As college students, we all know how dreadful it is to pay bills, especially our tuition. Most of us are young, broke and want to spend our money on other items and events. During the current presidential campaign, the topic of a free college education has sprung up countless times. While the premise is enticing, and I envy the countries that have free college for students, it is not the right decision.

Inflation and rising college tuition rates are extreme concerns of many college students. Whitehouse.gov illustrates how Pell grants have been designed to increase with inflation to ensure the same value, or nearly the same value, over time. The maximum award on Pell grants is also on track to increase to $5,975 by the year 2017. While tuition rates are increasing, so are the resources students can use to pay for their education.

The increase in Pell grant funding is positive, but the government simply cannot produce the funds to foot the entire bill of every student’s education. The debt of the nation is more than $18 trillion. There are no government funds left to pay for the United States’ 20.2 million college students.

This unfortunately means it is financially impractical for the government to cover the cost of all college students’ tuition as it would have to if tuition were to become free. But students should remember that the government is paying as much as possible.

While many of us students may be in debt by the end of our college career , it will be far less than the $18 trillion in debt our government currently has to shoulder.

Not only does the government lack funding to pay for all college tuition, but it may not be as beneficial for students as we hoped.

An academic paper written by sociology professor Laura Hamilton from the University of California suggests a correlation between students’ GPA and the amount of funding they receive from their parents. The study suggested that the more parental funding students received the worse their GPA was. This implies that students feel less inclined to prepare for classes when they are not in charge of paying their own tuition. Failing a class is an academic punishment and not a financial one.

This study can easily be connected to government funding as well. The more tuition costs our government pays for, the less students will care about their studies. Students who pay for their own education are forced to work hard and put their money to good use.

Surprisingly, there are a few reasons to be thankful for student loans, despite how horrific they seem. Loans can help build good credit history and a good credit score.

While most of us in college aren’t concerned with credit scores, they are very important after school. Credit history can help determine insurance rates and the ability to get a car or apartment. These will all be important after college, when money is tight, and students need to get the lowest rates possible to stay financially sound.

Loans can also help teach college students essential budgeting skills that will be required after the four years (or less for some) that students live on a college campus.

After graduation, USA Today states that more than half of college graduates remain unemployed six months after they graduate. Budgeting becomes critical for graduates during this time, and having experience paying off loans will help create successful budgets.

While college is an expensive adventure, it is an investment that will last a lifetime. 

Government funding is important and is implemented in many ways to help students, however it is impossible for full funding to come from the U.S. government.