Dear Next President,

Congratulations on winning the election. That is not an easy task to complete but you got it done. My name is Erin Kropelnicki and I would like to talk to you about a situation in our country that is really bothering me. Please consider this an issue that needs to be resolved.

In the U.S it costs a lot of money to go to college and to me that’s a big problem. Most people here don’t have the money to send their kids to college and for the people who have parents won’t pay, they need to find the money themselves. Everyone deserves a good education so they can get a good job to support a family. By lowering the cost of the current tuition, more people will be able to attend school and live a better life.

My plan is to help make that happen. Colleges should be thinking about the student’s education instead of worrying about how much money they owe the school. Schools should give more student loans so that people can afford to go there. Lowering tuition will help students who cannot afford to pay that much money. Students will take the ACT test and score a very high score. The higher the score the better college you can get into. What happens when someone who is less fortunate scores the best score. Then what?

I have an older sister who is currently a sophomore in college. She already has to worry about where she is going to get the money to pay off debt she owes. Why should a 19 year old have to worry that much about money when they should be worrying about other things. Single moms who are attending college can’t afford to pay for their child and try to pay for college.

According to the New York Times, the student loan debt is currently standing at about $1.3 trillion. When you think about it, that’s a lot of money. Too much money for young people to have to spend on school. According to the New York Times, some schools are costing close to 50,000 dollars. That’s approximately ¼ the amount of the average house payment.

My concerns are the cost for me when I go to college. What if I don’t have enough money to pay off all my debt. What if I don’t get any student loans? That’s a huge problem that wanders around in my head all the time when it comes to thinking about the cost of tuition. How will this affect my children when I'm older? Will the cost of tuition go up when it comes time my kids go to college? What if I cannot pay for my kids to attend college. That’s a big issue for me.

In conclusion, I think that the college tuition should drop by a significant amount of money so everybody can afford to get the education they need without having to worry about all that extra money they owe the school after they graduate.

Sincerely,

Erin Kropelnicki, 10th Grade

West Saint Paul, Minnesota