Debate discussion

so do u think there should be free clollage?

i for one do not, becasue u can make a living with a highschool diploma, and u can go 2 highschool for free- so why should there be free clolage? plus thats a big uip on taxes and a big low on quality

Well that is up to the college's to decide. Good schools like Cooper Union let those who get accepted go for free. Personally i dont think that the government can afford to do something like that, even though i would LOVE to not have to pay for college when the time comes, it is one of those things that people have to do. Good school's wouldn't be able to support themselves unless they had tuition. Then they would not be good schools.

So i think that, there should not be free college. College should cost money, but the government SHOULD give out student grants and such.

exactly- plus if you realy like something and trey hard enough you can almost always get a pretty good scholarship

PS 200th post :)

Yayerz!

Yeah! I mean even if your smart enough to get into a good school, you need to learn how to make money in life. And if college is free you wont learn how to do that.

:) agree

xD

That is a wonderful conclusion. Thanks for making my life worth something.

I agree that the government can't afford to make college "free", but I'm glad that there are certain scholarships available for those with exceptional grades/GPAs. I think it's wonderful that those that make the grade get rewarded in some sense. Those that want to go to college, but didn't make the grade, I think should have to pay some sort of money.

I can't stand the stupid, pointless scholarships, like the ones for people who are left-handed, or 17% of a certain ethnicity, and the like. That's a bit unfair if you ask me.

Yeah.

everyone deserves education and its so sad that some people can't go to college due to lack of financial resources.

u can still gett in with a scolarship almost all the time or go to comunity collage.

And everybody deerves education which you can get for free k-12. and you can make a liveing on that,

but don't you think that if someone wants to learn and get a higher education, nothing should stand in their way?

yeah, i agree with liz. you can get a job after high school, but not a good one. not in my eyes, anyway. i mean, if thats what you want, then cool, im not disputing it. but i think going to college is really important.

i agree with you, chandani about the government- you are right, it can't afford to have free colleges. i wish it could.

sarah jean, no you cannot almost always get into a school with scholarships. some schools, yes, but really good schools, no. scholarships are usually really hard to get. and they should be. they are for the very best, and its hard to be the very best. community college is an option, but for some people, its not a good option. a lot of people would much rather go to UVA, William and Mary, Yale, Harvard, VT, Princeton, and other good schools. those are pretty elite, i suppose, but even smaller schools. i have nothing against community college, don't get me wrong. its just not quite as good an option as a better college.

Liz wrote: "but don't you think that if someone wants to learn and get a higher education, nothing should stand in their way?"

Well i think that there should be obstacles. If someone really truly has a passion for higher education then they will fight for it. They will find a way to get grants and scholarships to better themselves. I wish college was free so i didnt have to save money for it, but im glad that its not because that an experience. Gaining 40,000 dollars to better yourself! Thats something you can talk about on your deathbed.

You can even get grants for ivy league too. These colleges WANT really good motivated students. Because if you graduate from there with good grades and become somebody, thats their schools name that is getting publicity. Colleges want to nurture talented students, because thats how they keep the school going.

In the current economic situation we soo cannot make college free. No way jose.

well no, don't make college free, but i think nothing should hold a student back if that person really truly wants to gain higher education. i just don't think people should be limited because of finances.

Chandani wrote: "Liz wrote: "but don't you think that if someone wants to learn and get a higher education, nothing should stand in their way?"

Well i think that there should be obstacles. If someone really truly ..."

yeah, i agree with that. but it doesn't have to be scholarships. my mom went to school and worked the entire time so she could pay. but yes, i agree with that. you should have to work for it.

don't get me wrong, i do think the person should have to work for it. i agree!

Idk... My mom always told me since I'm black that I will get a scholarship really easily so IDK

haha Ariel my mom said the same thing once. there was this private school in manhattan that we looked into and they really wanted to give us all free rides JUST BECAUSE WERE BLACK. I mean it was nice and all, btu i said i didnt want to go because that feels unfair and i dont think schools should do that. Its good for schools to have ethnic diversity but dont give people scholarships because of their color.


Liz wrote: "well no, don't make college free, but i think nothing should hold a student back if that person really truly wants to gain higher education. i just don't think people should be limited because of f..."

Same here. Thats why i think the government should give out more educational grants to help people to go school. But college should not be free.

yes agreed, chandani.
they were going to give you guys scholarships because of your skin color? thats insane.

totally insane! wowser!

I know! Because there were no kids of color in the school and they were getting bad media. They wanted good test scores too but still.

Eliza wrote: "yeah, i agree with liz. you can get a job after high school, but not a good one. not in my eyes, anyway. i mean, if thats what you want, then cool, im not disputing it. but i think going to college..."
but if they dont pay who does?

and one of my friends parents have realy realy good jobs, w/o a scolarship.

ok, im not sure im following you exactly, but i think what your asking is "if college is free, who will pay?" is that correct? my answer is thus: i don't think college should be free, and i never said i did. i said i wished it was.

oh sorry misunderstood

thats ok:)

Well, what about student aid or whatever it is? The stuff where you get a certain amount of money a month to help pay your tuition and you pay it back once you get out of college? Liz, I think the point in that is so people in bad financial situations can get through college.

