC systems tuition-free for even more students will require funding on a scale that only the federal government is capable of supporting, even if the benefit is only available to students from families that makes less than $125,000 a year.

It is estimated that even without this family income limitation, eliminating tuition for four years at all public colleges and universities for all students would cost taxpayers $79 billion a year, according to U.S. Department of Education data . Consider, however, that the federal government  spent $91 billion  in 2016 on policies that subsidized college attendance. At least some of that could be used to help make public higher education institutions tuition-free in partnership with the states.

Free college tuition programs have proved effective in helping mitigate the system’s current inequities by increasing college enrollment, lowering dependence on student loan debt and improving completion rates , especially among students of color and lower-income students who are often the first in their family to attend college.

In the first year of the TN Promise , community college enrollment in Tennessee increased by 24.7%, causing 4,000 more students to enroll. The percentage of Black students in that state’s community college population increased from 14% to 19% and the proportion of Hispanic students increased from 4% to 5%.

Students who attend community college tuition-free also graduate at higher rates. Tennessee’s first Promise student cohort had a 52.6% success rate compared to only a 38.9% success rate for their non-Promise peers. After two years of free college tuition, Rhode Island’s college-promise program saw its community college graduation rate triple and the graduation rate among students of color increase ninefold.

The impact on student debt is more obvious. Tennessee, for instance, saw its applications for student loans decrease by 17% in the first year of its program, with loan amounts decreasing by 12%. At the same time, Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applications soared, with 40% of the entire nation’s increase in applications originating in that state in the first year of their Promise program.

Wage inequality by education, already dreadful before the pandemic, is getting worse. In May, the unemployment rate among workers without a high school diploma was nearly triple the rate of workers with a bachelor’s degree. No matter what Congress does to provide support to those affected by the pandemic and the ensuing recession, employment prospects for far too many people in our workforce will remain bleak after the pandemic recedes. Today, the fastest growing sectors of the economy are in health care, computers and information technology. To have a real shot at a job in those sectors, workers need a college credential of some form such as an industry-recognized skills certificate or an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.

The surest way to make the proven benefits of higher education available to everyone is to make college tuition-free for low and middle-income students at public colleges, and the federal government should help make that happen.

Morley Winograd is president of the Campaign for Free College Tuition . Max Lubin is CEO of Rise , a student-led nonprofit organization advocating for free college.  

The opinions in this commentary are those of the author. Commentaries published on EdSource represent diverse viewpoints about California’s public education systems. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our  guidelines  and  contact us .

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Genia Curtsinger 2 years ago 2 years ago

Making community college free to those who meet the admission requirements would help many people. First of all, it would make it easy for students and families, for instance; you go to college and have to pay thousands of dollars to get a college education, but if community college is free it would help so you could be saving money and get a college education for free, with no cost at all. It would make … Read More

Making community college free to those who meet the admission requirements would help many people. First of all, it would make it easy for students and families, for instance; you go to college and have to pay thousands of dollars to get a college education, but if community college is free it would help so you could be saving money and get a college education for free, with no cost at all. It would make it more affordable to the student and their families.

Therefore I think people should have free education for those who meet the admission requirements.

nothing 2 years ago 2 years ago

I feel like colleges shouldn’t be completely free, but a lot more affordable for people so everyone can have a chance to have a good college education.

Jaden Wendover 2 years ago 2 years ago

I think all colleges should be free, because why would you pay to learn?

Samantha Cole 2 years ago 2 years ago

I think college should be free because there are a lot of people that want to go to college but they can’t pay for it so they don’t go and end up in jail or working as a waitress or in a convenience store. I know I want to go to college but I can’t because my family doesn’t make enough money to send me to college but my family makes too much for financial aid.

Nick Gurrs 2 years ago 2 years ago

I feel like this subject has a lot of answers, For me personally, I believe tuition and college, in general, should be free because it will help students get out of debt and not have debt, and because it will help people who are struggling in life to get a job and make a living off a job.

NO 3 years ago 3 years ago

I think college tuition should be free. A lot of adults want to go to college and finish their education but can’t partly because they can’t afford to. Some teens need to work at a young age just so they can save money for college which I feel they shouldn’t have to. If people don’t want to go to college then they just can work and go on with their lives.

Not saying my name 3 years ago 3 years ago

I think college tuition should be free because people drop out because they can’t pay the tuition to get into college and then they can’t graduate and live a good life and they won’t get a job because it says they dropped out of school. So it would be harder to get a job and if the tuition wasn’t a thing, people would live an awesome life because of this.

Brisa 3 years ago 3 years ago

I’m not understanding. Are we not agreeing that college should be free, or are we?

m 2 years ago 2 years ago

it shouldnt

Trevor Everhart 3 years ago 3 years ago

What do you mean by there is no such thing as free tuition?

Olga Snichernacs 3 years ago 3 years ago

Nice! I enjoyed reading.

Anonymous Cat 3 years ago 3 years ago

Tuition-Free: Free tuition, or sometimes tuition free is a phrase you have heard probably a good number of times. … Therefore, free tuition to put it simply is the opportunity provide to students by select universities around the world to received a degree from their institution without paying any sum of money for the teaching.

Mister B 3 years ago 3 years ago

There is no such thing as tuition free.

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The goal is to support life-long learning at schools and workplaces.

Fewer than half of California students are reading by third grade, experts say. Worse still, far fewer Black and Latino students meet that standard. What needs to change?

For the four men whose stories are told in this documentary, just the chance to earn the degree made it possible for them to see themselves living a different life outside of prison.

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The Argument for Tuition-Free College

Soaring tuitions and student loan debt are placing higher education beyond the reach of many American students. It’s time to make college free and accessible to all.

by Keith Ellison

April 14, 2016

(Shutterstock)

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Land Grant College Act into law, laying the groundwork for the largest system of publicly funded universities in the world. Some of America's greatest colleges, including the University of Minnesota, were created by federal land grants, and were known as "democracy's colleges" or "people's colleges."

But that vision of a "people's college" seems awfully remote to a growing number of American students crushed under soaring tuitions and mounting debt. One hundred and fifty years after Lincoln made his pledge, it's time to make public colleges and universities free for every American.

This idea is easier than it looks. For most of our nation's history, public colleges and universities have been much more affordable than they are today, with lower tuition, and financial aid that covered a much larger portion of the costs . The first step in making college accessible again, and returning to an education system that serves every American, is addressing the student loan debt crisis.

The cost of attending a four-year college has increased by 1,122 percent since 1978 . Galloping tuition hikes have made attending college more expensive today than at any point in U.S. history. At the same time, debt from student loans has become the largest form of personal debt in America-bigger than credit card debt and auto loans. Last year, 38 million American students owed more than $1.3 trillion in student loans.

Once, a degree used to mean a brighter future for college graduates, access to the middle class, and economic stability.

Today, student loan debt increases inequality and makes it harder for low-income graduates, particularly those of color , to buy a house, open a business, and start a family.

The solution lies in federal investments to states to lower the overall cost of public colleges and universities. In exchange, states would commit to reinvesting state funds in higher education. Any public college or university that benefited from the reinvestment program would be required to limit tuition increases. This federal-state partnership would help lower tuition for all students. Schools that lowered tuition would receive additional federal grants based on the degree to which costs are lowered.

Reinvesting in higher education programs like Pell Grants and work-study would ensure that Pell and other forms of financial aid that students don't need to pay back would cover a greater portion of tuition costs for low-income students. In addition, states that participate in this partnership would ensure that low-income students who attend state colleges and universities could afford non-tuition expenses like textbooks and housing fees . This proposal is one way to ensure that no student graduates with loans to pay back.

If the nation can provide hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas industry and billions of dollars more to Wall Street , we can afford to pay for public higher education. A tax on financial transactions like derivatives and stock trades would cover the cost. Building a truly affordable higher education system is an investment that would pay off economically.

Eliminating student loan debt is the first step, but it's not the last. Once we ensure that student loan debt isn't a barrier to going to college, we should reframe how we think about higher education. College shouldn't just be debt free-it should be free. Period.

We all help pay for our local high schools and kindergartens, whether or not we send our kids to them. And all parents have the option of choosing public schools, even if they can afford private institutions. Free primary and secondary schooling is good for our economy, strengthens our democracy, and most importantly, is critical for our children's health and future. Educating our kids is one of our community's most important responsibilities, and it's a right that every one of us enjoys. So why not extend public schooling to higher education as well?

Some might object that average Americans should not have to pay for students from wealthy families to go to school. But certain things should be guaranteed to all Americans, poor or rich. It's not a coincidence that some of the most important social programs in our government's history have applied to all citizens, and not just to those struggling to make ends meet.

Universal programs are usually stronger and more stable over the long term, and they're less frequently targeted by budget cuts and partisan attacks. Public schools have stood the test of time-let's make sure public colleges and universities do, too.

