Dear Future President,

For many students, receiving a college degree, is not only about the future after that, but the thousands of dollars of debt that they are left with and no guarantee of a job to pay it off. College debt includes the amount of money loaned and the interest added on over time as well as expenses such as housing. Even though college debt takes part in so many Americans’ lives, yet it has never been altered in order to have Americans’ at ease.

College debt is a problem that effects mostly lower and middle-class students. Many students aren't able to attend their preferred college or university simply because they can't afford it and aren't financially stable enough to pay off the debt they will be left with. More than seven in every ten students graduate college with some sort of college debt that averages $29,400. Even with a degree, finding a job can be difficult without any guarantee of a job to pay the debt off. The average bachelor's degree holder takes 21 years to pay of his or her debt. By the time many Americans pay off their debt, many of them have children going into college and borrowing their own loans, which is what happened to a friend of mine. She borrowed her first college loan just as her parents had finished paying off their own college debt, which shows how bad these loans have become.

Lowering tuition would leave students in less debt. We can lower tuition costs by having colleges put their endowments towards a lower college tuition for students. Many prominent universities have billions of dollars stored in their banks. Why not put a part of that into lowering student tuition costs, leaving less students in debt and allowing less fortunate students attend the universities they dream of? 

Student debt could also be lessened if the government did not charge interest on any student loans, not just those of the poor or low-income families. This would ease a large amount of the population, the middle class. The interest wouldn't add up and cost graduates more, in the long run. This would relieve a part of the debt students are left with.

Going to college is what practically every American student strives for, yet it is not always easy for many to afford it. And although so many Americans go through this struggle, it has not been altered to make it easier for students to go through college without a large debt weighing down on them. Pricing and debt may weigh into many students' decisions for college and achieving their future goals. Making college student loans more affordable and easier to pay off is the key to overcoming this problem, which is what I hope you do as out future president.

Sincerely,

Selin M.