Written by Terrance Johnson, Staff Writer

Anyone who has ever attended college could easily argue that tuition should be free and recently, it has finally become the center of political conversation.

Obama has already proposed a bill that would make the costs of attending a community or two year institution free. Bernie Sanders is proposing an idea that all colleges and universities should be free to attend for every American who studies hard.

“College needs to be free. There is no point in putting us in debt before we enter the real world,” said Bevon Williams, Accounting Major at VSU. Debt is perhaps the most logical reason that some may never attend college.

The taxpayers of this nation should have the option of attending college if they want to, regardless of their financial situation. Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton, presidential candidates from the Democratic Party, are both advocating for free higher education, however they’re plans are different.

Bernie Sanders wants Wall Street to fund this project, along with decreasing the current interest rates for student loans. Also, over the next decade, it has been estimated that the federal government will make a profit of over $110 billion on student loan programs.

This is a bad business model because if we can’t educate our people effectively, then the rest of the world will surpass us. Bernie Sanders’ website contends that more than 1,000 economists have endorsed a tax on Wall Street speculation. The site also states that today some 40 countries throughout the world have imposed a similar tax including Britain, Germany, France, Switzerland, and China.

America has to stop being concerned with the short term, and invest in the long term success of this country through education. We have to rise above, and realize that our selfishness can affect the generations of our families that come after us.