Dear Next President,

In our current age, there are many problems in our society affecting many citizens. One of the biggest, in my opinion, is the problem of college debt. Many people in our country want to go to college to better themselves and get a good education. However many can’t afford to go to college these days since the cost has risen to the point where merely the rich can afford it. I believe that we should make college free to the people of the united states, just as high school is.

Many people deter away from getting an education because they either don’t want to have to pay back loans in the future or don’t feel like they would be able to. This causes many people, from all different backgrounds, to end up in minimum wage jobs or even unemployed. I bet, that if college was more acceptable to people from all walks of life, that the crime rate would even go down as well since they would have the required education to make a living. The main reason that people resort to crime in the first place is because they can’t get a job and need to be able to feed themselves. The Jackson free press says “If you struggle to pay your bills and don't know where your next meal is coming from, studies show you are more likely to be incarcerated.” I can’t blame anyone for necessarily resorting to crime in this case because it is not their fault. It is just because they couldn’t afford the education that they needed. What if they had a family too? I’d think that you would do anything to feed your children in desperate times, even if it meant resorting to stealing and becoming a criminal.

Now, I can understand why some people would not want to make college free for everyone. College professors would most likely get paid less and the money to fund the colleges would probably come out of taxes and many people already believe that there are too many taxes to pay already. But imagine finding out that a family member or friend of yours couldn’t afford to go to college even though it had been their dream for such a long time. Imagine how they would feel, How it crushed their hopes and aspirations of being successful in life. Now imagine that same person living with a family of their own, if not already, and not being able to afford a single christmas present for their child and/or family members. The person would be devastated, the parent would be devastated, and you feel their remorse.

According to cbpp.org, the US spends $3.7 trillion a year on our military when only a measly $280 million gets spent on public educational funding per year. Does the military matter more to you next president than our next generation's future? There is no need to spend that much money on things like $1 million jet fighters. I am very glad that our country is well protected, however at the moment it just seems like overkill. My solution is that we halve the amount of money going towards the military every year which would leave them with more than enough, $1.85 trillion, And then put the other $1.85 trillion to good use in the educational system. I believe that with that much money it would be more than enough to start funding colleges all around the country so that people could get a chance at an education.

In the end why should I have to pay for a chance at a better life? It just doesn’t make sense why they would set up the system so that only the rich can succeed, even though we are all supposed to be americans and coincide in this country as equals. Please next president, help to fight for the educational rights of the american people and help to make college accessible for anyone who wishes to take part in it.

Sincerely,

Aedan Will