The United States has long been committed to educating all its people, not only its elites.

This country is also the wealthiest in the history of the world. We can afford to make college an option for every American family.

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Expert Commentary

The pros and cons of ‘free college’ and ‘college promise’ programs: What the research says

We've gathered and summarized a sampling of research to help journalists understand the implications and impacts of “free college,” “tuition-free” and “college promise” programs.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Denise-Marie Ordway, The Journalist's Resource October 8, 2019

This <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org/economics/free-college-promise-tuition-research/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://journalistsresource.org">The Journalist's Resource</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://journalistsresource.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/cropped-jr-favicon-150x150.png" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;">

More than 19.9 million students are taking classes at colleges and universities across the United States this semester, up from 14.9 million two decades ago, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

As enrollment has swelled, so has the price of college. The average combined cost of undergraduate tuition, fees, room and board at four-year schools has doubled since 2000 . The average cost of attendance for full-time students living on campus at an in-state, public college or university during the 2017-18 academic year totaled $24,320 . It totaled $50,338 at private institutions.

Heavy student debt loads created America’s student loan crisis. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that outstanding student loan debt topped $1.6 trillion in the U.S. during the second quarter of 2019.

State and federal lawmakers and 2020 presidential candidates have put forward a range of plans aimed at reducing college costs to curb student debt and encourage more Americans to pursue degrees. Most programs and proposals focus on eliminating tuition at community colleges and state universities. But some also aim to cover educational costs such as mandatory student fees, which schools charge to help pay for student events, health services and other campus offerings.

These initiatives often are referred to as “free college” — even when they only cover tuition — and as “tuition-free” programs. A number of cities, counties and states have introduced “college promise” programs, which also pay students’ tuition and, sometimes, other expenses at two- and four-year institutions.

Recent research indicates there are hundreds of college promise programs in the U.S. Some are small, serving students in a city or public school district. Others are open to students across a state. In 2015, Tennessee became the first state in the country to offer free tuition at all of its community colleges and technical schools with its Tennessee Promise Scholarship . Earlier this month, officials in San Antonio announced AlamoPROMISE , which will allow students who graduate from one of 25 local high schools to receive 60 credits worth of free tuition at five area community colleges starting in fall 2020.

New York’s Excelsior Scholarship , launched in 2017, is the nation’s first statewide program to provide free tuition at state-funded two- and four-year colleges. The program is open to New York residents who have a household income of $125,000 or less and agree to live and work in New York for the same amount of time they receive the scholarship.

To help journalists understand the implications and impacts of these efforts, we’ve gathered and summarized a sampling of research on “free college,” “tuition-free” and “college promise” programs. Because most programs are relatively new, scholars are continuing to study them. We will add new research to this collection as it is published or released.

Also check out these five tips for reporting on free college and college promise programs from Laura Perna, an education professor at the University of Pennsylvania who’s also executive director of its Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy.

Merit Aid, College Quality, and College Completion: Massachusetts’ Adams Scholarship as an In-Kind Subsidy Cohodes, Sarah R; Goodman, Joshua S. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , 2014.

This study examines a Massachusetts program that offers tuition waivers to high-achieving students who graduated from Massachusetts public high schools. The waivers, a key component of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program , cover the cost of tuition for up to eight semesters at any Massachusetts state college or university.

The key takeaway: While the scholarship induced some of these students to remain in Massachusetts for college — a primary goal of the program — it reduced college completion rates, find the authors, Sarah Cohodes , an associate professor of economics and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and Joshua Goodman , an associate professor of economics at Brandeis University. After the program started, about 200 fewer Massachusetts high school graduates per year earned college degrees.

Cohodes and Goodman find that each scholarship, valued at less than $7,000, encouraged students with high test scores to attend in-state public colleges and universities, which “were of lower quality than the average alternative available to such students.” Going to a lower quality school is associated with higher odds of dropping out, possibly because public institutions spend substantially less on instruction than private, non-profit colleges, the authors suggest. They analyzed a variety of data on Massachusetts students who graduated high school between 2005 and 2008, tracking them through 2012.

“The scholarship, though relatively small in monetary value, induced substantial changes in college choice,” Cohodes and Goodman write. “College completion rates decreased only for those subsets of students forgoing the opportunity to attend higher quality colleges when accepting the scholarship. We describe the magnitude of this response as remarkable because the value of the scholarship is dwarfed by estimates of the forgone earnings of attending a lower quality college or failing to graduate.”

Free Tuition and College Enrollment: Evidence from New York’s Excelsior Program Nguyen, Hieu. Education Economics , 2019.

New York’s Excelsior Scholarship — the nation’s first statewide “free college” initiative — has had a “negligible” effect on undergraduate enrollment in four-year colleges in the state, finds Hieu Nguyen , a researcher at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Nguyen examined enrollment at public and private higher education institutions to gauge how students are responding to the initiative, launched in 2017 with the goal of helping more New York residents go to college. He looked at full-time undergraduate enrollment in the fall semesters between 2010 and 2017. He finds that even though students were offered free tuition, there was no statistically significant change in enrollment.

Nguyen indicates the program’s requirements might have discouraged some students from participating. “Apart from having to meet the state residency requirement to be eligible for the program, Excelsior recipients are expected to stay and work within the boundary of the state for the same number of years for which they receive the financial aid,” he explains in the paper. “While this constraint can be interpreted as fairly lax and reasonable by some, it might be viewed by others as too stringent, considering that New York has a high average cost of living relative to other states, and that Excelsior scholars are only awarded up to $5,500 per year after all other aid resources are exhausted.”

He notes that the Excelsior Scholarship is unlikely to change enrollment patterns among low-income students, whose tuition often is covered by other forms of financial aid such as federal Pell grants. Nguyen also notes the Excelsior program lacks a coaching component — unlike the Tennessee Promise program, which uses “community coaches” to help guide high school students toward graduation and immediately into college.

Understanding the Promise: A Typology of State and Local College Promise Programs Perna, Laura W.; Leigh, Elaine W. Educational Researcher , 2018.

This academic paper offers a detailed look at the characteristics of college promise programs and introduces a framework for classifying them. The researchers analyzed 289 programs operating in the U.S. in fall 2016 and found they varied in numerous ways, including in their eligibility requirements, the types of costs covered, the structure of financial awards, the length of time students can receive the awards, and the number and types of higher education institutions that participate in the program.

“Perhaps most importantly, the analyses underscore the need for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to recognize the diversity of approaches that is masked by the college promise label before drawing conclusions about the transferability of findings about one college promise program to another,” write the researchers, Laura W. Perna and Elaine W. Leigh of the University of Pennsylvania.

Perna and Leigh find that college promise programs have these features in common:

• They aim to boost higher education attainment.
• They offer a financial award to eligible students.
• They have a place-based requirement such as residing in a specific city or state or attending a certain school or group of schools.
• They tend to target the traditional college-age population.

Some other findings:

• College promise programs exist nationwide, but the largest share of those that were analyzed — 37% — are in the South. A quarter are in the Midwest while 24% operate in the western U.S. and 14% are in the Northeast.
• Just over half of the college promise programs are state-sponsored. More than three-quarters of state-sponsored programs require award recipients to live in the state for a year. Most — 80% — allow students to attend a two-year or four-year school.
• Of those not sponsored by a state, 23% target students in a specific county, 24% target a school district and 11% target a city. More than half of programs that are not state-sponsored offer awards only to two-year colleges.
• Of the programs examined, 28% cover full tuition and take a “last dollar” approach, meaning they cover the amount of tuition left over after a student’s grants, scholarships and other financial aid money are applied. Meanwhile, 12% cover the full cost of tuition on a “first dollar” basis, meaning the award is applied first, allowing students to use other forms of financial aid to pay for other education-related expenses such as books, housing and food .

About The Author

Denise-Marie Ordway

What Does Free College Really Mean?

• Posted January 17, 2017
• By Casey Bayer

Free college sounds great as an idea, but how do states actually finance it?

Most states propose to fund free college plans as “last-dollar” scholarships. This means that the state commits to covering unmet financial aid after all other eligible funds — such as the federal Pell grant — are exhausted. Additionally, most plans cover tuition and fees but not additional expenses such as room and board or textbooks.

This “last-dollar” approach helps keeps program costs low, but it is only possible because of the generosity of existing financial aid programs.

Why is free college appealing from a state’s perspective?

College is expensive, and the process of applying for and receiving financial is complicated and stressful. Many families do not realize that they will likely pay only a fraction of the sticker price of college. In contrast to the byzantine system of federal and state financial aid programs, free college is a very easy concept to understand.

