Dear Future President, 

With no financial aid, my dad struggled working at a dry cleaners while attending the University of California. As I continue to grow and approach college, tuition fees worry my family and I the most. I fear that I won’t be able to achieve my future life-longing goals, and experience an educational life as the fees continue to increase.

Colleges let students experience education and life-changing opportunities. Sadly, not everyone can attend. The affordability of college tuition is one of the main reasons why tremendous amount of students drop out, or just don’t go at all. Reducing college tuition fees in the United States of America will be beneficial because more students will have the accessibility to attend, and the number of college dropouts will decrease.

If the United States of America reduce college tuition fees, more students will have the accessibility to attend because of the marked down price. Steven Goodman, a former executive director of the College Admissions Institute of America, states, “Tuition at Stanford University in 1980-81 was $6,285. Thirty years later, Stanford’s tuition had risen to $38,700. Tuition in 2011-12 is $40,050. If the cost of milk had grown at the same rate, a gallon of milk would now cost approximately $15.” Clearly, there has been an extensive increase in price range over time. Not only do students have trouble affording college, there will even be more difficulty in the future. In addition, Steven also informs that two-thirds of American undergraduates are in debt. In order to fix this situation, college tuitions need to reduce. Utica College has already lowered their tuition by 42 percent so others could afford to attend. This shows that reducing the tuition is in fact, possible.

Reducing college tuition fees in America will be beneficial because the number of college dropouts will decrease. A study funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation summarizes that half of students who dropped out of college had an income under $35,000. Furthermore, 31 percent of the 614 students that were surveyed, dropped out because of the affordability of tuition fees. This study shows that many students struggled and dropped out of college from the cost of tuition fees. According to a new study by the American Institutes for Research, it states, “College dropouts cost themselves and the economy at least $4.5 billion in lost earnings and federal and state income tax revenue every year.” Not only do college dropouts harm their education, the economy gets affected as well. If colleges reduce their tuition fees, it will benefit the students in the United States of America and the economy.

Others may argue that student aid helps students afford college because it provides them with money to attend. However, these packages normally include loans that have to be paid back again. Not every college provides enough student aid to cover the full need of students. Furthermore, if a student fails a class in college, they have to receive consequences depending on the school. At Walden University, it states on the school website, “Please remember that you must maintain a 3.0 GPA as a graduate student and a 2.0 GPA if you are an undergraduate student to be eligible to receive financial aid.” Depending on the school, students who are on financial aid have a specific GPA that they can not go under. In fact, students may have part-time job during their time in college. Balancing work, a good grade, and having a healthy mind is difficult to manage.

In conclusion, reducing college tuition will beneficial because more students will have the accessibility to attend, and the number of college dropouts will decrease. Education is a vital part of life, and not having an opportunity to have one will harm the economy and the lives of many today. As stated before, “31 percent of the 614 students that were surveyed, dropped out because of the affordability of tuition fees.” Think about the 31 percent of students who couldn’t graduate. Think about the 31 percent of students life-changing opportunities they could’ve experienced at college but a pricey tuition fee prevented them from doing so. 

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