Kyle Collins

McCane

English 4

27 March, 2018

A More Affordable Higher Education

“Today it is 400% more expensive to go to college in the United States than it was just 30

years ago.” (Snyder). Students in today's world face high tuitions and high interest rates in

student loans and that it makes it extremely hard for some student to attend college and pursue a

higher education. Pretty much all young kids and upcoming seniors are encouraged to attend

college, but students are not attending college and going straight for the workforce because they

are aware and even afraid of the amount of debt that usually follows a college student out of

college and even until they are older and settled down with a career. Higher education should be

more affordable because less privileged kids can not afford the high tuitions, it leaves students

with a debt that is very hard to pay off, and its forcing kids to take lower paying jobs that do not

require a college education.

Less privileged kids are not able to afford the high tuitions. Most kids rely on their

parents to pay for college, but for some parents it is hard to afford college and there is not

enough federal government support to lower the cost of tuitions. So these kids do not attend

college and do not get the opportunity to pursue their goals and receive a college education.

President Obama said in his State of Union Address “If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the

funding you get from taxpayers will go down.” (Morgan). This shows that the federal

government is trying to help the middle and lower class get a higher education but not much has

been done by colleges to lower the price.

 It leaves students with a debt that is hard to pay off and takes so long to pay off that some

people are still in debt even when they become adults with families. Also for some parents that

pay for their child's college, it puts them into a deep debt that they sometimes have to sacrifice

valuable items and sometimes is passed on to the children when the parents pass away. “Just two

decades ago, about 4 percent of people aged 50 to 67 still had student loan debt, but that number

is rapidly growing. In 2013, 32 percent of people in the same age group reported having debt

from college.” (Rouse). That shows that the student debt is so high that the jobs they get from

going to college do not pay enough to be able to pay for their college tuition.

It forces kids to take lower paying jobs that do not require a higher education because the

kids that can not afford it wont go so they will be stuck working low wage jobs and living check

to check. Student that do not attend college and end up living check to check usually faces debts

in other places that can potentially accumulate to a debt higher than they would have had if they

went to college. “College graduates with a bachelor's degree typically earn 66 percent more than

those with only a high school diploma; and are also far less likely to face unemployment.” (U.S.

Department of Education). The problem that is faced here is that you should not have to go to

college in order to get a good well paying job. There are people that know how to do the jobs

that some people get from college, but they are not given the chance to work the job because a

college graduate is valued more in a business than a person who did not attend college.

In the interview Mrs. Rucker stated that a way to lower the price of college for students is

by “Getting a 2 year degree at a tech college instead of going straight to a university. Also online

classes are a cheaper way to get a higher education. Utilizing high school classes for a college

head start.” (Rucker). For some students this method is the best way to lower the price of the

tuitions and go to college for cheaper and save money. But for some students the technical
colleges or online classes do not provide what they are looking for. This makes it difficult for

students to acquire a college education because if they cant apply and take cheaper options for

college their only other choices is to go to a university or not attend college at all. The university

tuitions are so high and getting even more expensive that most students are not attending at all

when they can not get into a cheaper form of college.

The college tuitions have risen so much it is making kids not want to go and some kids

giving up in high school because they don't want to go to college so they will stop trying. It

would benefit more younger kids and graduating seniors because they would be more self

confident and there would be less people dropping out or not going to college at all because of

the high tuitions. Higher education should be more affordable because less privileged kids can

not afford the high tuitions, it leaves students with a debt that is very hard to pay off, and its

forcing kids to take lower paying jobs that do not require a college education. Search for ways to

lessen the tuition of college before attending college and it would save a lot more money and

help out in the long run.

Work Cited
Morgan, Julie Margetta. “Making College More Affordable.” Center for American Progress,

www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2012/02/02/11082/making-

college-more-affordable/.
Rouse, Cecilia Elena. “The Postsecondary Education Conundrum.” Brookings, Brookings, 28

July 2016, www.brookings.edu/research/the-postsecondary-education-conundrum/.

Rucker, Kristene F. “A More Affordable Higher Education.” 14 Feb. 2018, Mount Pleasant , Cario

Middle School .

Snyder, Michael. “16 Shocking Facts About Student Debt And The Great College Education

Scam.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 26 Dec. 2010, www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-

student-loan-debt-2010-12.

“College Affordability and Completion: Ensuring a Pathway to Opportunity.” College

Affordability and Completion: Ensuring a Pathway to Opportunity | U.S. Department of

Education, www.ed.gov/college/.