Advanced Conversation with Jennifer on College Tuition in the U.S.🎓

Hi there. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer, and in this video I'd like to

offer vocabulary and information that will help you talk about a hot topic in

the U.S. right now: college tuition and free public college. Should College be free?

If you're looking for more current issues like immigration, homelessness, and

health care, be sure to check out my conversation playlist and look for those

advanced conversation topics. My goal in all these videos is to give

English language learners the confidence to follow and participate in

conversations about these important issues. My goal is not to promote any

political agenda. And if you're interested in understanding the U.S.

system of education in detail, be sure to check out an older lesson of mine. I take

you through the system from preschool to graduate school. I'll put all useful

links in the video description. Okay? And hey! Don't forget to subscribe. I'll help

you make progress in English with a new video each week here on YouTube. I'm also

posting on Instagram, so be sure to follow me there as well. Okay. Let's start

our lesson.

Ten thousand dollars. What can you buy for that amount of money in the U.S.?

Well, $10K might pay the average hospital bill in the U.S. Shocking, right?

How about twenty-two thousand? Thirty thousand dollars? Or fifty-five thousand dollars?

Thirty six to fifty-five thousand dollars would buy you a parking space in

Boston. Perhaps not the best one, but a decent one. And all those amounts I just

listed would pay college tuition here in the U.S. at different types of colleges.

First, let's get one thing straight. What do I mean by "college"? In the U.S., high

school is what we call the final years of schooling. We have 12 grades. 9th,

10th, 11th, and 12th grades are high school. If you are a high school

student, you're between the ages of 14 and 18. When you finish high school, you

get a high school diploma. Then you can either work or go to college. "College" is

a general word for the study one does after high school in order to get an

undergraduate degree. You can get an undergraduate degree at a college or a

university. Community colleges have two-year programs. You study there to get

an associate's degree. That's a type of undergraduate degree. You could also

transfer from a community college to a four-year college in order to get a

bachelor's degree. A bachelor's degree is another type of undergraduate degree, but

it takes two more years to earn. You can get a

bachelor's degree at a college or a university. Here are common things we ask

and say in American English. Are you going to college? Do you plan to go to

college? Where did you go to college? Does he have a college degree? He's a college

student. She's a college professor. Their kids went off to college. My brother is

still in college. My sister is finishing college this year.

"College" in all those statements is a general word that could refer to either

a college or university.

So what's the difference between a college and a university? You can get the

same basic education and the same degree at a college or university in the U.S.

Colleges are generally smaller and don't always have a graduate program.

Universities are often larger, and, in fact, universities can be made up of

colleges. A large university can have 50,000 students or more. My small college

had a little over a thousand students.

Universities might have more research opportunities, and they usually have

bigger sports programs. Universities by definition are not more prestigious than

colleges. In fact, some elite colleges are very competitive and outrank many

universities. A liberal arts college gives students a chance to study in

different areas, especially before a student chooses a major. A major is one's

specialty. For example, I went to a small liberal arts college, and I chose to

study foreign languages and education. Besides things like Russian classes and

educational psychology, I took music and art classes. I even had one semester of

computer programming. And I took an African dance class to satisfy a

requirement for physical education. So from here on out, when I say "college," I'm

referring to universities and colleges in the U.S. One problem in our country

today is the rising cost of a college education. College tuition is rising each

year, but our yearly income isn't growing as fast. U.S. News and World Report listed

$10,116 as the average tuition at a public

college if you live in that state. Public colleges are schools run by the state.

State colleges and universities offer lower tuition for residents. In-state

tuition is lower than out-of-state tuition. An out-of-state student may pay

around $22,000. So if you go to a state school, it's cheaper to stay in your own

state. It could even be free.

Some public colleges offer free tuition for low-income and middle-income

families, so if a student's family has an income over a certain amount, say,

$125,000, they are not entitled to free tuition. If tuition is free,

should it be free for all or free only for some? What's fair? What's right? Let's

say there's one family that earns $100,000. They have one child and they

want to send that child to college. Now there's a second family and they earn

$130,000. That's just over the cutoff, but they have two children around the same

age. They want to send their two children to college. Does that second family

deserve any financial aid? Here's another way to look at it. State schools, as I

understand, receive state funding. Government money comes from tax dollars.

If some families are already paying higher taxes, should they also pay full

tuition at a public college? Some say yes. If you have more, you need to contribute

more. Some say no. If everyone shares at least some of the financial

responsibility and contributes, then no one will take their education for

granted. Here's one more question. Should students with a strong academic record

in high school be rewarded with lower tuition at a public college regardless

of their family's household income? Some state schools have free tuition and then

require students to remain in the state after graduation for a certain number of

years. It makes some sense, right? If the state invests in you, you should give

back to the community by starting your career in that state. Do you agree?

