Should In-State Colleges Be Free to Attend?

There is an ongoing debate about whether in state colleges should be free to attend. Personally, I think that it should be. The majority of Americans are of the working class, and therefore can’t afford to put themselves through college without its debt following them for the rest of their lives. Making state colleges free to attend would just make easier the lives of those ambitious working class citizens. Not only wealthier people share the dreams of going to college. Think of it from the perspective of an American middleclass man. What if you had all it took to go to college --- brains, ambition, responsibility--- everything except the money to pay for it with. You are faced with a huge decision. Should you go to college to fulfill your dreams, risking being in debt for years after? Or should you squash your own dreams all because of some financial issues? Making state colleges free to attend would eliminate this decision. People argue that making these in-state colleges free to attend would make college less serious, letting any and everybody into their schools. But the same type of people would still get accepted. The rules for GPA and SAT Scores would not change. The school would be able to maintain their reputation all while helping out a few people, too. There is also an argument saying that making state colleges free would result in budget cuts for those schools. Yes, there would be less money coming from the actual students, but surely that money could come from somewhere else. Annually, $110 Billion are spent on war alone. War; where citizens are put on the battlefield to risk their lives; where about 5, 663 military lives have been lost in the last two. Many people go to the military as an alternative for college; they can’t afford to go to school, so they choose a less expensive option. Why pay money to have those lives risked, when it could have been prevented if they were able to afford college?