Dear Future President,

College is an essential part of society today. Millions of students work extremely hard in high school to get accepted into a good college of their choice; only to find themselves four years later in debt because of the extremely high expenses. You should address this problem and help all these students. All of the hours of hard work by them shouldn’t have a return of working equally as hard to pay off their debt because of student loans. This could discourage students from wanting to go to college because of fear of debt. The economy needs skilled workers with college degrees to keep it going. If more and more people decide not to go college, this could negatively affect the economy. If the next president doesn’t do something about the high and continually rising college tuition prices, the country will be negatively impacted over time.

The average price of college tuition in the US depends on what type of college a student attends. Private colleges averaged $32,405, out-of-state residents at public colleges averaged $23,893, and state residents at public colleges averaged $9,410 (What’s the Price Tag for a College Education?). These prices don’t include room and board or books and school supplies. Everyone can agree that college isn’t cheap. Does it really need to be this expensive though? In Canada, the average Canadian citizen pays around $4,534 per year (Collier). In Europe, college tuition prices are considerably lower in certain countries. Most cost only around $10,000 USD per year (Collier, How Much Does it Cost to Study in Europe?). So the future president should evaluate this. Why do US college prices have to be so much higher than the rest of the world's? Other countries have to pay for staff and other expenses and they’re still able to keep their prices low compared to most US schools. And many large schools in the US that charge excess amounts for tuition have major sports programs that are huge revenue gainers. You would think with all this generated revenue they would be able to charge less and still be able to keep their campuses in prime shape. As our next president, you should evaluate how colleges are using their money and what they can do to lower their price.

Some people are able to afford whatever college they want, graduate, and have a future set up for them. The average student on the other hand, isn’t as lucky. It would be hard for them and their families to pay for college without scholarships or taking out student loans. They might also have to turn down a college they wanted to attend because of the high financial commitment. This shouldn’t happen in the United States where they believe in equal opportunity education. Having to pay $60,000 a year for premier colleges isn’t equal opportunity since some students simply can’t afford $240,000 over 4 years. If they then have to settle for a smaller school to fit their price range, it might hurt their future. The school they now have to attend might not have as high regards or the same programs and opportunities as a larger school. This could impact their search for a job and result in them having to take a lesser paying job. This will impact them further down the road. If they aren’t making as much money as they could’ve, their future living arrangements, family, and anything else that involves money will be impacted. This personally affects and worries me. I would like to go to a college like Notre Dame or Florida which are out of state. These colleges are good, but very expensive with Notre Dame being above $60,000 a year and Florida being $40,000 a year (http://college-tuition.startclass.com/ ). Florida is also $20,000 less for in-state students. I think this is discouraging people moving and finding new horizons and definitely isn’t equal opportunity. If I were to go to college in-state, I would probably want to go Michigan, which is around $27,000 a year. Even though this is considerably cheaper than the other options I listed, it still isn’t cheap. I know I will have to work really hard in high school to try and get scholarships and save money to help my parents pay for my education. I am lucky to have a family who values education and will work hard to make sure I get a quality one. Other students, who want to go to college but aren’t raised in the best of circumstances might not be able to go to college because their family can’t pay for it or they don’t believe college is needed because they didn’t attend. College should be easy to afford for anyone and give everyone the opportunity they deserve.

In conclusion, the cost of college is much too high in the US. As the next president, you have the power to propose and execute a change to help millions of students across the US in the present and in the future.