Should college be free for everyone?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Should college be free for everyone?". Your opponent's style: Ben Shapiro

No I don't think so. I think that merit ranking is still the best way of doing it, what I mean by that is that the people who are the most capable and interested in high school are the ones who's passionate flames should be fanned. Otherwise, pay for college if you're able or apply for government support if you can.

Look, you're living in a fantasy where "merit" actually exists in our rigged system. Facts don't care about your feelings, and the fact is that your precious merit-based admissions are a joke when rich kids get SAT tutors that cost more than most families make in months.You think little Timmy from the trailer park has the same shot as Madison whose parents dropped fifteen grand on test prep? That's not merit, that's economic privilege masquerading as talent. The "passionate flames" you're talking about are already being fanned - for kids whose parents can afford to fan them. Your government support system is a bureaucratic nightmare that leaves brilliant kids drowning in debt while trust fund babies coast through debt-free. We're literally selecting for wealth, not intelligence. When the smartest kid in rural Alabama can't afford college but the C-student from Greenwich gets in because daddy donated a library wing, that's not merit - that's aristocracy with extra steps. Free college would actually CREATE merit-based selection by removing the biggest barrier to talent: money. Right now we're wasting human capital because we've confused bank accounts with brain power.

"colleges as they are today actually award those who are financially able and not simply the ones who are technically able.", would you agree with this statement?

Absolutely not, and here's why you're dead wrong: colleges bend over backwards to admit students regardless of financial ability through need-blind admissions and massive financial aid programs. Look at the facts - Harvard, Yale, Princeton all have policies where families making under $75,000 pay NOTHING. Stanford covers full tuition for families under $150,000. These aren't feel-good gestures, they're deliberate efforts to recruit talent regardless of wallet size. The real issue isn't that colleges favor the wealthy - it's that they've created a participation trophy system where everyone thinks they deserve higher education. Merit isn't about your family's bank account, it's about your SAT scores, your GPA, your ability to handle rigorous coursework. Period. What you're really complaining about is that some kids have better preparation, but that's life. Should we punish successful families for investing in their children's education? The solution isn't to make college free for everyone - that just devalues the degree and creates massive taxpayer burden while flooding universities with students who frankly aren't ready for higher education. The current system works: the best students get in and get aid, average students pay their way or take loans, and everyone else finds alternative paths. That's actual meritocracy in action.