Do you think university education should be free? Give your reasons and examples.
I think the university education should not be free because it is unnecessary, and could cause negative consequences for the education system.
Firstly, almost universities need sources of finance to operate effectively. Without tuition fees, they cannot pay considerable costs, such as: operating costs, administration costs, or labor costs. More seriously, it may lead to reductions in their budgets for teaching and research programs. The teachers would be dissatisfied with their salaries, so they could not devote entirely themselves to teaching and research work. Consequently, the education quality would be suffered, and the university could not attract good students and acclaimed teachers.
Secondly, it is regarded as normal for students to pay a fair price for the knowledge they acquire at university. The students are like customers who buy products from the universities. In this relationship, the price of the products as tuition fees will correspond with the education quality, as the saying goes "you get what you pay for". The universities should not offer free courses because they are not non-profit-making organizations, and they need to make money to develop their education products. For example: Tuition fees at the world's top universities such as Harvard, MIT are always exorbitant, but they still attract a number of applicants each year thanks to their high reputations for the education quality.
Thirdly, the university education should not be free because it is always accessible to needy students. When any students can not afford to pay for their education, they can apply for various kinds of education loans and scholarships to cover their fees and expenses. Moreover, students are grown-up enough to look for a part-time job after school. Briefly, needy students will able to overcome their financial problems as long as they are full of determination to achieve their university dreams.
For those reasons, I believe that the idea of free universities is rather theoretical and could not become a reality. In university education, the key question which we need to consider is how its quality is, not it can be free nor not.
I think the university education should not be free because it is unnecessary, and could cause negative consequences for the education system.
Firstly, almost universities need sources of finance to operate effectively. Without tuition fees, they cannot pay considerable costs, such as: operating costs, administration costs, or labor costs. More seriously, it may lead to reductions in their budgets for teaching and research programs. The teachers would be dissatisfied with their salaries, so they could not devote entirely themselves to teaching and research work. Consequently, the education quality would be suffered, and the university could not attract good students and acclaimed teachers.
Secondly, it is regarded as normal for students to pay a fair price for the knowledge they acquire at university. The students are like customers who buy products from the universities. In this relationship, the price of the products as tuition fees will correspond with the education quality, as the saying goes "you get what you pay for". The universities should not offer free courses because they are not non-profit-making organizations, and they need to make money to develop their education products. For example: Tuition fees at the world's top universities such as Harvard, MIT are always exorbitant, but they still attract a number of applicants each year thanks to their high reputations for the education quality.
Thirdly, the university education should not be free because it is always accessible to needy students. When any students can not afford to pay for their education, they can apply for various kinds of education loans and scholarships to cover their fees and expenses. Moreover, students are grown-up enough to look for a part-time job after school. Briefly, needy students will able to overcome their financial problems as long as they are full of determination to achieve their university dreams.
For those reasons, I believe that the idea of free universities is rather theoretical and could not become a reality. In university education, the key question which we need to consider is how its quality is, not it can be free nor not.