The political appeal is obvious as well. Nearly all families want their children to attend college, yet they are deeply concerned about whether they can afford it. Policymakers who commit to providing “free college” are easing the minds of their constituents, even those who have very young children and thus are many years away from the actual expense.

What are some of the concerns around free college tuition plans?

I support the goal of free college. More than ever, a college degree is a ticket to the middle class. The question is how to get there.

One concern — raised by others such as Matt Chingos at the Urban Institute — is that most of the benefits of free college plans accrue to higher-income families. The reason goes back again to the “last dollar” design. Low-income students already receive a lot of need-based financial aid from the federal government. Many states also already have need-based aid programs. The additional value of a last dollar scholarship is relatively low for these students — they are already paying close to zero in tuition and fees. In contrast, families that make too much money to be eligible for need-based programs will see a much larger price reduction from free college. This is not a bad thing! College is a financial burden for nearly every family. But it is worth clarifying that the biggest beneficiaries of free college plans are usually middle-class families.

A second more fundamental concern is about the single-minded focus on costs. The value of a college degree depends on its price, but also on the quality of the education itself — the benefits as well as the costs. My main concern with free college plans is that focusing solely on college costs will push us toward an outcome where college is cheap but also relatively low quality. If you lower the price of college to zero, you are going to get a lot more students enrolling. Absent significant increases in state funding for higher education, the same pool of resources will then be spread across many more students. This could lead to larger classes, less guidance and mentoring, and a generally lower quality experience. It is not at all clear that lower prices and lower levels of spending will be a good thing overall for students.

It sounds like you are saying that prices don’t matter.

Not at all. Lower prices are always better from the student’s perspective! On the other hand, state higher education budgets are under enormous pressure. My concern is that states will pay for “free college” by cutting the subsidies that they currently send directly to the public colleges in the state. This raises the question: Is it better to subsidize education on the supply side (by funding public institutions out of tax revenues) or on the demand side (by giving financial aid to students directly)?

Let me make this very specific. Every public college in the U.S. currently spends more on a student’s education than they charge in tuition. For example, a public university might charge $10,000 per year in tuition and fees but actually spend $20,000 per student. The difference comes mostly from subsidies — called appropriations — coming directly from state taxpayers through the legislature. Suppose an extra $1,000 per student suddenly becomes available. The university has two choices. First, they can pass that $1,000 on to the student as a price reduction — charging $9,000 per year and still spending $20,000. Alternatively, they can keep the price at $10,000 but now spend $21,000 per student, with the extra money going to things like smaller classes, more student advising and mentoring, or perhaps climbing walls and nap pods.

Which choice will do more to help a student complete their college degree? Free college — and most of the existing federal financial aid system — assumes that price reduction is most important. But a growing body of work — including a recent paper I’ve written with Chris Walters — suggests that spending may be a more important factor for degree attainment.

We see this is a recent study of the Adams scholarship in Massachusetts. The Adams scholarship provided four years of tuition and fees in a Massachusetts public college or university to students who met a minimum MCAS score standard. The study found that these students took up the offer of “free college,” opting to attend a Massachusetts public institution instead of a private college. Strikingly, the authors found that students who took up the Adams scholarship were less likely to graduate from college. They show persuasively that this is due to differences in college quality. The private colleges had higher levels of per-student spending and higher graduation rates, but students were lured to lower quality public institutions by the offer of “free college.”

I am not saying that “free college” plans will lower graduation rates. In particular, there are many more high-quality private institutions in Massachusetts than elsewhere in the U.S. But this study underscores the perils of a singular focus on lowering costs. College quality matters, and public policy ought to focus equally on improving and maintaining quality so that more students can ultimately earn a degree and go on to succeed in the labor market and in life.

The latest research, perspectives, and highlights from the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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5 Reasons Why College Should Be Free: The Case for Debt-Free Education

Updated: December 7, 2023

Published: January 30, 2020

The cost of college is rising even faster than inflation in the U.S. Many students around the world face financial constraints when it comes to attending college. Because education is such a vital part of life, there are many reasons why college should be free .

Not only do the arguments for debt-free education include personal benefits, but they also show how education helps to positively impact society overall.

Thankfully, the progression in technology is making it possible to increase access to education globally.

However, there is still a long way to go and more schools and countries are weighing the pros and cons of offering an affordable education . The ability to provide free education for all is becoming more of a possibility as time progresses.

Photo by  Good Free Photos  on  Unsplash

5 reasons why college should be free.

Here are 5 reasons that support the case for debt-free education:

1. Improves Society

When people are more educated, they can solve problems better. This means that society can progress at a faster rate. Additionally, people with education can better understand the history of their society and its current economic conditions. As such, they may be more inclined to participate in politics and improve their country. Also, when more people have access to a college education, the number of employable people for high-skilled jobs increases. This means that more people will join the workforce, which could help lessen the wealth gap between the upper, middle, and lower classes.

2. Widened Workforce

Along with technological progressions comes a shift in the workforce. Most automated jobs are replacing low-skill workers. Automation is spreading quickly across positions that require repetition, like back-office tasks. However, automation is not meant to replace the entire workforce. Instead, the needs of most economies are shifting to require a more skilled workforce, with people who have good analytical skills and creative thinking abilities. These skills are both taught and honed with a college education. If more people could attend college for free , then the workforce will expand. The workforce will also be more agile. In the case of an economic downturn when one industry falters, another generally rises to replace it. Then, workers need to be retrained and taught skills for the job. If more people could enter school and gear their studies towards booming industries, then the population will be more equipped to cope with economic changes.

3. A Boosted Economy

Most students graduate with a massive amount of debt. For example, in the U.S., the average student debt per person is $31,172. When students graduate with debt, they will likely continue to add to their debt with interest. As such, it can take many years before they manage to dig themselves out of debt that only seems to keep growing. In the meantime, this delays spending on such things as buying a house or a car. On the other hand, if people were to graduate without debt, that could fast track their ability to earn, save, and spend. This helps to stimulate the economy. With increases in consumer spending, there is more demand. More demand in spending also relates back to higher demand in the workforce or more opportunities for employment. This spurs a positive cycle of economic activity. Furthermore, the fear of being in debt can cause students to avoid school entirely. But, if the debt wasn’t a reality, then the younger generation may feel more motivated to go to school in the first place.

4. Increase Equality

Since affordability is a major issue for so many people when it comes to attending college, the playing field has not always been equal. A lot of the brightest minds in the world stem from low-income households, but that shouldn’t hold them back from continuing their education. If there was an equal opportunity to attend school, then everyone would have the chance to go to school. Affordable education is a major step towards equality.

5. More Focus

When students are not worried about money, they can focus better on their studies. Even when students have loans and financial aid, they may find themselves stuck worrying about how they will have to pay them back in the future. This added stress can negatively impact their focus during the time when they are supposed to be learning.

Photo by  Christian Wiediger  on  Unsplash

Countries that offer free college.

Many countries understand how debt-free education provides positive outcomes. Therefore, they made tuition-free universities a reality.

Here’s a look at some countries where education is free for everyone, free for just their residents or highly subsidized by the government for foreign exchange students:

• Austria (free for EU residents, low cost for non-EU residents)
• Czech Republic
• Spain (free for EU residents, low cost for non-EU residents)

The Advantages of Online University

With technological advances, online universities are proliferating. Online universities require less overhead costs. Therefore, they are almost always cheaper than traditional schools. However, there are even some that are totally tuition-free.

Founded in 2009, Shai Reshef started the University of the People with the mission to offer an affordable and quality education to anyone around the world. Students from over 200 countries and territories have been in attendance of the online programs.

We have degree programs in Computer Science, Health Science, Education, and Business Administration.

Thanks to a wide network of volunteers and professors from renowned institutions around the world, the education offered parallels that of a traditional American university and is accredited as such.

The Takeaway

The money for tuition-free or cheaper universities will have to come from somewhere. Arguments against free education include the fact that taxes may increase, either individual or on businesses. Otherwise, the money will have to be allocated from elsewhere, like potentially decreasing military spending.

Despite the political considerations, there are ways to make tuition-free education possible or, at least, more widespread. As illustrated, there are many advantages to offering affordable college education to everyone around the world. At University of the People, that’s exactly what we are all about!

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It’s Time for Free Community College: Here Are 5 Reasons Why

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Updated, June 22

A version of this essay first appeared on The Kresge Foundation.

M aking community college tuition-free should be a national priority.

It would help counter recent enrollment declines at our nation’s community colleges. It would help produce the trained employees businesses say they are lacking. Most importantly, it would bring low-income students and students of color into higher education, a place where they have traditionally been excluded.

President Biden’s proposal to make community college tuition-free isn’t the only way to accomplish these goals. But it’s bold, and it’s on the table, ready for action.

