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  3. Below are a graph on tuition increase in the US and an excerpt arguing against free university education. Read them carefully an

Below are a graph on tuition increase in the US and an excerpt arguing against free university education. Read them carefully an

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问题    Below are a graph on tuition increase in the US and an excerpt arguing against free university education. Read them carefully and write an essay of no less than 300 words, in which you should:
   1. sum up the main ideas of the graph and the excerpt;
   2. explain if you agree to the excerpt or not.
   Graph
   
   Excerpt
                Should University Education Be Free?
               Tejvan Pettinger March 3, 2014 economics
   In recent years, the government has sought to increase the amount students pay for studying at university. In the UK, the government has phased out grants and introduced top-up fees. With tuition fees and rising living costs, students could end up paying £50, 000 for a three year degree, and leave university with significant debts.
   Some argue this is a mistake. Charging for university education will deter students and leave the UK with a shortfall of skilled labour, and increase inequality of opportunity as students with low income parents will be more likely to be deterred from going to university. There are, however, also people who argue against free university education. Below are some of their major arguments.
   1. Opportunity Cost. If we spend billions on free university education there is an opportunity cost of higher taxes or less spending elsewhere. Arguably, there is a greater social benefit from providing vocational training — e.g. so people could become plumbers, electricians etc. There is often a real shortage of these skills in an economy. Generally, the problem is not a shortage of graduates with art degrees, but lower level vocational skills. Therefore, there is a case for charging for university, but greater public spending to tackle this lower level skill shortages.
   2. Do we have too many graduates? In recent decades there has been a rapid rise in the number of graduates. But, many graduates are leaving university to take jobs which don’t require a degree. A study by the ONS (Office for National Statistics) found that nearly 50% of workers who left university in the past five years are doing jobs which don’t require a degree. Therefore, it is a mistake to continue to fund the public expansion of university education because the economy doesn’t need more graduates as much as other skills.
   3. Higher quality of education. The rapid rise in university numbers means that greater pressure is being put on university resources. Since the government is struggling to maintain public spending, let alone increase spending, there is a danger that university education and research may suffer, causing UK education to lag behind other countries. If universities can charge students, it will help maintain standards, quality of teaching and the reputation of UK universities.
   4. Signalling function of higher education. Arguably, higher education acts as a signal to employers that graduates have greater capacity. As a consequence, people who gain a degree end up with a relatively higher salary. Therefore, if they financially gain from studying at university, it is perhaps fair they pay part of the cost. This is especially important for middle-class families, who send a higher proportion of people to higher education.
选项
答案 On Tuition Increase Tuition fee increase has become a hot topic in recent years. According to data from the College Board and National Center for Education Statistics, college cost and family income rose at sharply different rate between 1982 and 2012. As the graph shows, the median family income increase stayed below 40 percent, but college cost outpaced family income by 3 to 5 times. So college tuition has become a burden to ordinary families. The article argues that university education should not be free, because relying on government subsidy will harm vocational training, waste university education on simple jobs, lower education quality, and fail to justify the future economic benefits after graduation. The excerpt is very brave to raise these four reasons to argue for tuition collection, but in my opinion, except the last one, the other three do not hold water. The first reason misfires, because the necessity to invest in vocational training cannot negate the importance of investing in university. We need to realize that both are important: vocational education can meet immediate demand, but education works for long-term prosperity. The second argument is not valid because it assumes that the economy do not need degree-holding graduates, but the fact may be that if given opportunity these student can further develop the economy. The third reason calls university to collect money to maintain education quality. This is mistaken because the tuition can only be used for daily operation, while the huge sum of money to fund research never comes from tuition, but from governmental funding and enterprise donation. In one word, college tuition increase has developed into a serious concern in many countries. Faced with economic concession, it is natural for the government to try to divert the pressure to students. But ultimately it is still the government that should shoulder the responsibility to guarantee an education system featuring equal opportunity and long-term prosperity.
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