Annotated Bibliography

Check out my About Me page!

Breaking Down Obama's 9 Million Students. Digital image. Eduventures.com. Adventures,  a a aa  a  n.d.Web. 21 April 2015.
http://www.eduventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Community-College-31.png
I chose this source because I really liked how it broke down the 9 million students into who those students were and how they were going to be helped. I chose it as a picture instead of just writing it because I feel that the image better captures the true meaning and people are more likely to remember it.

Ireland. Department of the Taoiseach. Building Ireland's Smart Economy: A Framework for the a a a a a a a Sustainable Economy Renewal. Dublin: Stationery Officer, 2008. PDF.
http://www.taoiseach.gov.ie/attached_files/BuildingIrelandsSmartEconomy.pdf
This PDF discusses how Ireland became a country that offers free education and what policies they put in place to make their education the way it is and how it has positively affected their country. It also discusses how they are ranked among other world leaders. I chose this source to prove that it is possible to offer free education and how the US can boost their economy by doing so.

"Office of Student Financial Aid." The Cost. UW-Madison, n.d. Web. 5 May 2015.

https://finaid.wisc.edu/undergraduate-cost.htm
This source breaks down the cost for Undergraduates pursue their degree at UW-Madison and I want everyone to see how expensive everything is here per year. This not only breaks down the COA for in state tuition but also for out of state students and Minnesota Residents.

"Obama: Community College Should Be 'as Free and Universal in America as High School.'"  a a a a a a a a YouTube. YouTube, 20 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 April 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFWhzdQcwnk
This is the video of President Obama given his speech on his proposal so the reason why I chose this is pretty self-explanatory. I am writing about his speech, thus, I need his actual speech.

"Should College Be Free?" YouTube. 19 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 April 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3KU_gB922o

This video breaks down some pros as well as a few cons to President Obama's proposed bill. I chose this source because it already was made with the points I wanted to discuss in my blog. This man really talks about the bill in an impartial way and I really think everyone deserves to know both sides of an argument.

Spears, Richard A. "Travesty of justice." McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal a a a a Verbs. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/travesty+of+justice
I chose this source because I felt that the definition of "travesty of justice" was necessary to understand exactly what I was getting at in my blog post titled "travesty of justice." The definition came from McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs, but I used a hyperlink that went to the free dictionary because the free dictionary sourced McGraw-Hill for the definition.

Stevenson, Betsey. "Why Access To Free Community College Matters." White House Blog. The  a a a a a a White House, 9 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 April 2015.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/01/09/why-access-free-community-college-matters
This blog post was written on the White House Blog to explain President Obama's proposal on free community college, and it gave a lot of facts on education and how important it is. I chose this source because I know it has current and correct information and it talks about many of the issues I wanted my blog to touch on, but this blog post goes much more in depth than I did. If you are looking for more information on this topic I suggest looking at this site for information based on the U.S.

The Last Refuge. Rag Tag Bunch of Conservative Misfits, n.d. Web. 21 April 2015.
http://theconservativetreehouse.com
I want my audience to see both sides of the argument before they make a decision on if they agree with the idea of free education or not. I also would like to point out that I did not make up the "Rag Tag Bunch of Conservative Misfits" sponsor, that is actually how they refer to themselves on their website. I chose this particular website because they are prominent extremists and they have some cool cartoons that I like.

Unow.com. UniversityNow, 2015. Web. 21 April 2015.
http://unow.com
I chose this source generally because they have a lot to offer if you go on their website and I used one of their photos because it put a lot of information into a photo and made it more interesting to see the exact amounts in an appealing way. I suggest scrolling through their website if you want to know about them and about what they do with Patten University.

"8 Colleges Where Students Attend For Free." Bestcollegereviews.org. Best College Reviews, n.d. a a a a a a Web. 15 April 2015.

http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/8-colleges-where-students-attend-for-free/

This source shows that it is possible to attend college in the United States for free and here are 8 examples of free colleges. I chose this source purely to prove that free college is possible and the source gives a little bit of information on each of the 8 schools listed. 

Travesty of Justice

The Free Dictionary gives the definition of travesty of justice as:

"a miscarriage of justice; an act of the legal system that is an insult to the system of justice."

I believe this term is perfect for what is happening to our college graduates right now because they barely have a chance to join the working force before our federal government (and college loan companies) start expecting them to pay back their loans. These loans are an added cost to other bills that include, but are not limited to:

-house/apartment bill

-utilities (electricity, water, heat, telephone (landline) etc.)