The American Families Plan outlines a sweeping array of investments in child care, education, and teacher training, and commits $109 billion to eliminate tuition at community colleges. Recognizing that tuition is not the only hurdle students face, Biden’s plan includes a $62 billion investment in student retention and degree completion strategies and $80 billion to increase Pell Grants.

The plan also calls for other investments that would benefit community college students, including reductions in child care costs, expansion in nutrition assistance and establishment of a national paid family and medical leave program.

President Biden’s free tuition proposal would build on state programs for recent high school graduates ( Tennessee Promise and Oregon Promise) and adult learners ( Tennessee Reconnects and Michigan Reconnects ). According to pre-pandemic polling, it’s a political winner, especially among younger adults and those without a college degree .

Here are five goals political and education leaders have championed for years that could be accomplished with the right legislation.

First, a national initiative to make community college tuition-free would communicate a clear message to all potential students that they will be able to afford at least some of the costs of college — and that they should consider attending.

Second, this initiative could reduce racial disparities in who gets a college education. Programs that provide free community college tuition have been found to increase college enrollment for Black and Hispanic students. Some education beyond high school is increasingly needed for “good jobs.” Yet access to higher education is unequal, as demonstrated by persisting differences in college-related outcomes across demographic groups. Without action, these differences in college access and degree completion will likely increase, given the disproportionate negative impacts of COVID-19 on underserved people and communities and enduring systemic racism.

Third, this policy could catalyze other efforts to address the systematic inequalities that limit educational attainment. Only 27 percent of first-time, full-time students who first enrolled in a community college in 2015 completed a certificate or associate degree within three years. This is an opportunity to ensure that more students who enroll finish. It’s also an opportunity to help more students move from K-12 to higher education, and from community college to a four-year university, without loss of credit.

Fourth, assuming that state and local governments at least maintain their support, this initiative could ensure that community colleges have the resources needed to serve their diverse and historically underserved populations. When enrollment declines, tuition revenue and government funding based on enrollment also decline. Even before the pandemic, community colleges spent less per student than other institutions. Advising, academic support, and other wraparound services can improve student outcomes, but they require resources.

Finally, this is an opportunity to reconsider the roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local stakeholders in providing high-quality, affordable, equitable, and accessible public higher education. Free community college could encourage stakeholders to create a shared understanding that everyone should have access to “12 + 2” years of education. It is also an opportunity to systematically align resources available from other sources (such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid, workforce training, etc.) to meet the needs and circumstances of adults and other learners.

Community colleges are an essential component of our nation’s higher education system. Often the most geographically proximate higher education institution, community colleges enroll diverse students with diverse educational goals and needs. Eighteen and nineteen-year-olds beginning the path to a four-year degree. Hourly workers who want careers. People who had one career and now want or need another. Many have kids. Most have at least one job.

Making community college tuition free won’t be easy. As Biden’s plan recognizes — we will need to invest new resources . We will need to ensure these initiatives reduce costs for low-income students . And we will need to design a federal-state partnership that rewards states for their investments in higher education, compensates for differences in state wealth and other resources , and recognizes that state higher education systems and policies vary.

Yet a well-designed federal initiative that partners with states to make community college tuition-free could encourage renewed effort toward making system-level changes that address seemingly intractable issues. Making America’s community colleges tuition-free could revitalize these institutions, ensure that employers have skilled workers, and enable people from low-income families and other underserved groups to get access to better jobs and the many other benefits of a college degree.

Laura W. Perna is vice provost for faculty and GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Edward J. Smith is program officer with The Kresge Foundation. Perna and Smith are co-editors of Improving research-based knowledge of College Promise Programs (American Educational Research Association, 2020).

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Laura W. Perna is vice provost for faculty and GSE Centennial Presidential Professor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a co-editor of Improving research-based knowledge of College Promise Programs (American Educational Research Association, 2020).  

Edward J. Smith is program officer with The Kresge Foundation. He is a co-editor of Improving research-based knowledge of College Promise Programs (American Educational Research Association, 2020).  

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It’s Time for Free Community College

By Laura W. Perna & Edward J. Smith

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — College Tuition — College Should Be Free: Why It Benefits Society

College Should Be Free: Why It Benefits Society

• Categories: College College Tuition

About this sample

Words: 1293 |

Published: Apr 29, 2022

Words: 1293 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

Works Cited

• Hochman, A. (2021). The Economic Benefits of Free College Education. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2021/03/03/economic-benefits-free-college-education-opinion
• Farrington, R. (2018). Should College Be Free? Pros, Cons, and Alternatives. Affordable Schools Online. Retrieved from https://affordableschoolsonline.com/should-college-be-free-pros-cons-alternatives/
• Cottom, T. M. (2017). The Case for Free College. The Century Foundation. Retrieved from https://tcf.org/content/report/case-free-college/
• Tuition-Free College Is Critical to Our Economy. (n.d.). Campaign for Free College Tuition. Retrieved from https://www.freecollegenow.org/economy/
• United States Department of Education. (2019). Information on College Costs. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/college/costs.html
• Vaidya, K. (2020). Average Student Loan Debt Statistics by School by State 2020. LendEDU. Retrieved from https://lendedu.com/blog/average-student-loan-debt-statistics/
• Baum, S., Ma, J., & Pender, M. (2019). Trends in College Pricing 2019. College Board. Retrieved from https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/trends-college-pricing-2019-full-report.pdf
• Davidson, A. (2020). The Student-Debt Crisis Hits Hardest at Historically Black Colleges. The New Yorker. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-student-debt-crisis-hits-hardest-at-historically-black-colleges
• The Campaign for Free College Tuition. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.freecollegenow.org/
• Institute for College Access & Success. (n.d.). Student Debt and the Class of 2019. Retrieved from https://ticas.org/affordability-2/student-debt/student-debt-and-class-2019/

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5 strategies to unlock your winning college essay.

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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 29: People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard ... [+] University campus on June 29, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious admission policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina violate the Constitution, bringing an end to affirmative action in higher education. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)

The college application season is upon us, and high school students everywhere are staring down at one of the most daunting tasks: the college essay. As someone who has guided countless applicants through the admissions process and reviewed admissions essays on an undergraduate admissions committee, I've pinpointed the essential ingredient to a differentiated candidacy—the core of your college admissions X-factor .

The essential ingredient to your college admissions X-factor is your intellectual vitality. Intellectual vitality is your passion for learning and curiosity. By demonstrating and conveying this passion, you can transform an average essay into a compelling narrative that boosts your chances of getting accepted to your top schools. Here are five dynamic strategies to achieve that goal.

Unleash Your Authentic Voice

Admissions officers sift through thousands of essays every year. What stops them in their tracks? An authentic voice that leaps off the page. Forget trying to guess what the admissions committee wants to hear. Focus on being true to yourself. Share your unique perspective, your passions, and your values. Authenticity resonates deeply with application reviewers, making your essay memorable and impactful. You need not have experienced trauma or tragedy to create a strong narrative. You can write about what you know—intellectually or personally—to convey your enthusiasm, creativity, and leadership. Intellectual vitality shines through when you write with personalized reflection about what lights you up.

Weave A Captivating Story

Everyone loves a good story, and your essay is the perfect place to tell yours. The Common Application personal statement has seven choices of prompts to ground the structure for your narrative. The most compelling stories are often about the smallest moments in life, whether it’s shopping at Costco or about why you wear socks that have holes. Think of the Common Application personal statement as a window into your soul rather than a dry list of your achievements or your overly broad event-based life story. Use vivid anecdotes to bring your experiences to life. A well-told story can showcase your growth, highlight your character, and illustrate how you've overcome challenges. Intellectual vitality often emerges in these narratives, revealing how your curiosity and proactive approach to learning have driven you to explore and innovate.

Reflect And Reveal Insights

It's not just about what you've done—it's about what you've learned along the way. When you are writing about a specific event, you can use the STAR framework—situation, task, action, and result (your learning). Focus most of your writing space on the “R” part of this framework to dive deeply into your experiences and reflect on how they've shaped your aspirations and identity.

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The most insightful college-specific supplement essays demonstrate depth of thought, and the ability to connect past experiences with your future life in college and beyond. Reflecting on your intellectual journey signals maturity and a readiness to embrace the college experience. It shows admissions officers that you engage deeply with your studies and are eager to contribute to the academic community.

Highlight Your Contributions—But Don’t Brag

Whether it's a special talent, an unusual hobby, or a unique perspective, showcasing what you can bring to the college environment can make a significant impact. Recognize that the hard work behind the accomplishment is what colleges are interested in learning more about—not retelling about the accomplishment itself. (Honors and activities can be conveyed in another section of the application.) Walk us through the journey to your summit; don’t just take us to the peak and expect us know how you earned it.

