Education Availability for Our Future
Colleges in this country are too expensive for most of those applying. Providing more financial aid options across the United States, as well as seeing an increase in trade schools, will help the educational goals of America's future.
Dear Commander In Chief,
One of the many issues in this country is college availability. Most college tuitions are far too expensive for those in middle to lower classes and it is a missed opportunity for those who cannot afford it. College graduates make 84% more than high school grads; Individuals who do not further their education are more likely to be stuck in minimum wage jobs in lower income communities, whereas those who do pay for college end up wrestling student debt.
It also isn’t uncommon for students in high school to be working part time jobs to save money for a degree. With seven hour school days and four to eight hour shifts afterword, it’s no surprise that attendance and grades are negatively affected; decreasing the chances of a student being accepted to certain colleges.
I propose that colleges revise their financial aids, adding in a new option that allows students to choose a percentage of the tuition they would pay, and the amount not paid is “worked off” throughout their student career. For example, if I wanted to go to a college that had annual tuition of about $20,000 (not including room and board, nor textbooks), the school could offer one hundred percent payment with no labor, eighty percent payment ($16,000) with the remaining four thousand worked, seventy-five percent ($15,000) with five thousand worked, sixty percent ($12,000) with the remaining eight thousand worked, or fifty percent with the other half worked off. The student can sign up for hours to meet a minimum time requirement each week, as well as having the opportunity of choosing their workplace within the campus.
If this becomes an alternate option for college financial aid, we would see an increase in college graduations and, in turn, an overall boost to the economy. Please allow us to revise our college financial aid options and increase our country’s education availability for the growth of our future generations.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Shelby R
Sources:
http://www.childtrends.org/indicators/youth-employment/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/08/college-gradutates-pay.html