Resolved:On Balance, Students in the United States should be guaranteed Free College.

Remeber the words of Ghandi throughout this debate: "What is really needed to make democracy function is not knowledge of facts, but right education." I affirm the given resolution, On Balance, in the United States, students should be garunteed Free College. On Balance implies that this round will be analyzed using a cost benifit analysis, if the pro side today can prove that the net result of today's round is that 1 person is benifited, then the voters should vote for pro. Contention 1: Necessity Subpoint A: The Limits of Costly Colleges According to a study backed by the Lumina Foundation, which took test scores from 8th grade math exams and compared them to college graduation rates, found that only 29% of high scoring, low income students finished college versus 75% of high scoring students from high income backgrounds. (1) Going further, surveys from the US Department of education found that students taking rigorous math classes were less likely to apply or enroll in college if they were worried about the costs. (2) Evidence from the past suggests that students are more likely to enroll if it is free. (3) Subpoint B:Government intervention is Necessary. In the Status Quo, market forces are allowed to dictate prices. These market forces are more geared towards profits and higher fees than what the students need. (1) Secondly, the current policies of PELL grants ignore the lower middle class that need help the most. The current policies are geared towards reducing mediation increasing time-to degree, meaning that many of the students who need these programs are going to face difficulties. Secondly, the federal government is the best actor in this situation. According to a study published by harvard and the Brookings institute, thee federal government is the superior actor to provide educational subsides. State Governments, when choosing to provide educational subsides, they must directly take funding from another area. (4)Contention 2: Societal Benifits. Higher Education has several societal benefits. First, Higher Education increases racial tolerance. A study published by the Institute of Education measured racial tolerance by judging answers to various questions such as “Is it alright for people of different races to marry?” and scoring participants based on their response. The results where clear that, across age groups, that those with higher education are more tolerant. (5). Racial intolerance negatively impacts social cohesion. Going further, those with higher education are healthier.Studies from the National Bureau of Economic Research have found similar results, with their findings concluding that, on average, every additional year of schooling extends one’s life by roughly half a year. (6) Furthermore, according to a study published by the College Board, those with college certifications are more likely to get proper exercise than those without. (7).And finally, those with higher education are less likely to be depressed and have better mental health. (9) Contention 3: Jobs and Higher WagesA report by Georgetown University states that by 2020, 55 million new jobs will be created. Of those Jobs, 35% of these will require at least Bachelor's Degree and 30% of jobs will require an associate's degree or some college. This means that a grand total of 65% of jobs will require at least some higher education. (10) Going further, Women who finish 2 year college have 37 to 39% more income than those with a high school degree. A similar, but less extreme trend was observed with men. (11) Those with a highschool diploma make around 30,000$ per year, while those with an associate's make closer to 40,000$ per year, and those with a bachelor's make closer to 50,000$ year.(12)For these reasons, and more, I strongly urge you to vote proSOURCES:1:http://www.luminafoundation.org...;2:http://www2.ed.gov...3:http://www.theatlantic.com...4:http://www.brookings.edu...5:http://dera.ioe.ac.uk... (You need to download it to view it)6:http://www.nber.org...7:https://trends.collegeboard.org...;8:None (Ignore please)9:https://www.gov.uk...10:http://scs.georgetown.edu...11:http://intranet.niacc.edu...12:https://nces.ed.gov...