Intellectual vitality can be demonstrated through your proactive approach to solving problems, starting new projects, or leading initiatives that reflect your passion for learning and growth. These experiences often have a place in the college-specific supplement essays. They ground the reasons why you want to study in your major and at the particular college.

Perfect Your Prose

Great writing is essential. Anyone can use AI or a thesaurus to assist with an essay, but AI cannot write your story in the way that you tell it. Admissions officers don’t give out extra credit for choosing the longest words with the most amount of syllables.

The best essays have clear, coherent language and are free of errors. The story is clearly and specifically told. After drafting, take the time to revise and polish your writing. Seek feedback from teachers, mentors, or trusted friends, but ensure the final piece is unmistakably yours. A well-crafted essay showcases your diligence and attention to detail—qualities that admissions officers highly value. Intellectual vitality is also reflected in your writing process, showing your commitment to excellence and your enthusiasm for presenting your best self.

Crafting a standout college essay is about presenting your true self in an engaging, reflective, and polished manner while showcasing your intellectual vitality. Happy writing.

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Big Investments in Community Colleges, Just Not the Teachers

Brian Joseph

Massachusetts Democrats are practically tripping over themselves these days to put new money toward an ambitious goal of providing free community college tuition to residents. But state leaders have shown little interest so far in directing the funding toward notoriously underpaid community college faculty and staff.

The tension between these two ideas—paying for students to attend community college and providing competitive, or living, wages for their teachers—is one likely to play out across the country as other states (and President Joe Biden) contemplate free community college plans like those being proposed in Massachusetts.

Last year, Democratic Massachusetts governor Maura Healey helped create a program to pay for residents 25 years and older to obtain free associate’s degrees and other high-quality certificates. Not to be outdone, Democrats in the Massachusetts Senate recently have put forth their own $75.5 million plan to offer universal, tuition-free community college for all Bay State residents.

Meanwhile, a trio of Democratic state legislators are pushing a separate bill known as the CHERISH Act (Committing to Higher Education the Resources to Insure a Strong and Healthy Public Higher Education System). This bill seeks to offer students a debt-free education from all public higher education institutions, including the state’s 15 community colleges .

“I’m thrilled that we have taken access to higher education to the next level, as this initiative will bolster our educated workforce and lay the foundation for generations to come,” Democratic senator Michael J. Rodrigues said in a press release announcing the Senate’s universal community college plan. “Tuition free Community College impacts individuals most in need and whom otherwise would not be afforded this opportunity. It will greatly help to keep our workforce graduates stand ready to meet the challenges of a global economy.”

These plans, however, neglect a nagging problem among Massachusetts’ community colleges: woefully inadequate pay for their teachers.

A recent study commissioned by the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) found that the state’s public higher education faculty salaries trail other nearby states and “peer” states like California when adjusted for the cost of living.

“ Faculty can only be as good as they’re supported to be.”

For example, the study found that Massachusetts’ community college salaries ranked last, at an average of $68,324 .

“Community college faculty have the worst pay,” said MTA president Max Page , specifically noting the disparity between community college faculty in Massachusetts and California. “You see that the average faculty community colleges in California make $40,000 more,” he said of the study.

“We did this study,” he added, “and the overall finding was that in all three levels—community colleges, state universities, UMass—our faculty and staff are underpaid dramatically compared to nearby states and to our peer states….And the community colleges, it is the worst.”

In 2022, several chapters of the Massachusetts Community College Council , the union representing faculty and professional staff at the state’s community colleges, elected to stage a labor protest known as “work to rule” —still ongoing in the case of at least one chapter, representing faculty and staff at Boston’s Bunker Hill Community College, the state’s biggest community college.

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In so-called work-to-rule protests , employees refuse to do any tasks that are not expressly laid out in their contract—from answering emails after hours to taking on unpaid additional work.

The union, which has fought tooth and nail for small raises, delivered years late when at all, has organized a work-to-rule protest because its members are prohibited from striking.

“Faculty can only be as good as they’re supported to be,” said Shana Berger, an associate professor in the English department at Bunker Hill Community College. “It’s just not realistic to think that you can support faculty with living wages at this rate.

“I have a master’s and a half. I did just get tenure, so it will go up in the fall, but I make about $60K,” she said. “I’m a single mom.”

Berger said that she and her colleagues are required by contract to teach five classes per semester, with each class capped at 22 students.

“So, that’s 22 times five each semester times three essays a semester,” she said. “It’s a lot. It’s a lot of work.”

Berger also noted that there’s a saying in education: faculty teaching conditions are student learning conditions.

“Our parameters for raises are set by the governor. We need the governor to step in and call for bigger raises, better working conditions.”

Coincidentally, Governor Healey was scheduled to deliver the commencement at Berger’s community college this month. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey’s press office did not return a request for comment by NPQ .

“She talks a lot about supporting higher education and education in general,” Berger said, “and it’s really important that she puts the money where her mouth is so that we can really have a good system that supports community college students to be successful.”

About the author

Brian Joseph is the author of the forthcoming nonfiction book, Vegas Concierge: Sex Trafficking, Hip Hop, and Corruption in America. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and investigative journalist for about 20 years, writing for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Orange County Register, and the Sacramento Bee, among other publications. In 2013–2014, he was an investigative reporting fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, where he investigated privatized foster care for Mother Jones. Brian is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia, and lives in Las Vegas.

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73 Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays – 2024

May 27, 2024

When college application season arrives, it’s easy for students to become overwhelmed about the essays. There’s the personal statement , which many students have a general idea about, and then there are the supplemental essays. Supplemental essays can cover a range of college-specific prompts that help the colleges better understand why you’d be a great fit . Due to how personal and varied the supplemental essays can be, students often end up spending weeks, if not months, writing them.

However, across the country, there are colleges that do not require supplemental essays at all. For some students, applying to colleges without supplemental essays can make the overall application process much smoother. Benefits include experiencing less stress in their application preparation and diversifying prospective colleges while focusing more on their priority schools. Sometimes, though, these schools do ask for program-specific essays or optional essays, depending on the applicant.

Best Colleges without Supplemental Essays

1) albion college.

At Albion College, the application essay is not required, but it is recommended. Students are encouraged to provide any more details that they believe the admissions team should consider.

2) Allegheny College

As noted on their website, Allegheny College has not required the supplemental essay since their 2013-2014 application cycle. Students will find more essay questions in the Member Questions section of the Common Application.

3) Augusta University

Augusta University joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays as they do not require a personal essay at all. They do still require SAT or ACT scores and GPA.

4) Bates College

Since 1984, Bates College has not required SAT Subject Tests or ACT scores in their applications. There is an optional arts supplement for students who are applying to study art, creative writing, dance, film, music, and theater.

5) Case Western Reserve University

At Case Western Reserve University, the Common Application personal essay is required. However, if you’re applying to the Pre-Professional Scholars Program, then you’ll have to write supplemental essays.

Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays (Continued)

6) clemson university.

Clemson University does not require students to complete a personal essay with the Common or Coalition Application. There is also a test-optional policy that may appeal to some students.

7) Coe College

At Coe College, the personal essay is optional for students who meet the college’s minimum academic standards. Coe College joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays that also have a test-optional policy.

8) Colby College

Colby College accepts the Common Application, Coalition Application, and QuestBridge Application, and they do not have any additional writing supplements. Test scores are optional for applicants at Colby College, and there is no application fee.

9) Colgate University

Colgate University is one of the colleges without supplemental essays required, but there is the option to write them. As stated on their website, “These prompts are not meant to feel like essays; they are simply an added perspective.

10) College of the Holy Cross

College of the Holy Cross does not require supplemental essays, but the following are optional: personal interview, SAT or ACT scores, and supplementary materials.

11) Denison University

Denison University joins this list of colleges without supplemental essays. Their website states that they wish to provide “equal access” to a Denison education, and they are also test-optional.

12) DePaul University

For first-year student applicants at DePaul University, personal essays are not required but optional. They have also been a test-optional university since 2012.

13) Dillard University

Dillard University is the oldest HBCU in Louisiana and is one of the colleges with no supplemental essay requirements. However, if students do not meet the minimum GPA and standardized test score requirements, then they must submit two letters of recommendation and a personal statement.

14) Drew University

At Drew University, a personal statement is required, along with a counselor evaluation, teacher evaluation, and high school transcript.

15) Drexel University

Drexel University joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays. They do require all students to complete the 250 to 650 essay on the Common or Coalition Application. However, the short answer question is optional.

16) Fairleigh Dickinson University

At Fairleigh Dickinson University, all essays, résumés, and recommendations are optional.

17) Florida Gulf Coast University

The only essay required by Florida Gulf Coast University is a two-page personal essay that discusses academic performance, special talents, and what the student can contribute to the campus.

18) Florida State University

Although Florida State University is one of the colleges without supplemental essays, students should invest time into the Common Application personal statement.

