Argument Essay (DRAFT)

University education should be free.

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ – Nelson Mandela.

Higher education in the UK is not free. People have to pay tens of thousands to pay for a place in some of the best universities in the country. To me, a student almost finished with secondary education, this is a daunting prospect to think that in a few years time I may have to pay for a place in university. For some people who may not be as fortunate as others university is a place that they will maybe never see because of the amount of money they will have to pay for their education. I strongly believe that higher education at university level should be free, my reasons for this is as follows. Everyone should have an equal right to higher education no matter what your economic background, student loans severely damage a young persons start in the working world and finally that the country would benefit from more young people coming out of the education system with qualifications to help many sectors of the country flourish.

Everyone has a right to higher education.
In some ways I think that the fact that the Government stops a certain group of people, mainly people with a worse economic background than others, going into the university because of tuition fees is a form of discrimination. Tuition fees stop less wealthy people from breaking free of the working class stereotype and this is ridiculous because it is yet another example of the broken economic system we live in, another form of ‘The rich stay rich and the poor stay poor’. I don’t think that this just applies to universities because you get examples of private schools which only allow people from extremely rich backgrounds to attend. Surely everybody should have an equal chance at learning what they have an enthusiasm for? Education is also a human right as stated by the United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation. They say that ‘Education is a fundamental human right and essential for the exercise of all other human rights. It promotes individual freedom and empowerment and yields important development benefits. Yet millions of children and adults remain deprived of educational opportunities, many as a result of poverty.’

This brings me onto my next point, student loans cripple young people when starting off adult life. When paying your tuition fees for Uni most people decide to take out a student loan which is an amount of money that allows you to pay for your university education but, and here’s the catch, as soon as you are earning a certain amount of money they will ask for you to pay back the loan. Many people after student loans are hit with an incredible amount of debt which they may never be able to pay back. This is yet another reason why free university education would be a great idea, it would give young people a great start in life with qualifications in job sectors that they have real enthusiasm for. Catey Hill from Market Watch says ‘Want to know how grim the student loan debt problem is? Just ask our nation’s graduates and former college students, roughly half of whom say that had they known the impact student loans would have on their lives, they would have considered not going to college at all.’ This just goes to show that people that do take out student loans regret even going through higher education because of the massive amount of debt they have to pay later on. Some also believe that having a hefty debt hanging over your head is no way to learn in university. Many students become depressed because of the impact that a student loan may have on his or hers family life later on.

Finally, I believe that if everyone has a chance at higher education then all sectors of business would flourish. With so many young people coming out of Uni with degrees in their professions then there wouldn’t be a lack of jobs because higher education gives people the opportunity to make their own worth. In fact it would free up more jobs with lower pay because a lot of young people could seize the chance to get a highly respected, highly payed job.