Next President
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Next President,

I am a Junior at Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’m starting to look at colleges that I want to attend once I graduate but the tuition is way too high. How do you expect me to go to college if it’s too much? In today’s world, education is important, especially for our futures. Do you want my generation to succeed in the future? Do you want us to fail? College tuition should be lowered so we can afford to get a good education, we shouldn’t have to pay a ton to succeed.

According to college board, the average tuition for in-state students for four-year colleges is $9,410, for out-state students for four-year colleges it’s $14,483. Tuition has increased in the past four years, making students go into debt. Also, according to college board, the average published tuition and fees in the public four-year sector rose by 2.8%, 2.9%, and 2.9% in 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16. Tuition rates shouldn’t be increasing each year, they should be decreasing. If you were to lower tuition, then the rates would decrease and it’ll make it easier for students to get the education they need. Also, research suggests that lowering tuition would "ensure that the dream of a college education be a reality for more Americans in the days ahead.” Most people in America look forward to going to college.

As the president, college may not be the first thing on your mind. Majority, of the issues that are talked about are gun control, Isis, and taxes. These issues are very important, but college tuition should be a big issue too. As Bernie Sanders says “Everyone deserves to be able to go to college.” For example, last year, my friend Morgan graduated high school. She wanted to go Cornell University in New York, but she couldn’t because the tuition was way too high for to her to go. According to Cornwell, the tuition is $50,953. Cornell University was the college of her dreams. Do you want us to feel unsuccessful, like my friend Morgan was? If you don’t make a change about this, then shortly most people applying to colleges are going to feel unsuccessful, and have doubts.

Tuition should be lowered because college students usually only make minimum wage  while working at certain jobs. According to the United States department of labor, the federal minimum wage for employees is $7.25 per hour. My sister works at Rite Aid and only makes 7.25 an hour, this isn’t enough to help her, and other college students pay for classes and stay on their feet. If minimum wage was raised to $15, then it would benefit more college students.

If you’re the president of the United States the goal is always to fix issues or try to get rid of them issues. As a high school student, I would appreciate to see a change in tuition for college students, and seeing education being a number one priority to you. As you’re about to enter the oval office, don’t just think about the majority issues happening in our world, think about the smaller issues too. I hope one day there’s a change for us students to be able to afford college. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read this, thank you!

Sincerely,

Stephanie