A couple of weeks ago, Barack Obama publicly revealed his plan to make two years of community college free for “responsible students.”

Most people, especially collegiates, would see this as a very positive movement, but this news has received a good amount of backlash on social media and in the news.

Some are more largely concerned with the money to support the tuition coming out of our taxes. The most common complaint about this has been, “Who’s going to pay for it?”

It’s a valid concern; people want to know exactly where their money is going. One way of looking at it is to see this as a good use of American tax dollars.

It may seem that our taxes are simply money that’s taken out of our paycheck that we try to get back at the beginning of each year, but it’s so much more than that.

If American tax dollars were to be used to help people go to community college, our country could significantly benefit.

Many people who don’t go on to further education usually cannot afford it and let that stop them from trying to seek further aid. Things such as FAFSA and scholarships help to some degree, but sometimes they don’t help enough.

By making it easier to get an associate degree, people who didn’t have access to furthering their education will have the ability to pursue it, and maybe use that opportunity to head into the workforce instead of living  in poverty, as many people who can’t afford education do.

It’s understandable that some people are concerned that they’re paying for someone else’s education, but think of it as investing in the future of the American economy.