Dear Mr. / Mrs. President,

One big problem that has hit my family hard this year is the price of college tuition.

My older sister, Mariela Barraza, has been attending school at the University of California in Santa Barbara. I am extremely proud of her and proud to be able to say that she is my sister. But one thing I was oblivious to while growing up was the fact that college tuition is extremely high. I became aware of this just last year while my sister was applying to various colleges.

One big help to students going to college is financial aid. Many students receive financial aid, but others do not. Some students don’t receive financial aid because their parents make "enough" money to cover the $36,000 + tuition cost. Other costs of going to school includes housing, meals, books (which can easily result in hundreds of dollars per semester), and traveling expenses. Most of those families that make "enough," struggle to send their children to college because they simply cannot undergo the damages the debts will bring. These families that get denied help from financial aid, on the most part, have more than one child. They have to provide for all their children and cover all the other costs that life brings. 

Because parents are not able to pay the college expenses, students apply for loans. By the time students graduate, they’ll be drowning in bills. They'll most likely spend most of their lives paying off all their debt simply because they wanted a better life for themselves and needed to go to college in order to achieve this. The alternative to not being able to pay the college tuition is many students drop out of school or simply do not enroll. Many of these students that don't get the advantage to learn are extremely smart. For all we know, the next Albert Einstein could be one of these students. 

Paying a large sum of money in order to continue my education is ridiculous and nerve wrecking. Something must be done in order to reduce college tuition and fees. So I write this letter to you, Mr. or Mrs. President, to ask for help in lowering college tuition. What will you do in order to help millions of college students and future alumni in your four years in office?