In recent news, there's been some discussion about making a stronger

connection between tuition assistance and the job market. If we have too many

people pursuing a medical degree, for example, and not enough people entering

other professions, should we perhaps give greater tuition assistance to those who

are willing to fill those open jobs? What do you think? If there's a shortage of

childcare workers or plumbers, would free training help attract young people and

also keep more students out of debt?

Tuition at a prestigious private college can be around $55,000. Once you add in

room and board, meaning a place to live and food to eat, the tuition (cost) for one year

of full-time education can be around $75,000. Yes.

Seventy-five thousand dollars. It's a lot.

What schools charge that much? Top-name schools. Let's start with the Ivy

Leagues. Those are the oldest and generally most prestigious schools in

our country. They include Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Universities. There are a

total of eight Ivy League schools. I went to one of the Seven Sisters. Those are

historically women's colleges, but today they offer a co-ed experience in some

form, meaning men and women study together. My school, Bryn Mawr College, has

a close relationship with Haverford College. I took a lot of classes there. I

lived in dorms with men and took classes with men. Bryn Mawr's tuition is

currently fifty-three thousand dollars a year. How do families afford such prices?

Some families are wealthy enough to pay the tuition. A lot aren't. Most students

apply to college and hope for a good financial aid package. First, students

hope for scholarship money. Few are lucky enough to get a full scholarship. Others

can get a partial scholarship for sports or academics. Second, you can get a campus

job. When I was an undergraduate student, I worked on campus in the cafeteria. I

also did babysitting around town. College students often get summer jobs, part-time

jobs, and sometimes paid internships.

Third, some parents start a college fund while their children are still young. You

may hear some Americans talk about a 529 plan. The basic idea is to save money for

your child's college education. A 529 plan allows parents to create a college

savings plan. Parents can invest what they're able to invest, and the main

benefit is tax-free earnings. You let your money grow and then take it out

when you need to start paying college tuition. Finally, families take out loans.

Student loans are very common and sadly many students graduate with debt. They

owe money to the bank, and they have to work to gradually pay it back. My parents

sacrificed a lot to put four kids through college. They paid for my

undergraduate education. Then I paid for graduate school. I was married and still

paying off my student loan. It's not easy to live with debt, but many Americans do.

One way to avoid debt is not to spend money or take out a loan. Some high

school students take a gap year. They put off college for one year and they spend

the time working, traveling, or maybe doing volunteer work of some kind.

If a young adult isn't sure what he or she wants to do yet, or if they didn't

get into the college of their choice and want to reapply, or if they didn't

earn a scholarship or enough financial aid and they need to work to

earn some money, a gap year is an option.

Some wait even longer to go to college. Some enter the workforce immediately

after high school and then decide to pursue a college degree years later. Then

there are those who go to college after high school, but then they have to drop

out for some reason. Maybe financial reasons. By the time these working adults

decide to go to college or go back to college, they may have families and very

little time. These are all reasons why online college programs have become so

popular. Some choose to study online in order to have a flexible schedule and to

keep costs down. Online degrees are generally much cheaper. I think online

degrees are a terrific option for some. For me personally, I'm thankful I had the

opportunity to study on a college campus as a full-time student. College campuses

are a place for personal growth and the many extracurricular activities can

create a rich undergraduate experience. My college experience continues to some

extent because now I'm part of the alumnae association. An alum or alumna is

someone who went to a particular school. A good college gives you a network, a

community to belong to. That's partly what you're paying for. I should mention

that alumni make donations, which help pay scholarship money.

However, some argue that U.S. colleges today offer too many luxuries, that some

college campuses look more like resorts and less like educational institutions.

How nice does a gym have to be? Do college students need steam showers and

saunas, recreational activities, and fine dining?

If such amenities were taken away, how much would tuition come down? Is this

something we should consider?

Something to remember is that nothing is really free. Everything has a cost. Free

health care, for example, is paid for by the government, which means it's paid for

with tax dollars. Who's paying and how much? Should everyone be paying into the

system? We need to remember that if tuition is going to be free, colleges

still need to get enough money to operate: to maintain the buildings, to

hire workers, to pay the teachers. Some propose that the extra tax money should

come from big corporations and the richest people in our country. What do

you think? What's fair? What's wise? We'll end here. I welcome your comments. Please

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