Dear Future President, 

     Congratulations on becoming the new president of the United States. This letter will be discussing a topic that should be looked over. My name is Rachel Dunalvey and I am here to discuss the expenses of college.

     As a freshman in high school, I already know what college and what field I want to go into. I personally, can't wait to go to college. The one thing about college that I don't want to face are the expenses. There are housing expenses, books, car expenses, food, etc. College is expensive and not everyone is able to afford it. I've already looked at some expenses for different colleges and they are huge. I can't imagine what the cost of college will be when I am able to go to college.

     According to a website called College Boards, the cost of a public, four year in-state college is $40,182. Only 47% of college graduate, which means more than half of the students drop out. 60% of the students drop of out college due to not having financial help from their parents. By going to college, you are setting yourself up to get a degree in whatever you are majoring in, becoming a full time student, and getting a well-paid job. But not everyone can experience this due to the expenses of college.

      Depending on where people plan to go for college and where they stay can impact their financial problems. If a student lives with their parents while they are in college, that student won't have to pay for electricity, heat, food (sometimes), etc. If a student chooses to live on campus it can cost about $14,500 a year. Health insurance can get up to $2,300. Books and supplies for courses are $1,500. If someone chooses to live outside of the campus grounds, they are still paying a lot of money. Depending on where the student chooses to live, a two bedroom apartment is $1,000 a month. Food is $400 a month. Depending on the landlords, if they don't supply electricity and heat, you are looking at $170 a month. If the student owns a car, their car payments are around $450 a month, etc. Adding up all of the outside expenses when living outside of the campus easily adds up to $8,060+ a month. Students will be left with huge amounts of debt that they will have to pay off until they are around 50 years old.

     I heard this idea from someone else and I really liked it, so I'm going to share it with you. To solve this problem of college expenses and debt, the colleges should seek out those who chose to do well and get good grades in high school and grant them with not having to pay anything dealing with the college (books, tuition, boarding, etc.). Those who chose to do poorly and have not so good grades will loose this advantage. The student who chose to do poorly in high school, could gain the not having to pay for certain things, if they get good grades in college and maintain them. For the students who maintained good grades in high school, if they start to plummet and grades and behavior, they could lose the opportunity to not have to pay for college related expenses. This will not only help many high school and college students, but it will also help motivate them to do their best.

     Life would be much easier if college expenses were not as expensive as they are. It would save a lot of families turmoil and students stress. College should be a fun and exciting environment; not a stressful one.

Thank you for reading this letter,

Rachel Dunlavey