-car payment (gas to fill up said car is an added cost)

-cell phone bill

-internet bill

-cable/television bill (can also include Amazon Prime/Netflix etc)

-FOOD (groceries, take out, etc)

-any memberships you have like to your local gym

-insurance (home, life, auto, medical, dental, vision)

-taxes

-church/charity

-clothing

-credit cards

This list could on and on. Yes, I know that all adults should be paying these bills, but as a recent graduate, you are trying to just start your life after college. It could be your first full-time job or your first time buying a house, and everyone knows that you don't just buy a house without changing a few things, which adds up quickly. If we as a nation lowered tuition to four-year colleges and made two-year colleges free we would allow our recent graduates to have a little more spending money, which we allow them to buy more things and raise the supply and demand on goods which would make more jobs, leading to a better economy. YAY! WE JUST FIXED THE ECONOMY! Actually, this is a very difficult thing to do but I think that if we lower student debt and make college free, we will have a good start to fixing the economy. Don't get me wrong, this will be a long process, but a process well worth our time and energy.

Let's look at some facts:

In the 1950's American teens were three times more likely to be in school than European teenagers. Today, this is no longer the case. 

Most American's recognize the link between higher education, a productive workforce, and economic growth, but they are unsure of how to boost all of these.

Between 1900 and 1975, each generation of American's completed 1.5 years more of education than the previous generation.

From 1910-1950 high school graduation rates jumped from under 10% to almost 60%

for more facts like these click here

So what's changed?

Many European countries have gone to a free (or almost free) college system and here's why:

Ireland released a report found here that states some of the strengths of the Irish economy (found on pages 29 and 30)

"A competitive economy in many respects through low corporation tax, overall productivity levels, a well-educated and young workforce and a smart approach to business regulation."
"Young, educated and English-speaking population-Ireland has the highest proportion of people under 15 in the EU and the lowest proportion of people over 65. Over 85% of 20-24 year olds have completed at least of secondary education which is the 2nd highest in the EU-15 and 40% of those aged 25-34 have a third-level qualification which is the highest in the EU-15, along with Belgium and higher than the US."

 They actually say "higher than the US" and why do you think they did that? Because the United States of America are supposed to be a world leader, and when someone is better than the USA it is a big deal. Which is why it is so important that the US changes the laws on college education as well as on student loans and the substantial amount of debt on students.

Another quote from the Department of the Taoiseach:

"In more recent times, through the attraction of its young and well-educated workforce and favourable tax incentives, Ireland has imported the best of overseas commercial leadership, management expertise and supply and demand networks assisted by investments by multinationals. More than half of Ireland’s new entrepreneurs, at some time in their careers, worked for a multinational company."

Ireland is building its economy with the attraction of a young and well-educated workforce as well as favorable tax incentive. Since Ireland's economy is booming and other European countries (who use similar systems) are also seeing thriving economies the US should take notes and follow in a similar manner.

Although many students have a huge amount of debt throughout the United States, there are already grants in place to help students graduate with little or no debt (including Pell Grants). In fact here's      8 colleges where students attend free.

This bill proposed by President Obama is a way for all students to lessen or eliminate their student loans all together. I think that this is a great start to a much larger issue that needs to be addressed by the United States in order for our country to become one of the leading contenders in education once again. This bill will "get the ball rolling" so to speak and then we can move forward to eliminating college tuition expenses completely.


Thank you so much for reading and be sure to check out my Bibliography!

Should college be free for everyone?

Here's a youtube video asking this very question:

Here it is on youtube

This looks at both sides of the debate on President Obama's free college proposal. Here's a recap:

-the critics ask if it really does boost the economy, since we're already in debt, and what are the actual effects of this proposal passing.

-the White House says that higher education is the best way to climb the socioeconomic ladder and that this proposal is a great way for low income students to break into the middle class and thus creating a growth is the middle class that could potentially fix the economy.

-both sides of the isle agree that higher education is directly related to a boost in the economy 

-other studies show that other things are more important such as good health

-President Obama wants to lower the student debt so college graduates have more spending power (I explain the never ending cycle that negatively impacts our economy here)

-Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Finland are countries that already have a similar system and their economies are thriving

-the GDP is high and unemployment rates are low

-on the other side of that the World's Most Expensive Universities in the US and UK (Harvard, Oxford, etc.) dominate the Top 10 sports as the best universities.

I found this video to be more of an informative video as it did not choose a side on whether a college education should be free or not. It did however say that a college education is a very good idea because it can lead to better health, a longer life, a higher salary and a lower unemployment rate. If you choose to have children after you obtain a higher education, your children are more likely to have better health, cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and they have a lower chance of experience poverty. This video also mentions the fact that the current student loan debt totals more than $1 trillion and the average college graduate borrows $29,000. This is comparable to another study done UniversityNow that found:

This was taken from UniversityNow's website. I highly recommend checking their website out (link above) and read about the work they're doing make higher education obtainable by every person in America.

