Dear Mr(s). President,

College: it’s a time of fun, excitement, change, learning, and finding yourself and your interests. Amazingly, that’s something you and your former opponent would agree on. But today, in 2016, high school students and their parents must face an the ugly truth that is the skyrocketing costs of college tuition. As prices go up, more and more students ask themselves “is it really worth it?” The pros and cons are seemingly infinite, making it a very difficult decision to make, especially for those who are financially challenged. With that said, you should make college affordable for all those who wish to attend. 

It doesn't make any sense statistically or economically for only those who are rich to get higher level education. There is no correlation between intelligence and wealth, so why make college only available to the wealthy? Let’s look at some stats: the cost of the average tuition for one school year at a public four-year university adds up to about $9,139, according to an article by CNBC news. This statistic will mean different things depending on the individual's life and class, but to put things in perspective, the average Nevadan makes $51,525 a year. 

You may be thinking “but Hannah, tuition is just a very small chunk of that income! College is totally affordable for the average Nevadan!” Although it appears this way to the naked eye, you would be mistaken. Here is some more math if you will, $9,139 multiplied by four whole years of college adds up to a thick pile of dough of $36,556. And, if you thought that was inching close to being a problem, let us consider our fellow hard workers desperately struggling on the poverty line. You are defined as someone in poverty if you make an income of $11,490 or less a year, and the amount of people who fit under the “or less” are plenty, and they grow in number every day. 

It’s so important to acknowledge that people who are hardworking and intelligent are only sometimes people with big buck or even average incomes. So what if your next thought is why not just take out a student loan? There are many, many problems with the student loan system. Total student debt in the US is currently at $1.2 trillion and rising, and the stress of paying off these loans is a humongous source of anxiety and depression among college students, often for extended periods of their life. And, to make things even more heart-wrenching, if the student dies with debt still in their name, the fees carry on to their closest family members. There is no escape from student loan debt, not even in death. “In my opinion, I’d much rather find a way to ease the debt or die trying then to live life everyday knowing that I’ll keep owing money to a corrupt state of affairs.” explains a student named Drew in a personal story from studentdebtcrisis.org. If you don’t see a problem with this system yet, I don’t know what to tell you. 

A solution? You tell me, you’re the president. You went to college, use that learning that you paid lots of cash for to figure it out. Make college affordable, please and thanks -

Hannah D.

Bibliography

REVIEW-JOURNAL, Hubble SmithLAS VEGAS. "Nevada Is No. 1 in Income Decline." Las Vegas Review-Journal. N.p., 28 Sept. 2011. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

Https://www.facebook.com/johnwschoen. "The Real Reasons a College Degree Costs so Much." CNBC. Getty Images, 16 June 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

"Federal Poverty Level." Nevada Health Link Official Website Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Nov. 2016.

@DebtCrisisOrg. "Real Student Debt Stories • Student Debt Crisis." Student Debt Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.