As the world economy becomes more and more driven by knowledge, obtaining a higher education has become a necessary prerequisite to reaching professional success and establishing financial security for oneself and one’s family. At the same time, however, along with demand for higher education in the professional sphere, its price has also been on the rise meaning that fewer and fewer young people from the economically disadvantaged families can afford to go to college and consequently lower their chances of building a successful career and even going up the socioeconomic ladder. Because higher education is an essential factor that allows people to move up the economic ladder and the high price of it deepens the gap between the wealthy and the poor, the government should offer free higher education for everyone which will help individual people advance and will benefit the whole society in the long run.
Higher education is the key component that allows one to build a successful career and move up the socioeconomic ladder for young people (Reed). As industries become more specialized and start looking for trained employees knowledgeable and competent in the relevant spheres, higher education becomes a key that open doors to well-paying jobs and careers that promise continuous professional development. Because it offers an opportunity to escape poverty, education is regarded as “the vehicle for closing the gap between the top and the bottom of the economic ladder” (Reed). Yet, the growing price of higher education turns it into an unattainable luxury for young people from economically disadvantaged families, thus, depriving them of an opportunity to hope for a more stable financial future even if they are determined to work hard for it.
Because higher education is such an important component of the future financial success of young people, the government should offer it for free. Although higher education is now regarded as a private commodity (Williams), it is actually more of a public good necessary to ensure that everyone has equal access to resources and opportunities.
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Taking into account that current financial aid system relies mostly on loans which students have to take out without even having a guarantee that the obtained education will offer them a chance to pay them off (Govindarajan), the government should offer free education for everyone to ensure that all young people have equal chances in life.
Government-funded free education for everyone will grant all young people equal chances in succeeding in life and will benefit the whole society in the long run. Free higher education will ensure that everyone has a chance of obtaining knowledge and skills that will make them valuables employees in our increasingly knowledge-driven economy (Govindarajan). This is likely to cover the existing deficit in qualified employees in the innovative industries along with lowering the unemployment rate. Further, better educated citizens contribute to society as a whole becoming more productive, more rational, capable of making better financial decisions, less violent, and more tolerant (Williams). Hence, offering free higher education will benefit both the individual citizens and society as a whole.
Summing up, the growing price of higher education contributes to the growing gap between the wealthy and the poor as it deprives young people of the poorer families of an opportunity to build successful careers and ensure financial stability for themselves. Making higher education free will offer everyone an equal opportunity for obtaining economic well-being and will reduce the risk of young people getting into serious debt before they even start earning. In the long run, free higher education for everyone is likely to benefit individual citizens and to increase the well-being of whole society across numerous dimensions. Hence, free higher education for everyone is a real necessity for ensuring social justice and continuous economic development of our country.
- Govindarajan, Vijay, and Jastin Desai. “Should Higher Education Be Free?” Harvard Business Review, hbr.org/2013/09/higher-education-for-free. Accessed 22 May 2017.
- Williams, Gareth. “Higher Education: Public Good or Private Commodity?” London Review of Education, vol. 14, no. 1, 2016, pp. 131-142.