As you can see in this study, they found that 66% of college students graduated in debt and the average debt found was $25,000. This is shows what 66% of the United States looks like and they also compared the average debt to buying a new fridge and a new car. Those two purchases together equal the amount of student debt. This is absolutely ridiculous and I think that we are asking too much of our college graduates to start making payments for their college (that are comparable to that of a car payment) just six months after they graduate.

Read my next post to find out how other countries do it and how I want America to fix this obvious travesty of justice.

Check out my Bibliography

President Obama's Proposal

If you're just joining the conversation click on over to see my About Me page!

As I mentioned in my About Me page, the topic of free education for college students is something I feel very strong about and I want everyone to be more informed on the subject and I want to show people how beneficial free education would be to America. In this post I will talk about Obama's proposed free education plan. His plan focuses on free community college, but I think once this is free, it will be much easier to drop tuition rates for four-year colleges and eventually make those free as well.
Here's President Obama's speech.
"College should be as free and as abundant as High School." -President Obama

[Here's the link to watch this video on youtube]

“Some are young and starting out. Some are older and looking for a better job. Some are veterans and single parents trying to transition back into the job market. Whoever you are, this plan is your chance to graduate ready for the new economy, without a load of debt.”     -President Obama

If you don't have 2 minutes and 29 seconds here's a quick recap on what President Obama mentioned:

-by the end of this decade two-thirds of jobs will require a higher level of education

-bright students are being priced out

-40% of college students choose Community College 

-it's not just for students right out of high school, this is also for people going back to school who have full time jobs and/or kids

-this is the chance for people to graduate without a lot of debt

-free education will NOT be given to just anyone, it must be earned by keeping grades up and graduating on time

-this proposal will also reduce monthly payments of students who have already graduated and already have an immense amount of student debt.

-Vice President Biden has already helped the job-training system by pairing community colleges with local businesses to gear students towards jobs after graduation.

Wow. That's a lot of information, but look at that first bullet point:  By the end of this decade two-thirds of jobs will require a higher level of education. Here's a pie graph of what education requirements will look like by 2020

Here's the blog where the White House breaks down this information

As you can see 65% of jobs will need some sort of college education. With such a high number of jobs requiring some sort of college education, why are we pricing out students? You need a job to afford things, right? But in order to get a job you need a college education. In order to get a college education you need to have money to pay for it. So, without money, you cannot buy anything, including a college education. This leads to a lack of qualified job applicants and a higher unemployment rate which then leads to a lower demand of supplies, which leads to less jobs, and this brings us back to less money. This becomes our never ending cycle of negative impacts on our economy. If this proposal passes, this would be the first step to positively change this cycle.

This proposal also explains who exactly this bill will affect.
Here's the breakdown:

Source

As you can see, 9 million students will be eligible for free community college. This bill states that the federal government would cover 75% of the average cost of tuition to students in school more than half the time, who maintain a GPA of at least 2.5 and are progressing towards graduation and/or a four-year degree are eligible for free community college. (click here for the full post)

This bill reaches across the isle with both republicans and democrats in favor of this bill (including extremists). Of course this also means that there are people on both sides (other extremists) that are not in favor of this bill. One of these groups The Conservative Treehouse is against the bill and make a valid point:

Source

 This is an incorrect idea that has no factual backing. The White House says that the raised taxes on capital gains will only affect the wealthiest 1% of Americans (click here for more information on how the bill will be funded) and if you are in that 1% you really shouldn't be upset at what you're paying in taxes (just my opinion).

[Click on over here to see my next blog post]

Check out my Bibliography

About Me

Hey guys!! My name is Brooke and I am currently finishing my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I could not have asked for a better first year and I am grateful I had the chance to attend this great school. I love being a Badger and I consider myself lucky to call Madison my home.

Here's a picture my parents took to tell all of our friends that I had officially chosen UW-Madison.

I also realize that many people are not given the same opportunities because of financial reasons. I have met people like this and consider myself lucky that my parents are willing to help me as much as possible to pursue a degree here at UW-Madison. 

Many people choose a college based on their income because students cannot afford to spend an average of $25,000 per year at a 4 year college. (for the Cost of Attendance as an Undergraduate here at UW-Madison click here) So many students are opting out of attending a 4 year college solely because of the tuition. This blog is going to be dedicated to talking about how making college free will benefit our economy and how we should go about making college free. 

Thanks for reading! Click here for my first blog post.