In this debate speech, Kevin Law argues against free college tuition in the United States. He first clarifies that private schools should be excluded from the definition of tuition because they are not funded by taxpayers. He then presents three main counter‑contentions: (1) free tuition undermines student motivation and on‑time graduation, citing a Los Angeles Times report and the Adams Scholarship study that found scholarship recipients were 40% less likely to graduate on time; (2) tuition would not be truly free for students, as the cost would fall on taxpayers—estimated at $79 billion per year—adding to the federal debt and likely requiring higher taxes; (3) the quality of education would decline because enrollment could rise by about 22%, stretching limited funding, increasing class sizes, and reducing faculty support. Kevin rebuts his opponent Selena’s claims that free tuition would reduce student debt and expand opportunity, arguing that higher taxes and diminished educational quality would offset any benefits. He concludes that free college tuition is not the right choice for America.
Chapters
Hi, my name is Kevin. Thanks to all of you who's watching this video. Selena, thanks for being my opponent, and I'm truly honored. First of all, I disagree that the definition of tuition in this context should include private schools because they are not belong to the government, which means they are not using any taxpayers' money to run for the schools. Also, they are private organizations. They obtain the free will they're entitled to in this democratic society. Before I respond to her argument, I would like to state mine so that you will have a basic understanding of where I am coming from. Today, I will provide 3 counter-contentions as to why free college tuition is not the right choice for America. The first counter-contention is the students' motivations. Free college tuition will decrease the students' academic performance. According to LA Times on November 15, 2019, free college tuition tempted The students choose state colleges that are often less competitive and have a higher dropout rate. The Adams Scholarship researchers compared 2 groups of people. One of the groups received the offer for free college tuition to attend state colleges versus those who did not receive and went to a more competitive school. Both of the groups have some— have similar grades before they went to the college, and the result shows that The add-up scholarship recipients were 40% less likely to graduate on time. As the evidence shows, as the evidence shows that the free college tuition is not going to motivate students to stay positive in pursuing their academic goals. On the other hand, students will tend to choose whichever is easier and less competitive, and it is socially not the right choice because it is morally not right. The students use taxpayers' money, which is our money, and in return they are not getting any better. The second counter-contention is college tuition is still not free. Taxpayers will be the one who pay for the college tuition. New York Times on July 19th, 2019 said that taxpayers need to cover tuition fee if the college goes free. According to the most recent Department of Education data, If the government eliminates all the tuition fee for the states' universities and college, the cost of estimation is $79 billion a year. Also, according to USA Today on April 15th, 2019, the federal government used 7.7% of our taxpayers' money to pay for the debt, which is $325 billion a year. And according to CNBC on January 14th, 2020, The United States has $23 trillion in debt. The only possible solution for the government is to increase the tax rate, which means people have to pay more tax over and over. And this is also one of the reasons the government will have to postpone to pay off the debt. And the longer time the government pay off the debts, The more amount of interest rate they are going to pay, which means we are going to pay. And as the times go by, it creates more debt for the future generations. And this is not financially right because the students now will have an even tough time in the future to pay for the tax. The third counter-contention is the quality of education. The quality of education will drop because of not enough funding. According to LA Times on November 15th, 2019, some economists estimated that the enrollment will increase as much to 22% if the college goes free. And for state college and university, their fundings are limited due to the debts they have and the caps the federal government sponsored. The school have less manpower to guide the students Which means students are easier to drop out and the class will also get bigger. It is socially not right because the quality of the education drops will affect the quality of the society. So as for the debate today, the free college tuition fee is not the right choice for America. And now let's go to her arguments. She says that free college tuition would decrease student debt. On the surface, yes. But after you graduate, or even before you graduate, you'll realize, oh my God, the tax has increased, it's going— it's getting expensive. The oil, the gas, the gas prices, the food prices, and the groceries, they are all getting expensive. And it won't have a distinct thing— it won't have a distinct, distinctive improvement financially for the students. Secondly, you should say that Free college tuition can give everyone the opportunity to receive college education. Well, receiving college education is not the main goal right now. The main goal is to finish college. And if there is not enough manpower to guide the students in school, they are more likely to drop out of school, which is a waste of money and efforts for the society. Also, there is no point if the quality of education decreases. That is not going to help the society, and many of the students will choose the easier path instead of having the motivation to go something more challenging. So again, the free college tuition fee is not the right choice for America.