Well, I'm 12 and economy confuses me deeply but... Wouldn't free college cause our economy to crash and burn? But wouldn't it staying this expensive cause a stupid America and also cause the economy to crash and burn from very little students attending college? Ah, the economy is such a delicate Venus Fly Trap...

i KNOW! i think that when they started creating stockmarket and economy and currency and so forth, they had the power to make it so that people didn't have to go to college for 8 years before they even remotely understood it! they had the power to make it so that it was simple, or to not have currency at all, rather an economy of trading and bartering, which would make recession or depression or any other stockmarket problems pretty much impossible! i just find all that stuff totally idiotic, but hey, what am i going to do about it?

Riley wrote: "Well, what about student aid or whatever it is? The stuff where you get a certain amount of money a month to help pay your tuition and you pay it back once you get out of college? Liz, I think the ..."

with that, though, you are stuck in debt for years, and it really inhibits your ability to buy a house and stuff like that.

I agree with Eliza, that's why my sister is not going to take a loan for her medical school. She going to take a year off, move to Cali, gain residence, and get into college for free. A bit more complex though.

yeah but it makes sense. i think thats what i might do. Except i want to go abroad for that year, go to london.

i want to go 2 paris :)

To get into a Paris college for free is really hard.

well i am going in 37 days with one of my best friends no parents no educastion. except museaums I AM SO EXCITED :) :)

THAT'S AWESOME!!!!!!!

i know :)

You will love it. Paris is awesome.

yay!

But try to relax. Oh and go to the open markets!

okay

wow, i really want to go to paris! i was gonna go this summer, but then it got to expensive to go there and italy, so we're just going to italy.

Oooo Paris is amazing!!! I love Paris, it was sooo much fun!! Barcelona is really nice too :D

Gah, I've never been to Spain. My sister is studding abroad there though, so we might visit her.

fun!

I want to move to spain. Im tired of America and our economy is only getting worse. I wanna go somewhere else, leave all the mess and come back for college.

america's economy affected most others economy and now ours is better than theres

Where I come from college is for free. Unless you go to a private school (a couple of which have only recently been introduced.) I personally believe that when you have to pay for a service, be it schooling or medical care (which is also generally free here) or any other type of service...the quality of the service is hypothetically better than what you would get if you were granted that service free of charge.
obviously real life does not necessarily work that way...You might not get a service that is worth the money you paid...plus, who's to say what a good service is and what a bad service is...it's all relative.
Generally though, I believe paying for college gets you a better quality of education.

wow, thats really cool.

Maria - you mentioned your sister is a medical student. If she's interested I could pull information about Army Nursing scholerships. Nurses are treated really, really well in the Army. No basic training, she goes in as an officer (2nd Lt. or higher)and stands a low chance of ever seeing combat. We tend to surround our nurses with padding and battallions of guys whos job it is to block bullits (aka infantry). I know I sound like a recruiter, but i'm just trying to help guys. There are so many options out there.

Chandi - If you move to Cali look into the BOG grant. Its easy to get and pays for your tuition. You can also get it for you books. The FAFSA is an option as well but its a pain in the royal arse, excuse my french, and very competitive.

College should not be free. Part of the college experiance is leaveing the nest and learning to fend for yourself. I think having to pay for college and living expenses is a real eye opener to the world without parents. Two years ago when I first left home and started school living on my own was a hugh shock. It took a lot of adjusting. But man I learned how to watch my self and spend accordingly real fast. Rent is one of the greatest costs. However, right now, especially in CA you can find a home, not an apartment, for as low as 83 dollers a month. At least in Fresno you can.....

There is nothing wrong with going to a JC. They are cheaper and often easier. they soften the transition between highschool and college. It give you a taste of workload and professors and all in all helps you acclimate/ Most people find them to be less stressful and less demanding then 4 year institution classes. They deffinately have a lower homework expectation but at the same time its the same big assissgnments you get when you are in college.

I don't know if you guys want to know this or not but i thought teh following might be useful to all you who are starting college soon.

- Register as early as possible. Try and get classes before the extream registration date. You can do this by becoming a student and going to the campus to get a catalog and selecting courses that way. If you wait you'll get crap classes the first semister like Underwater Basket Weaving....

- Talk to students who go there and find out which professors to take and which to avoid.

- Find someone who can show you around.

- Avoid waitlisting. If you are waitlisted show up very early. Many professors will select the students who show up first from waitlists. If there are more then 15 people on the list you can try to get in but I wouldn't get your hope up.

- Good grades = priority registration = good classes and teachers.

- Buy your textbooks used or online whenever possible. Always sell back your books at the end of the semister unless they pertain to your major or you happen to want that book for some obscure reason. If you choose to sell your book to students do so for a severely reduced price. Its one way college students look out for each other. Never buy used book without checking them to make sure they are the correct version and useable.

- The campus library should have a section/branch dedicated to text books. You might only get them for a few hours and you might be waiting for awhile. But its better then buying them.

- Make sure you leave time for big assisgnments. College doesn't assissgn a lot of homework. But the homework you get will be hugh. Like 5-10 page paper hugh.

- NEVER take more then 21 units.

- If you can develope an academic road map of what your going to take and when your going to take it so you can track your progress.

And yeah....theres more but thats all I'll put. I know that you guys probably already knew this stuff but I'm just trying to help out. Sorry if I insulted anyone.