Free or reduced college has been an issue that has always been talked about among society.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, has included this topic within his campaign, making it another topic of discussion. 

The amount of money required for tuition has skyrocketed, more than doubling in the past 30 years even when inflation is taken into account.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the 2012-13 school year a full-time undergraduate student spent about $23,900 on average for tuition, fees, and room and board at a four-year college.

The prospect of finishing school with $100,000 or more of debt is daunting to many students considering college. Thus, reducing or eliminating tuition is an attractive idea for students. 

There are two big reasons to consider this. First, when students finish college, they will not be covered in debt.

There are many college graduates now who have so much loan debt they can barely afford to pay for food and rent, let alone other expenses. That much debt, and the resulting limits it puts on people, can cause severe stress.

Although most colleges have payment programs to help reduce students’ stress, after students finish college, the debt is still going to follow them, being held over their heads. This debt will have to be budgeted, making up high-dollar payments that could be used toward other expenses.

When students begin to worry less about crippling debt, they will focus more on completing college to contribute to the world. It makes sense that keeping this burden off them will help the country at large.

Also, without the debt, graduates will have more money to spend. Most goods that they will purchase will be taxed. So the more they buy, the more money the government will collect in sales taxes, which can help offset the cost of this kind of program.

Many people who are against the free or reduced college program, think that this will harm the economy because of the lack of funds that normally come from college fees. 

However, the upcoming generation will be the leaders of this country. With free or reduced college, there is more of an opportunity for younger people to get a higher education and better society as a whole.

It was recently announced that Detroit high school graduates — whether they graduate from a public, charter, or private high school — will receive two years of tuition-free college with The Detroit Promise. A story about this new program was published by the Detroit Free Press on Tuesday, March 22.