Should College Be Free in the U.S.?

It is tough to join the middle class in America without an undergrad degree. People who have had to face that harsh reality disagree on what needs to change

- SKYLER ADLETA

FREE COLLEGE WILL ONLY DEEPEN THE CLASS DIVIDE. HOW ABOUT RESPECT FOR THE WORKING CLASS?

IT'S NOT DIFFICULT TO MUSTER up the potential benefits of making college free in the U.S. It could provide equitable access to the opportunities made available through higher education, open possible pathways for some to escape generational poverty and offload the yoke of college debt. These benefits have some calling for college to be free nationwide, a proposal that gains ground during Democratic primaries. But while I agree that there is a real problem in this country of socioeconomic factors creating barriers to upward mobility, I don't think college is the answer, free or not.

Eleven years ago, I was a member of the lower socioeconomic tier myself. I was 18 years old and living in my car, sleeping at the homes of my friends and their families when I could. If you had offered me a full ride to go to college at that time, it would have been about as useful as trying to heal a gunshot wound with Neosporin. I needed surgery, not a salve. And even if you'd lifted the burden of tuition costs from my shoulders, I still would have had to pay for the cost of living: food, shelter, repairs to my unreliable car, clothing and a phone. Even without the cost of tuition, there was no way I would have been able to work full time, go to school full time and claw my way out of the pit of poverty I was in.

I know this because I did go to college, for a short time. I qualified for a Pell grant, which covered a large chunk of tuition, but even with that help, college just wasn't the answer for me to achieve the upward mobility I was searching for.