19) Fordham University

At Fordham University, the Common Application essay is required, but there are also optional writing sections. If students choose not to write in these sections, they will not be penalized.

20) Franklin and Marshall College

Franklin and Marshall College joins this list of colleges without supplemental essays. They do require the personal essay in the Common Application, as well as standardized test scores, recommendations and other materials.

21) Furman University

At Furman University, first-year applicants do not need to submit a personal essay, and they are also test-optional.

22) Gannon University

Gannon University does not require students to submit a personal statement. It is optional but recommended for students to submit a statement. However, it is required for LECOM 4+4 Medical Program applicants.

23) Gettysburg College

Although Gettysburg College joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays, it does require a personal statement on the Common Application.

24) Grinnell College

Grinnell College does not require supplemental essays and it also does not have an application fee. Standardized test scores are also optional.

25) Hamilton College

Although Hamilton College joins this list of colleges without supplemental essays, the optional essays are still encouraged.

26) Hampshire College

Hampshire College only requires supplemental essays from international students applying as first-year or transfer students.

27) Hanover College

Hanover College states on their website that the essay or personal statement is optional, alongside test scores, letters of recommendation and résumé.

28) Hollins University

At Hollins University, for first-year students no personal statement is required and standardized test scores are optional.

29) Howard University

Howard University requires students to complete the Common Application essay and there is one optional supplemental essay.

30) Indiana University – Bloomington

Students applying to Indiana University – Bloomington must write the one essay in the Common Application or through Apply IU.

31) Kent State University

At Kent State University, first-year students are not required to submit a personal essay or a letter of recommendation. Test scores are also optional.

32) Kenyon College

Kenyon College joins this list as it is one of the colleges without supplemental essays. For first-year and transfer students, test scores are optional and flexible.

33) Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University does require the Common Application personal statement, but as of its most recent admissions cycle, no supplemental essay is required.

34) Mercer University

At Mercer University, applicants who wish to be test-optional must complete the supplemental essays. They must also have a 3.5 GPA and letter of recommendation.

35) Miami University

Miami University, not to be confused with the University of Miami, requires the Common App personal statement but not the supplemental essays.

36) Michigan State University

Michigan State University requires students to write only one essay on the MSU application, Common Application or Coalition Application.

37) Middlebury College

Middlebury College is one of the best colleges without supplemental essays. They do still require the personal statement on the Common Application.

38) Muhlenberg College

Muhlenberg College requires students to submit the personal essay but no other supplemental essays.

39) New College of Florida

New College of Florida is one of the many colleges with no supplemental essays. However, they do still require a personal statement.

40) New Jersey Institute of Technology

New Jersey Institute of Technology only requires a personal statement included in the Common Application. There is no supplemental essay requirement.

41) New York Institute of Technology

Students applying to the New York Institute of Technology are required to write a 300 to 350 word essay as their only essay. They may require test-optional applicants to submit a graded essay.

42) Northeastern University

Northeastern is one of the best colleges without a supplemental essay requirement. They do require a personal statement, alongside other materials.

43) Nova Southeastern University

At Nova Southeastern University, the essay is entirely optional, and students can self-report their test scores.

44) Oberlin College

Oberlin requires a personal statement, but does not require any supplemental essays.

45) Ohio State University

Ohio State University only requires a personal statement. However, they also offer a COVID-19 impact statement on the Common Application for interested students.

46) Ripon College

At Ripon College, the personal statement itself is optional for applicants, along with other materials.

47) Rhodes College

Rhodes College does not require a supplemental essay, but they have the option for students to record an optional “ Elevator Pitch .”

48) Rowan University

Rowan University requires a personal statement in the Common Application, but joins this list as a college without supplemental essays.

49) St. Lawrence University

St. Lawrence University has no supplemental essay requirement, but it still requires the personal statement essay. They are also test-optional, depending on the applicant.

50) St. Mary’s University (San Antonio)

For students applying to St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, the personal statement is only required if they choose not to submit test scores.

51) Seton Hall University

At Seton Hall University, the personal statement is required, but there are no other supplemental essays.

52) Siena College

Siena College has made the personal statement (open topic) optional for students applying.

53) Skidmore College

While Skidmore College does not require supplemental essays, students do often send in supplemental materials to further support their application.

54) Stony Brook University

At Stony Brook University, only a personal statement is required. However, students applying to the Honors, WISE, University Scholars, Scholars for Medicine, and Scholars for Dental Medicine must write supplemental essays.

55) Sewanee: The University of the South

Sewanee does not require supplemental essays and SAT/ACT scores are also optional.

56) Susquehanna University

Susquehanna University only requires supplemental essay materials for students applying to the creative writing, graphic design, studio art, and music programs.

57) Temple University

Temple University offers an optional essay as part of the Common Application for students to tell more about themselves beyond grades or test scores.

58) Union College

Union College does offer an optional supplemental essay question as part of their application.

59) University of Alabama

At the University of Alabama, essay submissions and letters of recommendation are not required but they are optional.

60) University of Albany

University of Albany joins the list as one of the colleges without supplemental essays. However, it does require a personal essay of at least 250 words on the Common Application of SUNY Application.

61) University of Arkansas

At the University of Arkansas, first-year students are not required to submit a personal essay. They accept self-reported test scores and letters of recommendation are also not required.

62) University of Arizona

Although the University of Arizona does not require an application essay, they strongly encourage students to submit the 500-word personal statement.

63) University of Cincinnati

Students applying to the University of Cincinnati are required to write the Cincinnati personal statement and the Common Application personal statement. However, there are no other required essays.

64) University of Colorado-Denver

University of Colorado-Denver requires the personal statement on the Common Application, but not other supplemental essays.

65) University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut joins this list as one of the best colleges without supplemental essays. The university does require a personal essay on the Common Application or the Coalition Application.

66) University of Dayton

The University of Dayton does not require any supplemental essays, although it does require a personal statement. The university is also test-optional.

67) University of Denver

The University of Denver only requires the personal statement on the Common Application.

68) University of Houston

Students who apply to the University of Houston without a test score must submit a short admissions essay and extracurricular activities.

69) University of Iowa

The University of Iowa does require a personal statement as part of their application, but there is no supplemental essay requirement.

70) University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a college without supplemental essay requirements for first-year students. However, students applying to the Honors Program or the Engineering SELF Program must submit their responses.

71) University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky requires students to write one personal statement from seven of their given writing prompts.

72) University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

For first-year students applying to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, the personal essay is not required, although it is encouraged.

73) University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not require a personal statement for first-year students. However, those applying to the Honors Program must write a 300-600 word essay.

Whether for the personal statement or any supplemental essay, writing college application essays can prove to be a challenging task. But if students plan ahead about how they want to approach the essays, it helps tremendously. Those who are about to apply to a college without supplemental essays can focus any extra time on other schools that do require them. It’s also great for students who wish to be considered primarily for their grades, test scores, personal statement and other reasons.

Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays – Additional Resources 

• 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples 
• How to Write a Body Paragraph for a College Essay
• UC Essay Examples
• Good Safety Schools
• College Search/Knowledge

Joanna Hong

With a BA from Pitzer College and an MA from University College London, Joanna has worked in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles covering many cultural and political issues with organizations such as Byline Media, NK News, and Free Turkey Media. A freelancer for The New York Times, her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Dazed and Confused Magazine, and The Guardian, among others. In addition, Joanna was the recipient of the 2021 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellowship in Fiction and is currently completing her first novel.

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How to Start a College Essay: 5 Effective Techniques

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Impressionable Openers

Descriptions and demonstrations, show vulnerability, be authentic, stay personal, fun & quirky, common mistakes to avoid in your college essay.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Starting a College Essay

College essays are a huge part of your college career. If not huge, one of the biggest, and for someone who has been there and done that, I know the amount of pressure the beginning of a college essay, as well as the entire essay, can put on your shoulders.

Not only are you trying to juggle things like word count and grammar errors, but you're also trying to create the perfect college essay introduction that will attract admissions officers to your application or professors to your writing skills. And that, itself, can feel impossible, fill you with dread and self-doubt, but just breathe. I am here to help all present and future students know how to start a college essay.

Today is all about starting a college essay. I have come up with five easy and effective techniques that will help you create essays so good you're going to leave your readers wanting more , starting with your opening sentence! So, this is for all college students and college applicants. Stress no more! This guide was created to help you write a successful college essay. Let's get into it.

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The beginning of your essay should, first and foremost, always have a strong opening sentence . This sentence sets the tone for not only your readers but for the entire essay. Having a wobbly, almost interesting opener can steer an admissions officer and/or professor away, so you want it to be strong. And it doesn't have to be complicated! Less is more in this situation. Here are a couple of ways you can accomplish this.

