Dear Future President,

     Education is greatly valued here in the U.S. It builds us up to be the people we are with the jobs we have. Education is so incredibly important and yet for many, it is actually holding them back. The problem is that the cost of college is becoming too high for students in the U.S. The cost of higher education must be addressed because millions of students all over the U.S. are struggling with the high costs during, and after college.

     High college costs must be addressed because student debt is becoming incredibly high. According to Student Loan Hero, there is approximately $1.26 trillion dollars in student loan debt from all over the U.S. That total number from all over our country is spread among about 43.3 million people who borrowed money for college. Students should not have to go into such extreme debt just to pay for the education they want. This problem is going to continue happening, especially since tuition costs just keep rising. According to The Center for Online Education, in the year 1987, students only had to pay 23% of the cost to fund their college education. By the time 2012 came along, students had to pay 45%. In just those short 25 years, the percentage went up by 22%. College is already very expensive right now, but the price is just going to continue increasing if nothing is done about it. You as the President must address this issue so we can put a stop to the increasing cost of college and student debt that is occurring.

     College costs must be addressed because students are being affected by this problem years and years after they graduate. According to U.S. News, the average person with a bachelor’s degree takes approximately 21 years to pay off their student loans. Keeping in mind that it takes 21 years to pay off the loans, when you do the math, the student would be about 42 or 43 years old by the time all that money is finally paid off. That’s a large chunk of that person’s life spent working to pay off their student loans. Life throws too many curveballs and financial struggles at a person to spend all of their life paying for their education that happened so many years in the past. One might argue that it is worth it to pay so much over all that time because in the end, you’re making an investment into your future in order to get more money in the long run. This is a valid argument, however, life is unpredictable and things don’t always go as planned. You may not get the job that you need in order to pay off your loans. College is supposed to get you ahead in life. Instead, students are still paying off their loans 21 years later. It is important that you as the Next President acknowledge this issue so that it can change.

     The best way to address the cost of higher education is by having colleges cut unnecessary classes that very few people attend, in order to reduce the price of tuition for students trying to pay for college. According to a video I watched called “Why College is so Expensive”, colleges are adding different amenities and new classes for students to take in order to make the college stand out more and make itself more appealing to the public. This is a problem because when a college adds more classes, they need more faculty to teach in those classes causing tuition to rise so that they can have a salary. When there are more teachers and classes, they need more students. When there are more students, they use up more of the college and that costs more money as well. It is a never-ending cycle and it will just continue to bring prices up if these “different” classes are not cut. Yes, it is important to have some varieties of classes at colleges, but not every college can have every single one of these different classes. It just costs way too much money and it is bringing the price up more than it needs to be. You must do something about this issue and cutting these classes that are causing tuition to go up so high will help the problem.

     So many students in our country are struggling with student debt. College is supposed to push you ahead in life but instead it is holding students back with money struggles. Something must be done. Thank you for reading my letter.

Sincerely,

Taylor G.