GRE Issue Essay - Would someone mind grading this / giving me some tips - Thanks :)

[Meghan_Kean]

Governments should offer college and university education free of charge to all students.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, describe specific circumstances in which adopting the recommendation would or would not be advantageous and explain how these examples shape your position.

I do not think college and university education should be free of charge to all students. It is a lofty idea that is appealing, however not applicable or possible for our country. Even though education would be more accessible I believe it would have more downfalls than positive ones. 

The education department is already lacking in funds to serve the K-12 population in our states. If college is made accessible to all then the money that is already used sparingly by the government in the lower grades will be forced to be evenly spread out in the higher education grades as well. This would have negative effects on the lower grades as well as the higher grades. If the government struggles to fund the grades it already has under its department, I do not see how it is plausible to add four more grades to this. Even though education would be more accessible I believe it would have more downfalls than positive ones. 

Many students are motivated to do well in high school in order to receive academic scholarships. If education was free to all then the motivation for many students to do well would be removed. In contrast, there still would be motivation to do well to get into well known schools. However, these well known, expensive schools may not be considered prestigious without their high tuition rates. For instance, Northeastern is over $60,000 a year while UMass Amherst is $25,000 a year. Northeastern University is very prestigious university and one of those reasonings is the expensive tuition. Without this I think it would lose a big part of what makes it prestigious. Students from middle class families may chose a school like UMass Amherst because it is affordable while students from well off families do not have to make this choice. Even though affordable schools such as UMass Amherst are great schools as well I believe more students would chose to attend schools such as Northeastern University causing a reduction in enrollment. This may cause schools such as UMass Amherst to be forced to close down. 

If governments made college education free for all students universities and colleges would be forced to make many cut backs in their programs. They would not be receiving yearly tuitions from students, which they depend on to function. Instead they would likely be receiving money from the state to function. Many universities require more money than others to run a successful college. I assume the government would give each university and college the same amount. This could potentially harm the schools that require more money to run in comparison to others.  I do not believe the schools be given sufficient funds to be the same schools they once were dependent on tuition. Many schools would be forced to make numerous cut backs and some may be forced to close. This cut backs in their programs could be extremely harmful to their students. For instance, if they could no longer fund a certain undergraduate program the students in it would not be able to finish their degrees at the school. They would be forced to start over as most schools would not accept most of their credits. The staff working at these schools from janitorial to professors would be forced into unemployment. 

In Iceland the citizens are able to receive an undergraduate degree for free thanks to the government. They have a prosperous scenario for students and professors. However, this is a long established system. If we were to introduce this idea here it would be a long and difficult battle until it was as successful and established in Iceland. In the process it would be harmful to current and upcoming students as well as to the people in academia. Also, countries such as Iceland have fewer citizens than in the US, which makes it easier for them to establish this. 

[BunnyN]

Your assumption that the government will give every school the same(and insufficient) amount of money isn't sensible. You need to justify your assumption. I know it's an assumption, but I'm not convinced it's sensible.

The last paragraph seems to make a brilliant point. That is, suddenly introducing the concept of free education to the U.S could be very difficult. Maybe you should elaborate on that part?

Northwestern is a private school. In Europe, free tuition only extends to public schools if my memory serves.