• Look within and be relatable
• Use your real life for inspiration
• Think about ways to evoke emotion

Here are some examples of impressionable openers:

• Example 1: When I was 11 years old, my mother told me she had cancer over breakfast.
• Example 2: Maybe yellow isn't my favorite color.
• Example 3: I sat next to this girl in class who made me feel stupid.

DISCLAIMER : your opener should ALWAYS adhere to the essay prompts. These are just a few examples that can capture your reader's attention almost immediately.

In order to keep readers interested, visuals are key . Image-based descriptions will not only add value to your writing, it will give your readers front seats to your essay's journey. These descriptions let actions speak for themselves.

Here is an example of a description and demonstration in an essay:

• Example 1: "I was sitting on a bar stool when the word 'cancer' hit me like the smell of her coffee brewing on the stove. The Rice Krispies were popping in my cereal bowl, and MTV Jams was playing in the background, yet all I could hear was the sound of doom all around me. The lips of my mother were moving, but I was frozen, crumbling on this stool like my mother's health. She was sick, and I didn't know how sick or what that even meant, and that terrified me."

Why This Works:

Here you can clearly feel the writers emotional state: shocked, still, scared. Not only is this moment at breakfast traumatic, you feel frozen in time with the writer. Using descriptions like this will evoke so much emotion and leave your reader wanting more.

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Something one of my teachers told me in high school was any good essay will have personal elements in it, no matter the topic. That always stuck with me and became the way I approached my college essays. Showing vulnerability in your writing will always guarantee interest. It also evokes emotion.

You can show vulnerability by:

• Being honest
• Explaining what's going on inside underneath the exterior
• Describe what's going on around you at the moment
• Letting go of the fear of being seen
• Connecting with the topic
• Being transparent about mistakes/flaws

Examples of showing vulnerability:

• Example 1 : My mother telling me she had cancer over breakfast was not on my bingo card this year.
• Example 2 : I never thought losing someone I love would change me.
• Example 3: I had to lose everything in order to gain everything.

I know being vulnerable can be tough for some , but showing this side of you to college admissions officers and/or professors will not only make you stand out, but it can also help free you of things that might be weighing on your mind. Not to sound corny, but it can be therapeutic and make you a better writer . Just make sure you are staying on track with the essay prompt, and you're set!

Whether it's believed or not, an admissions officer wants to see pieces of you in your personal statement, so starting your essay by showing authenticity is a major major key. Along with being vulnerable, there are a few ways you can achieve this.

• Reflect : Take the time to reflect on your experiences, values, and beliefs that have shaped who you are today. Let your values, passions, and interests shine through in your writing.
• Mind Your Voice : Write in your own voice and avoid trying to sound like someone you're not. Authenticity comes from being genuine and true to yourself.
• Tell Your Story : Share personal anecdotes and insights that show your unique perspective.
• Be True to You : Focus on what matters to YOU (as long as you're on topic!). Write about what is meaningful and important to you rather than what you think admissions officers want to hear.

Above all, be open . Showing introspection and self-awareness in your essay will show any admissions committee who you are beneath the surface, as well as your personal growth.

You can also begin your essay being as random and silly as you'd like . It goes hand-in-hand with other important factors like vulnerability and authenticity. But don't get too crazy . Beginning your essay with something strange will definitely draw readers in. Let me show you what I mean.

• Example 1 : I start my mornings off in silence and solitude to keep people away from me.
• Example 2 : Sometimes, I like to circle big words in complex articles to learn new words. Yeah, but to also keep one in my back pocket for later use.
• Example 3 : Being the youngest child means getting away with everything you want, and that's exactly how I like it.

Do you see how each sentence draws you in? Not only are they light-hearted, but they also make you want to know why you want to keep people away in the morning and what kind of weapon you're forming against others with new words. And every youngest sibling will attest to feeling that exact same way. All of these examples are sure to make your essay fun, show who you are, and leave readers wanting more.

Years of writing college essays have taken me through every high and low of the process possible. And when they're good, they're great! But for some reason, my mistakes stick out more than anything. So, I've compiled a list of common mistakes to avoid when writing your college essay .

• Avoid Being Cliche - While you want to be captivating, you want to avoid overly used syntax and phrases that could potentially lose your reader's curiosity. For example, "in today's day and age," "follow my heart," "don't judge a book by its cover," etc. are all cliches that can be avoided by thinking outside of the box.
• Using Vocabulary to be Impressive - I know you want to impress the admissions committees, but it's important to stick to what you know and not what you can allude to. That is, use verbiage that resonates with your personality. Using extravagant words can work against you, and they can also sound forced. College admissions officers want to see the real you, so show it to them.
• Steer Clear of Controversy - Though it's not said enough, your college essay should tell your personal story and not touch on things that can stir the pot. For instance, talking about politics and religious beliefs may not be the route you want to take UNLESS it's called for in the college essay topic. And if so, stay on track with the essay prompts.
• Procrastinating : Waiting until the last minute to start writing your essay will bite you in the butt. You will feel rushed and end up writing a poorly crafted piece. Give yourself enough time to complete an essay draft, edit the draft, and repeat this two-step cycle until your essay is complete.
• Lack of originality : This goes hand-in-hand with avoiding cliches. Your college essay should exude a lot of your personality, so show admissions officers and teachers who you are! Include your cultural background, test scores that you're proud of, any future aspirations, etc. This all depends on the essay prompts, of course, but in my experience, every essay topic has room to show who you are.
• Ignoring the prompt : This is a major key. STAY ON TRACK. Make sure to carefully read and understand the essay prompt, and write your essay accordingly. The last thing you want to do is write a college essay that has nothing to do with the prompt. Reading is essential here.
• Lack of focus : If you want to know how to start a college essay, that means knowing how to stay focused. Find a quiet space, turn off electronics, hide your phone, and really nestle into how you want to capture your reader's attention. This will help you use your five senses clearly, keep your writing strong and not write an overly wordy essay. Focus is the tool here.
• Poor organization : Make sure your essay has a strong structure with clear transitions between paragraphs. An outline will work best to accomplish this. If you go into starting your college essay without a plan, be prepared to hit all roadblocks.
• Neglecting to Revise and Edit : Like procrastinating, don't fail to revise and edit your work. Always, always, always proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors , as well as clarity and coherence.
• Not Seeking Feedback : Listen, I know that completing an essay is an accomplishment in itself, and you immediately want to submit it, but it's so beneficial to have others read your essay for feedback. You can only spot so many holes in your work when your eyes are constantly reviewing it, so a second, third, or even fourth set of eyes can help point out areas for improvement.

Above all, trust the writing process. Though I do want you to be aware of your jargon, don't get too wrapped up in thinking you're making a mistake. That's what editing is for! Once you complete your college essay, you should always revise and edit accordingly . What you thought sounded good might make you edit it to sound great. Just keep in mind that many colleges are looking for honesty and authenticity vs how well you can sound on paper . So, if you're aware of these factors, you'll be good to go.

Ways to Overcome Writer's Block

Take it from someone who has suffered from chronic writer's block, it's a pain to get through . Imagine being on a writing streak so good that when you stop, the entire essay writing process stops as a whole. It's definitely a challenge, but after 10 years of writing essays and really honing my craft, I learned a few things that have helped me get through even the thickest of writer's blocks, and I want to share them with you. Check them out:

• Take a break : This works every single time. Take a short break and step away from your computer to clear your mind and come back with a fresh perspective. For me, 15 minutes is all I ever need. If you need more time, that's okay. Just try not to make your break a rest.
• Freewriting : Sometimes, I'd start writing without worrying about my structure or grammar to get the ideas flowing, and surprisingly enough, I found my essay taking a pleasant turn.
• Change your environment : Move around. Don't underestimate the effects of a different location or workspace to stimulate creativity. Try coffee shops, bookstores, a park, or a new room in your house. New environment, new energy.
• Set small goals : This one is actually the most important. Some people get overwhelmed with the word "essay" for things like lack of proper writing skills, pressure to write a great essay, etc. But if you try breaking down your writing task into smaller, manageable chunks to make it less overwhelming, it can help. For example, set a goal of three paragraphs one day, take a day to edit those paragraphs, two more the next day, and so forth. Find a formula that works for you.
• Brainstorming : Write down all your ideas--everything. No matter how small you think the idea is, write it down. Even if these ideas seem unrelated, they will help you generate new thoughts and connections.
• Read or listen to music : It took me a while to realize this helps, but engaging in other forms of art can inspire new ideas and break through mental blocks. And new creativity can lead you to impress admissions officers.
• Talk it out : As a writer, it's hard to let people in on the creative process, but discussing my ideas with a friend, family member, or colleague helped me gain new perspectives and insights.
• Relax and Meditate : Hear me out: it works! Practice deep breathing and/or meditation to reduce stress and anxiety that may be contributing to writer's block.

