To whom it may concern,

Is  a good education based off of “how much” you really want it? Cause in today's society it seems like college tuition increases every year just to see who can spend the biggest buck for a piece of paper. According to CollegeBoard, it says “Between 2006-07 and 2016-17, published in-state tuition and fees at public four-year institutions increased at an average rate of 3.5% per year beyond inflation, compared to average annual increases of 3.9% and 4.2% over the two prior decades”, showing that it isn't just a once in awhile thing. A college education is a necessity in today's world, but in the end it doesn't seem to help us if all we're doing is paying off student loans for the next thirty years. So I ask you, speaking for all future college students, will you make a change in college tuition cost to not only help us as students, but to help us as a society after college?

    A college education is becoming a major debate in most homes today. The higher class, rich families don't seem to struggle with the cost of it, but for most middle and lower class families, it has come down to asking themselves, “ Is it actually worth being in debt for the majority of my life?”.  In the New York Times Magazine article “Is College Tuition Really Too High?”, it compares cost between today's generation and past generations cost of a college education, if fact, it states, “Tuition at a private university is now roughly three times as expensive as it was in 1974, costing an average of $31,000 a year; public tuition, at $9,000, has risen by nearly four times. This is a painful bill for all but the very richest. For the average American household that doesn’t receive a lot of financial aid, higher education is simply out of reach”. This shows that people are deciding not to go to college because of such a high cost. Which in the end doesn't help anyone in today's workforce. It's hard to get a job at fast food restaurants these days without a tuition. The NYT also states, “Higher education is a fascinating, complex business. Its pricing dynamics ripple throughout the rest of our economy, in effect determining who will thrive and who will fail.”, showing that our society is built off of who has the most money and those who can afford the highest education. It's not just a rich vs. poor thing, it's a competitive business between those who can afford a college tuition and those who can't.

    College cost impacts our economy and society as a whole. It changes working and living styles across the nation. According to CNN, in the article “Why does College Cost So Much”, It says, “The underlying structure of American higher education needs dramatic reform before there will be any relief in sight. Whereas private businesses cut prices for consumers and costs to themselves through efficiencies that increase profits and incomes, universities lack those incentives”. This is stating that colleges know the effect of high tuition cost and how it changes our economy. Yet they choose not only to do nothing about this, but to continue to increase cost each and every year? Sounds a little corrupt to me. CNN clearly talks about how colleges fee they can continue to raise prices because of students not realizing that it will ultimately ended up in their lap after a while. “Like health care, prices are rising rapidly for higher education because of the predominant role of third-party payments -- federal student loans and grants, state government support for institutions and students, private philanthropic gifts and endowment income. College seniors who borrow to finance their education now graduate with an average of $24,000 in debt, and student loan debt now tops credit card debt among Americans. When some else is paying a lot of the bills, students are less sensitive to the price, thus allowing the colleges to care less about keeping prices under control. And the nonprofit nature of institutions reduces incentives for colleges and universities to be efficient”. Colleges continue to play this scheme by taking advantage of young students trying to start their life. Instead of helping them through it and making opportunities to everyone to their needs, they continue to jack up prices to see how much they can really get out of someone.

    Our society is a pyramid of economic growth based off of education level and success. The further you go, the better your outcome will be. In Forbes article, “College Cost Out Of Control”, it clearly explains and lays out the levels of success based off education. “First, let’s remember just how important education over the lifetime of a person.  An individual who does not graduate from high school earns on average $23,452, less than the U.S. average wage of $41,444 per year.  Further, 68% of the prison population is made up of non-high school graduates.  So the first conclusion is that people need to graduate from high school to hope for a “normal” life in this country.  Next, someone with an associate of arts degree, or two-year degree, from college earns about the average salary.  A four-year college graduate earns on average $55,000 per year and people with postgraduate degrees, master’s degrees, and PhD’s, earn $65,000 per year and beyond.  So the statistics show that level of education correlates directly with level of earnings and wealth over time.  Further, the unemployment rate correlates with level of education with the highest rates for the lowest education”. Some people make a choice to not go to college, but for the 20.5 million students that are expected to attend American colleges and universities (constituting an increase of about 5.2 million since fall 2000), it makes it very difficult to choose when cost is a deciding factor of whether one wants to succeed or fail. Our social classes are built off these statistics of students, and to put it in even more depth, our future is based off of incoming generations and what they bring to our nation to keep it innovative and growing.

    Changes need to be made if this country seeks for hope that students will continue to grow and build as a whole. College tuition is a major deciding factor in today's society in whether or not a student goes to college. Lowered cost will improve the amount of students that look forward to being a major contributor in society and for those who seek improvement and growth in this nation. So I ask you again, how will you change college tuition cost to help our future innovators and creators of his nation? Is a bigger buck really worth a decrease in societies impact on this nation? Its definitely something that could be a positive impact in the end.

Thank you for your time and God Bless America.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Thornberry

Clarkston, Michigan