We should have the opportunity to achieve free college when making an above average GPA. At the moment there is 1.3 trillion-dollar student loan debt that weighs a heavy burden on many Americans.

Germany offers free college to all of its citizens. It even offers free college to immigrant students. The current comparisons between the united states and Germany are unbelievable!

United States versus Germany:

1. Semester fees for a bachelor's degree
   1. In the United states, students on average pay $5,000 per semester and that does not include transportation.
   2. In Germany, students pay $120 per semester and transportation is included in that fee.
2. Semester fees for a master's degree
   1. In the United States, students pay well over $50,000 per year and doesn’t include any benefits.
   2. In Germany, students pay $570 per month (includes housing, transportation, and health insurance), but they receive $815 per month in scholarship money.

Our proposal for achieving free college in the United States:

All or nothing (includes tuition, books, and fees) if these standards are met:

• Government reimburses all student loans once a student graduates with a GPA of 3.50 or better from an associate’s degree program.
• Government reimburses all student loans once a student graduates with a GPA of 3.30 or better from a bachelor’s degree program.
• Government reimburses all student loans once a student graduates with a GPA of 3.00 or better from a master’s degree program.

How is the United States going to fit this in the budget?

Cut out frivolous government spending:

• oversaturated spending includes: foreign aid, defense, Social Security, unemployment, labor, Medicare and healthcare
• If foreign aid and defense were shrunk by 5%, Social Security, unemployment, and labor shrunk by 3%, Medicare and healthcare shrunk by 3% the total savings would be $98,652,456,417·
• The savings from these budget cuts is almost 100 billion dollars, and would cover the inflating cost of college tuition for the next 5-10 years while the government uses some of the 18,000,000,000 surplus from the first year to research ways to decrease college expenses. The actual figure used to cover these scholarships would be significantly less than the 80 billion dollars of debt incurred between 2014 and 2015 because of the restrictions placed on GPA, thus allowing for less to be cut from the national budget.

Financial figures were found from these sources:

• United States. Foriegn Assistance. Explore. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
• United States. Department of Defense. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
• United States. Executive Office. N.p., n.d. Web. Feb.-Mar. 2016.
• Strasser, Franz. "How US Students Get a University Degree for Free in Germany." Editorial. 3 June 2015: n. pag. BBC News Germany. Web. 4 Mar. 2016.
• Staff, Attn. "How Does Germany Afford Free Tuition For All Of Its Citizens?" Attn:. N.p., 27 Mar. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.