University education should be free to everyone regardless of income To what extent do you agree or disagree

Nowadays, the rate at which individuals enroll in Universities has risen tremendously. Some people are of the opinion that irrespective of a students financial capacity, university students should not have to pay tuition fees to obtain a graduate degree. In my opinion, I vehemently disagree with this view because quality education is not cheap and it can lead to the University entering a financial crisis.

To begin with, i absolutely disagree with the set of persons that hold the opinion that learning at higher institutions should be at no cost to students regardless of their financial wherewithal because doing such would cause financial instability for these colleges.This is because Managing a University requires huge finances and when the school has no sustainable revenue as a result of the implementation of free education, it would result in their inability to meet financial obligations.In fact, once a higher educational institution has zero cash-flows from students fees, their cash-flow statement, balance sheet and profit and loss account statement would be in the negative because the running cost such as salaries of teachers, maintaining the facility,,utilities etc would far surpass the income generated causing the university to either seek the government help, apply for a loan from the bank or simply declare bankruptcy.For instance, A recent 2019 research by The Sun Newspaper of Nigeria revealed that, 60% of educational institutions that implemented free education in their institutions collapsed after two years of implementing such policy. The article further discouraged universities from taking such stand and encouraged them to collect some fees to prevent the institution from folding up.From the aforementioned example, it is apparent that when universities charge no tuition fees, it causes them to experience financial difficulties

In addition, I absolutely oppose the idea that schools that offer degree programs should be made free because getting quality education comes at a huge cost. This is due to the fact education gotten free would mean the school cutting back on fundamental Parts of the schools course content which could result in students getting substandard education. As a matter of fact, thé school might halt funding to research labs, employment of quality teachers etc which would significantly affect the quality of education students get from such colleges. For example, a recent study carried out in 2017 by The Association of Universities in Nigeria found that 80% of universities that did not collect payment from students to attend their schools had substandard laboratories and the equipments in these laboratories were not enough to teach students on the entirety of their course. It further showed that, the reason why their laboratories were not up to date was because they lacked the financial power to purchase those equipments due to lack of inflows from student fees. The article further advised schools to discontinue the free education policy because it would only lead to a lower grade education given to undergraduates. From the above example, it is obvious that educational institutions should not practice free education because it would cause the institution giving out a lower standard education to its students.

In conclusion, it is believed by some that higher educational institutions should implement the free education policy. In my opinion, I totally disagree with such school of thought because it would cause financial distress for these institutions and also result in these colleges providing their undergraduates with a substandard education.