Dear Future President,

    The rising cost of college tuition around the country is a constant issue that will continue to hurt American students unless something is done. Many are left with so much debt after college that starting their life is put on hold until they can pay off student loans. Some even view college as not worth it because of the debt they may accumulate. On top of all this, state spending still remains at the condition it was during the Great Recession, even as the economy is beginning to recover. The mass of wealth that the top richest universities control needs to be shared more to poorer colleges to help them get more students into school rather than spent on making the already great and expensive colleges more great and more expensive.

    President Obama proposed a plan in 2015 to make the first two years of community college free for students. He believes that “the decline in funding for higher education is a barrier to those aspiring to become members of the middle class” (Tribune Chicago Bureau via Newslea). His plan would make higher education a standard achievable by most students. As more and more jobs are beginning to require college degrees, the plan would also make meeting this requirement much easier for less fortunate families. 

    So, if college is a requirement for most careers, why is it so hard for young people to get into? Bernie Sanders had the idea of making college free for everyone wishing to attend. This idea is great theoretically but in practice it just doesn’t work. This is because giving everyone a free pass into higher education insinuates that everyone would be successful in a higher education atmosphere, and that is just not true.”Despite free tuition, just one-third of students from the bottom income quartile who started at a community college in 2003 finished a degree or certificate by 2009.” (Kelly, Andrew P.) Knowing that many students would not make it in college, students that have proven themselves in high school should be given priority for getting into college with no debt or financial struggle.

    Sometimes college is just simply going to be too expensive, and students have to get loans and inadvertently put themselves into debt. From the second they graduate and earn their degree, they are going to be spending every bit of extra money they make to pay off this debt. A cartoon by Steve Sack entitled “Student Loan” portrays a student loan agent attending a graduation ceremony. He says “I own all of them.” If a student successfully earns their degree, they have nothing but paying off debt to look forward to in the near future. Those fortunate enough to find a job won’t have to much to say about this. But those that can’t find a job or can’t finish their degree are left with loads of debt and nothing to say for it. 

    Ultimately, it is up to you, the president, to make a change to the cost of college in this country. Students are the future and forcing them into debt in order to become that future isn’t encouraging to the next generation of children being told that they can be whatever they want (provided they have the money to do so). The bright young minds of America deserve better than to be told they just don’t have enough money to finish their education. Get out there, get kids into college, and you will have the support of every new generation to come.

Sincerely,

M.P.

Works Cited

Kelly, Andrew P. "The Problem Is That College Isn't Free." The New York Times. N.p., 20 Jan. 2016. Web. 6 Nov. 2016.

Tribune Chicago Bureau via Newsela (Ed. Newsela staff. Version 1150). “President Proposes Two Years of Free College for Students.” 12 Jan. 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2016

Sack, Steve. “Student Loan.” Cagle. 30 May 2015. Web. 6 Nov. 2016