I won't sugarcoat it: the college application process can be intimidating , but it doesn't have to throw you off your game. When it comes to college essays, I see them as opportunities to be fun and expressive. Trust me when I say if you have fun with it, you'll attract the reader's attention , paint vivid details, and write an essay that will leave the admissions officer wanting you at their school. So, take it one step at a time and watch your personal statement come to life.

How can I make my college essay stand out to admissions officers?

Simply put, be yourself. As long as you stay on track with the essay's topic, showing pieces of yourself will allow admissions officers to know more about who you are. Essays are meant to show readers who you are, how you feel, and what you think naturally, not robotically, so be authentic in your writing, and you'll be sure to stand out amongst the rest.

What are some common mistakes to avoid when writing a college essay?

Some common mistakes to avoid in your essay are using cliches and boring wording. You also want to avoid procrastinating, wasting time, not focusing, not editing, etc. When writing your essay, you want to make sure you give your writing the time and attention it deserves, so make sure you're aware of what is pulling you away from your writing. This will help you stay focused. If you have any other doubts, refer to the section about mistakes in this article and let it guide you to success.

How important is the college essay in the admissions process?

Your college essay is key in the admissions process . It's an admissions committee's first impression of you as a writer and potential student, so it should be taken very seriously. Trying to cut corners or rush through the writing process will be obvious, and it will stand out more than things like test scores, academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and any other positive influence you've had in your life. So, don't take the easy way out and really work on your essay.

Feeling confident in your college essay skills and want to explore some other essay content? Explore our blog on the comma splice to enhance your technical writing skills!

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Choose your topic of interest below – including college essays, extracurricular activities, standardized tests, admissions deadlines, waitlists and transferring – and you'll see a list of articles with advice on how to effectively navigate that part of the application process.

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How Do I Write a College Essay?

Use the college essay to give admissions officers insight into who you are. The tips in these articles will help you tackle the application essay with confidence.

• What are tips for writing the college application essay?
• What are grammar and style mistakes to avoid in a college essay?
• How do I finish my college essays on time?
• What are some examples of good college essays?

What Kind of Extracurricular Activities Can Help Me Get Into College?

Whether you're involved in a club or have a job, colleges want to know how you spend time outside of the classroom. Read on to learn about the role of extracurricular activities in college applications.

• How do colleges weigh extracurricular activities in an application?
• What are ways to discuss work experience on a college application?
• How do I turn extracurriculars into scholarships?

How Important Are Standardized Test Scores?

Schools have varying policies when it comes to admissions tests like the SAT and ACT. Here's what you need to know about college entrance exams.

• Are schools changing their testing requirements?
• What is a good score on the SAT?
• What is a good score on the ACT?
• How has the SAT changed?
• How can I perform well on ACT or SAT test day?

What Do I Need to Know About Recommendation Letters?

Applications typically require recommendation letters written by people who know you well. Read the following articles to find out who, when and how to ask for letters.

• How do I ask for a letter of recommendation for college?
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When Are College Application Deadlines?

Some colleges offer early decision or early action admissions, in which you apply early and receive a response before other applicants. In general, though, most colleges have a January deadline for regular applications. These articles compare the different application deadlines: early action, early decision, regular decision and rolling admissions.

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Applying to U.S. universities as an international student can be challenging. The articles below can help you understand the admissions process if you're applying from abroad.

• Which U.S. colleges have the most international students?
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• What mistakes should I avoid when applying to a U.S. university?
• What's the difference between TOEFL and IELTS?
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What If I Apply and Am Put on a Waitlist?

A college may put you on a waitlist and not offer you a spot until after the typical May 1 decision deadline. Here's what you need to know if you're wait-listed.

• What do I do if I've been put on a waitlist?
• What colleges admit the lowest percentage of students off the waitlist?
• What should I do while I wait for admissions decisions?

What Do I Need to Know When Transferring Schools?

Transferring may make sense if your college isn't a good fit or you want to finish a degree at a four-year school after community college. Read tips below on transferring schools.

• How can I prepare for a successful college transfer?
• How do I transfer from a community college?
• What's the process of transferring as an international student?
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• Which schools have the most transfer students?

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Do you need a college degree to succeed? Here's what the data shows.

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Alain Sherter

May 23, 2024 / 10:00 AM EDT / CBS News

College was once widely viewed as a pathway to success, but today only about 1 in 4 Americans say a bachelor's degree is necessary to secure a well-paying job, according to a new  survey from the Pew Research Center. 

Fifteen years ago, about 3 in 4 people  told Pew that a college degree was extremely or very important to get ahead in life. The shift comes as higher education costs continue to soar, with some universities now charging close to $100,000 per year for tuition and other costs. 

At the same time, employment opportunities and earnings for young men without college degrees have improved in the last decade, reversing some of the economic damage that eroded the group's fortunes starting in the 1970s. 

"Things are looking up for less-educated young men," Richard Fry, senior economist at Pew, told CBS MoneyWatch. Americans' changing views about college could be based on "not just improving labor markets and outcomes for less educated young men, but it's also clear that there is concern about borrowing for college."

Young men with only a high school degree have seen a slight rebound in their earnings since 2014, Pew found. The median annual income for men 25- to 34-years-old without a college degree was $45,000 in 2023, a 15% increase from $39,300 in 2014 when adjusted for inflation, according to Pew's analysis of Census data. 

Generation gap

But while less educated young men are doing somewhat better than they were a decade ago, they still haven't caught up with the earnings of older generations of men at the same age in the 1970s. In 1973, young men without college degrees were earning almost $58,000 a year. That means the typical income for this group remains 22% lower than half a century ago, according to Pew.

"If you were a high school-educated young man in the early 1970s, it was more likely you were a member of a trade union, the manufacturing employment was much greater. So, in short, starting in the 1980s things shifted away from opportunities for less educated young men," Fry noted. 

"In the grand scheme of things, young, less educated men aren't where they were 50 years ago," he added. 

Young women without college degrees have, in some respects, fared better than young men, partly due to their expanding job opportunities. Their earnings have bumped up from about $35,000 annually in 1973 to $36,000 today. But young women with college degrees still earn far more, at about $65,000 per year, Pew found.

More income and wealth for college grads

When asking if a college diploma is important to secure a "well paying" job today, Pew didn't define the term, leaving that open to a person's interpretation, Fry said. 

But the data from Pew's analysis clearly shows that the typical college graduate today not only earns far more than their counterparts with only a high school education, but also is able to amass much greater wealth as well. In other words, a college degree opens the door to a lifetime of higher earnings, which, in turn, helps unlock ways to build wealth such as jobs with 401(k) plans and stock equity plans.

That's not to say that young workers without a college degree can't also earn higher incomes or build wealth. For instance, people who go into trades like plumbing or welding typically earn higher incomes. The median annual pay for plumbers is $61,550 — significantly higher than the typical $45,000 in annual income for high school grads,  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

But that's still far below the $77,000 median annual income for young male college grads and below the $65,000 median income for young women with college degrees.

Young college grads also have roughly quadruple the wealth of their less educated counterparts, Pew found. People between the ages of 25 and 34 with a bachelor's degree have an average net worth of about $120,000, versus about $31,000 for those with just a high school education. 

"Higher education generates higher wealth," Fry said. "Wealth tends to come from two places: home equity and stock equity or retirement assets. Families with college-educated heads have a higher homeownership rate. And college-educated adults are more likely to have access to 401(k)s and 403(b)s," referring to employer-sponsored retirement programs.

Is college worth the money?

Half of Americans told Pew college is worth the money only if you don't have to go into debt, Pew found. Only 22% see the investment as worthwhile if you have to borrow to earn the degree. 

"I'm a bit surprised at how low it is," Fry said of the 22% share, "but it suggests that how you pay for college is also of concern."

That comes as Americans have accumulated  $1.7 trillion in student debt, a burden that has made it harder for some to buy homes or achieve other hallmarks of middle-class life. 

Among the most skeptical about the value of college are Republicans, with the survey finding that almost 6 in 10 GOP-leaning respondents said it's less important to have a college degree today versus 20 years ago. About 4 in 10 Democrats agreed with that proposition.

Such views could amount to a red flag for the higher education sector, especially as the share of young, male high school grads who are enrolled in college has declined. And some colleges have  closed in recent years due to low enrollment and other financial challenges. 

"College administrations and boards and presidents should be concerned with these perceptions of the value of college," Fry said. 

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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Should College Be Free?

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Politicians on the right and left are talking about college affordability. Democratic presidential candidates are divided over how much should be done to ease the cost of higher education. Tennessee is offering free community college tuition to all its high school graduates and a slate of candidates for the Board of Overseers at Harvard University wants to end undergraduate tuition there.

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