Analysis Of Make College Free For All

Jennifer Serrano

Dr. Salome

English 1302

June 17, 2023

Analyzing two sources with respect to a free college education for all

The topic of free college is an argument that has grown to become popular within the last decade. Every day future college students and parents are faced with the overwhelming pressures of being financially capable of going to college. The purpose of this paper is to analyze two opposing opinions on free college education. As is most known, there are always two sides to an argument, and this analysis will break down two articles using the Toulmin Model to determine each of the article’s claims, warrants for those claims, and their evidence. The first article being analyzed was published by the Washington Post. The

Throughout this article, Sanders mentions the many financial differences that people are now facing as opposed to what they used to face back in the 1950s. Taking a rather opposite approach is Bob Luebke, in his article “Why Free College Is A Bad Idea” in which he expresses many concerns and arguments for the people who are in favor of free college. Luebke mentions that the idea of having a free college education sounds great, especially to those with low income and students who really want to attend college, but the truth is quite the opposite. For the analysis of both articles, the Toulmin Model will be used to break down arguments down to their claims in which we will get data and backing for each claim. The Toulmin model is a structure for analyzing arguments and breaking them down into 6 parts. The sections being inspected include claims, which are the statements that are argued throughout the paper. Data, which is the evidence for each claim, and lastly, backing to support the claims and data

The first contrast between the articles is in Luebke’s article in which he mentions that there is a maldistribution of students and their careers. He claims that “The sad fact is that for every student in business, engineering, or a pre-professional program, there are others in less marketable areas” (Luebke, 1). Luebke states that very few people are in educational programs that will actually bring practical benefits to the country. As opposed to the other students who are majoring in field’s that will be difficult to become employed in. To back Luebke’s claim, he argues that “areas such as art history, psychology, and history keep generating graduates who have difficulty finding gainful employment” (Leubke, 1). He lets readers know that money is not being used appropriately by giving people in those fields free tuition, as opposed to people in business or engineering programs who have an opportunity at seeking employment. On the other hand, Sanders mentions countries in which free education is granted to everyone and claims that “free college is still a priority in many parts of the world including Finland, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Mexico” (Sanders, 3). Through his article, he does not disparage or praise any field of higher education, rather, he sees them all as equal. He supports the belief that everyone should get a free education no matter