Tom Hanks I Owe It All To Community College

Decent Essays
In Tom Hanks “I Owe It All to Community College” tom gives his own opinion about late President Obama’s new plan to extend community college to people who cannot afford it. I think Obama had the right idea, but did not correctly set regulations to make the plan effective. I am a single mother and college student thanks to financial aid, and I work hard to maintain my grades. Often, I see students who come out of high school thinking they will be handed good grades because that’s what their past experience has been. Students who do not take their grants or scholarships seriously wasting the gift that has been handed to them. Being out in the real world without family to rely on, and responsibilities to meet made me realize what a gift

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In "The Danger of Telling Poor Kids That College Is the Key to Social Mobility" posted on The Atlantic on January 16, 2014, writer and teacher Andrew Simmons states his thoughts and ideas about higher education to the impoverished population and why it isn 't for poor kids. He recently had a high school student write an essay about what she wants to do with her future. She had been told, rather preached to, that if she, "made good grades and a ticket to a good college would lead to a good job, one that would guarantee her financial independence"(para. 2). He acknowledges the fact that "they don 't mean to suggest that there is no other point to higher education" (para 3), but he also argues the fact that they are told to go to college it 'll…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Community Colleges David Hosansky in his article about the idea of the federal government offering students with free tuition focuses on the impacts the program has on students. The proposal to offer government funded tuition to students that maintain 2.5 grade point may affect other community students who may be forced to drop out of college before they graduate. Hosansky points out that critics have argued that the plan initiated by Obama seems costly to implement and the middle class students may become the main beneficiaries of the program. Community colleges are regarded as institutions that are attended by the poor to help them through their four years in collage. Community colleges are important in enhancing higher education by increasing…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    College is a big obstacle for students coming out of high school. College is such an obstacle because not everyone has enough financial support to go through college. Adam Davidson discusses in his article, Is College Tuition Really That High? , that the average student does not receive enough financial aid. Education is one of the most efficient way to become successful and to learn more about the world they live in. College proves difficult for many, but getting a stable job is the goal of life, and an education is necessary most of the time.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Affirmative Action Case Study

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited

    However, he notes, “truly meeting the needs of low-income students would require fundamental reforms in financial aid.” He alludes to the early days of the Penn Grant, which in the beginning covered 84% of college expenses, making attending college for the poor a real possibility. Today, the Penn Grant covers half that, or only 42% of the costs of college. For many low-income families, sending their kids to college has become a financial impossibility. Many poor students end up going to community colleges, the cheaper alternative.…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 4 Works Cited
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Community College Should Not Be Free President Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders have been discussing making two years of community college tuition free, one hundred percent free on the student’s part. Is it actually free for the students? Doesn’t the United States already have programs that are supposed to help low-income students afford their tuition? How could it affect the taxpayers or even taxes?…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    It starts by introducing the topic followed by a brief background information on free community college discussion. The paper gives a brief description on the reasons why some Americans think community college should be free. Their main reason is that it provides equality and more opportunities for students. It proceeds to issue writer’s opinion as to why community college should not be free with backup from credible references and statistics. Among the reasons explained in this paper are; dropout rates would increase, free community college would be unfair to the poor while the rich would benefit more besides being a burden to the taxpayers.…

    • 1679 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Never in my life would I have expected community colleges to be called potential saviors of the economy,” says George Boggs. There have been misconceptions on the validity of Community Colleges and why it might be an option to some people. Parents, institutions, and the general public see this life option as second best but what most do not realize is that Community Colleges serve as more than a “second tier” institution, but as a metaphorical fallback net. The assumption is that most students leave high school and their parents are able and willing to continue investing in their education but most do not take in consideration of those who fall short of these financial requirements, those who are not ready to take the leap to the next step…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many institution don’t have the students best in mind, but rather their tuition. Often times this conflict of interest puts the students at the short end of the stick as long as it’s minor enough. Additionally, as the article “Here’s How Bad the Job Market Is If You Don’t Go to College” describes, the question for many isn’t whether or not they should, but if they could. The problem is amplified by that government is considering stepping out of the game, “[they’re] meeting less and less of the need even as college costs spiral to record highs.” For many impoverished families that are living from paycheck to paycheck, they simply cannot afford to use four long years of their life when they could be bringing money home, even if it’d be more beneficial in the long run.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In, “Two Years Are Better Than Four”, Liz Addison describes the importance of community colleges and how they have been helpful in providing quality education and experience to people of all backgrounds especially the people who belongs to minority groups and has a low standard of living. She responded to Rick Perlstein’s assumptions about community college coming to an end and being unable to matter anymore, with opposing statement, “My guess, reading between the lines, is that Mr. Perlstein has never set foot in an American Community College” (Addison, “Two Years Are Better Than Four”) and proves him wrong with reasons like anybody can easily join college and came out with life discovery experiences. Being one of the students of a community…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On January 14th, 2015 The New York Times published actor, producer, and director, Tom Hank’s “I Owe It All to Community College”. In this publication, Hanks firmly credits inclusive and free community college as the institution that, “made him into the man he is today” (Hanks). Hank’s convincing claim can be acknowledged on the foundation of a tactfully simple use of pathos and ethos. Hanks understands his audience well enough to evoke agreement toward his argument. Readers of The New York Times and beyond become convinced by challenging the stereotype that only successful people enroll into a four-year college.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Free college: salvation of our nation, or a detrimental endeavor with misguided focus? Following Obama’s announcement on September 9th 2015, college tuition has become a new hot topic and opinions are pouring in from many perspectives. Free college is the terminology used to describe a higher education system where students do not pay tuition; other costs of living, transportation, books and materials are not necessarily included in the “free” descriptor. Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and research fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, takes a firm stance against free college in his article, ‘Free Tuition is a Needless Windfall for Affluent Voters and State Institutions’. Arguing…

    • 732 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As tuition and fees continue to get higher, scholarships will be more challenging to achieve, and the student will have to get multiple student loans to cover it. “Tuition and fees at public colleges soared a record 14 percent this year, continuing a quarter-century trend of higher-education prices rocketing faster than inflation,” (Price 3). It is true that the government has not always funded the children through the twelfth grade, but times have changed, (Kingsley 16). On one hand, some would argue that students can get apply for a loan or financial aid to pay for college. Education is not free now does not mean that students are prohibited from entering a college or university for a higher education.…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Some seniors in high school still do not know what they want to be in the future and some others are just careless when it comes to the future, even if they are going to graduate in a couple of days. Some of the high school graduates who are planning on going to the college are just going to figure out themselves. Why go to college if you are just figuring yourselves out? Why not just take a year off for that? The graduated high school students should not be forced to attend college because some students present financial problems, lack of motivation, and lack of interest.…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    College is Not for Everyone Today, more people than ever are attending community colleges and universities. Often, a collegiate degree is a prerequisite to meaningful employment (Pincus, 341). There is even social pressure pushing many to attend. I feel that the university education system has many structural shortcomings, and that institutions of higher learning often do not have students ' best interests at heart.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Should College Be Free? Over the past few years, the cost of higher education has become unbearable for most. The cost for an opportunity to become more educated is quite frightening. On average, public colleges cost $32,762 while private colleges are priced at $42,419 on average (Bridgestock, 2015).…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays