1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington DC, 20500

Dear (Next) President,

In the last three decades the tuition for a public 4-year college has increased more than 250 percent. The costs for college have risen to a point where students don't go to college, not because they don't want to go, but because they can't afford to go. I would like to attend Duke University and I don't know if that's possible because of the crazy high tuitions. The cost for college is too high which results in students falling into debt and they are less likely to attend the college they desire.

The debt students fall into during and after college can delay their life. Many students take out student loans to help pay for their tuition, which puts them deeper into debt. Campus Riot states “when students are forced to delay buying their first home because of student debt, they are more inclined to delay getting married, having children, and pursuing medical/dental care” (Pumphrey, 1). These students lives are affected in a negative way by going to college, rather than in a positive way. College is meant to help progress your life by helping you get a job, earn more money, and basically help kickstart your life as an adult. Now it's counterintuitive. Instead of helping it hinders. People are forced to try to get out of debt before they can even get started. The rising costs of college are holding students back from the next phase of their life.

Another way college costs are affecting the students, is that they may not be able to attend the college they desire do to financial concerns. If a student isn't able to go to a college they they really want to attend, they may settle for a cheaper community college. Campus Riot shows in an infographic that “From 2007-2009, enrollment in community colleges increased 24%” (Pumphrey, 1). The students may have wanted to attend a more expensive 4-year college, but that wasn't an option because they couldn't afford the tuition. This can impact the lives of the students after college. They may not get as good of an education at a community college as they could get at a 4-year college. Also when applying for a job, a person with a degree form a 4-year college will more than likely get it over a person with a degree from a community college. Students are less likely to attend their dream college and instead go to a more affordable one.

On the other hand, people may ask how colleges will make money if tuitions are lowered. Many people believe that all the money colleges make comes from tuitions, but that is not the case. The majority of the money comes from state appropriations. In fact many Americans still haven't paid their college tuitions. According to The Daily Dot “Americans now owe a total of $1.2 trillion to colleges” (Bransetter, 1). If colleges are funded mostly by state appropriations, couldn't tuitions be lowered? Also since a lot of people still haven't paid their tuitions that were lower back in the day, why would you keep raising the tuitions expecting people to afford them now? Raising tuitions will only result in more and more debt throughout the country. In the end the costs of college is getting way out of hand and needs to be regulated.

Students are falling into debt and are less likely to attend the college they prefer do to the overpriced costs for college. Students fall into debts they can't shake off and end up behind where they want be in their adult life. The overpriced colleges are driving students to less expensive options such as community colleges rather than their preferred colleges. The option to lower tuition is the only one that makes sense. If colleges continue to raise tuition or keep it the same, people won't be able to pay for college and may not end up going to college at all.