Dear Mr. or Ms. President,

As a student who is about to head off to college in less than a year, I am very concerned about the growing cost of college tuition. College tuition and fees affects all people of all different social classes. After the insanely high cost of tuition itself, you also need to add on the minimum of $12,000 for other fees like room and board and books. Some colleges' total costs are nearing $70,000 per year which is almost a whopping $300,000 for the majority of kids who attend college for 4 years. According to Harvery Mudd College, their total cost of attendance is $71,917. Not to mention that many kids do not quite finish in 4 years which could add even more to the bill. According to CNCB, “the average cost of tuition and fees at a private, non-profit, four-year university this school year was $31,231—up sharply from $1,832 in 1971-1972 (in current dollars).” Because there are many parents or guardians who can’t/won’t pay for college, that leaves many students finishing college with thousands and thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) dollars in debt. Starting a new job or trying to find one while having that much debt puts many young adults at a big disadvantage.

Some people may think this is a problem that only affects students entering college from a lower economic class, but that’s not exactly true. Many students that come from wealthier families are still expected to pay for part or all of their college tuition and fees. So this is not putting one certain group of college hopefuls at a disadvantage, but rather it creates an obstacle for all young adults entering a college or university. If we were able to lower the cost of tuition across the country, more students would have the opportunity to go to college and get the education every person deserves. In order to mend this problem, colleges and universities are able to offer scholarships based on your family’s income and merit scholarships based on your grades and test scores. Although these scholarships do help, there is more to be done. What about the students that don’t qualify for either of those scholarships and still can’t afford the overpriced schools?

Besides offering scholarships to select students, college and universities have more options to make their education more affordable. Two obvious options arise right away. One, colleges all around the country can lower their tuition. This would automatically allow for many more students to attend college. The second option is for schools to give more scholarships. Like the first option, this would give more opportunities to the students who can’t afford college tuition as it is right now. This is a problem that affects many students of different ages and backgrounds, and because we live in a country that values education so much, it is our duty to help those who can’t afford one.

Sincerely,

Laura Deutz

"The Real Reasons a College Degree Costs so Much." CNBC. Getty Images, 16 June 2015. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.

"Cost of Attendance." Harvey Mudd College. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2016.