Essay2

Fare Ticket to Ivory Tower: Reflection on College Charging

• Would you accept to be charged for a entrance ticket for the college eduaction? Whether your answer is ‘yes’ or not, we have long regarded the affirmation answer as a norm, but seldom thought of the opposite side of the issue. I am convinced that free college education could be a better choice than the current policy from the aspect of financial impact, promoting the equity and better eduaction quality.
• Many will argue that the fee pose extra burden on the finance of the universities and the government. Actually it is an irresponsible assumption. Let us have a brief calculation. The average charge of Chinese is 5000 RMB per year. According to the sum of the students, the college may acquire about 40-50 million RMB income. However, among the top 100 colleges with the most appropriation in China, the least one has a billion RMB grant per year. In this comparison, We could clearly tell that the undergraduates are not the breadwinner of modern colleges.
• Through the lens of an individual, we could see that free of charge really matters on social equity. As a line in the Great Gatsby goes, ‘…just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.’ Most families which cover the tuition are from the urban class, but we should not neglect in the towns or villages, many families of the top students exhaust the savings, take out loans or even finally fail to pay college fees. Tertiary education educates the ones who qualified, instead of who affordable. Though the seats is given, and the group may takes the place of someone more ‘affordable’, we could assert that they are more ‘qualified’.
• Moreover, the change help the college to become a non-profit institution, which can advance the education calibre. The charge is the afterburner of the college, but it is the fetters as well. Education has fallen into the profit-driven trap, with the attention on marketing and real estate. Relieving the bond between enrollment and income will help the college return to their original purpose, prompting development and expanding the knowledge. Meanwhile, ‘Good college has no walls.’, and many colleges are working on it. This means the difference of the internal students and other studious people are reducing. So rationally, for what reasons should we charge them?
• Tertiary education is developing, and we should alter our attitude towards it. It is the high time to make the college a shrine of knowledge, rather than a store of knowledge.