With education being highly valued in our lives, it makes you wonder why the price to receive that education is as high as it is. Some people like the wealthy, and heads of universities think that college tuitions are fine, and that lowering them would have a negative effect on the quality of the college, however, many people such as students, parents, lower class and middle class people are very upset with the current price of college. High college tuitions are having a detrimental effect on graduates and needs to have something done about it. One semester alone is about the same price as buying a new Toyota Camry. If you think about it, buying eight new cars over the course of four years can add up fast, and even worse, out you in debt. As a current college student, having limited finances is an everyday occurrence, and it is not just tuition students are stressing about either. Books, gas, food, off campus housing for upperclassmen and many other expenses are all aspects of college that add up. The fact that college tuition is high makes me wonder what I would do if I were in a situation where I wanted to get an education, but could not. Student loans seem to be a help, but can actually cause the student even more costs in the end. I feel I am qualified to write about this topic because I am a college student, living on a meager budget struggling with the high cost of college and seeing many other struggle with it as well. The price to attend a university seems to be unreasonably high, making it difficult for everyone to have an equal opportunity to go. I strongly believe that this country has a moral obligation to make college more affordable for many reasons from the rising crisis of student to people opting out of even getting a college education.  

One article I analyzed is called "Tuition Should be Lowered." It focuses on the pros as well as the cons of lowering tuition, as not to leave out the viewpoints of those who do not want it to be lowered. Tuition is rising each year, which means in the future a college education could potentially be only for the extremely wealthy, and those poor enough to receive a lot of scholarships. Even though there are many reasons that tuition should be lowered, there are still some good points as to why it is so high. The tuition provides for better quality of buildings, faculty and staff. It also can motivate people. Since they are paying so much to be at college, they might be inclined to work harder than if it was much cheaper. Although there are pros and cons, I think the cons of a high tuition negatively outweigh the pros, and something should be done about it. 

Why is college tuition so high anyway? As opposed to what many people think, it is not just the faculty or utilities, but it is largely due to the increasing amount of student loans being given out according to the National Bureau of Economic Research (Wexler). Granted, this is not the main reason tuition is rising, but it does play a big role. In the article, "Why is Tuition so high?" Ellen Wexler pronounces, "The more money students can borrow, the idea goes, the more colleges can charge" (Wexler 3). A surprising study shows that for-profit schools that participate in the federal aid program have a tuition that is 78% higher than schools that don't (Wexler 13). The universities up their tuition knowing that the federal loans will cover what the students can't pay, and if we want college tuition to go down anytime in the future, the student loan issue needs to be addressed, but how? 

One article put out by BizEd Magazine seems to provide method schools could use to lower tuition; by increasing enrollment. The article points out how some graduate business programs have seen tuition rising and enrollment decreasing, and puts forth the bold idea of telling schools to slash tuition. Two schools, The Labovitz School of business and The University of Minnestoa in Duluth, have already made the decision to decrease their tuition for fall of 2016 by 13.5% (Want to Boost Enrollment? 1). The schools are doing this in hopes to reverse to declining number of students enrolling as well as become more attractive to students. The schools are able to cut tuition without risking losing certain courses or faculty since they were running under budget anyway. Rajiv Vaidyanathan, a professor at LSBE, advocated for the tuition decrease by pointing out, "We can make up the lost tuition by just increasing enrollment by four or five students" (Want to Boost Enrollment? 5). I believe that these schools are heading in the right direction, and that other schools should start to follow their lead, so that college is no longer seen as such a financial burden.

The average student graduates from college with about $24,000 of debt, while some debt can even reach numbers with six digits, according to Collegiate Times columnist, Lina Barkawi, in her article called, "College Costs Must Be Lowered." These are high numbers for someone who is just embarking out into the world with no real job yet. The major concern Barkawi voices in this article is that students are graduating with huge debts from their student loans and no way to pay them off. Upon graduation, you are completely responsible for paying back the thousands of dollars the government so kindly let you borrow, whether you find a job or not. In an interview between Sharron Epperson and U.S. treasusry official, Sarah Bloom Raskin, Raskin contends that student loans help out tremendously, but we have to pay attention to the amount of student debt accumulating because it could potentially be dangerous down the road. Barkawi elaborates on this by highlighting the consequences of not being able to pay back student loans. If you do not start paying back your loans when the first monthly installment is due, your loans could go into default, with numerous repercussions.  Percentages of your wage can be garnished, some of your social security benefits can be withheld by the government, you are no longer eligible for financial aid, you may not be able to renew whatever professional license you hold, and your credit record will forever be tarnished (Barkawi 8). The author believes that attaining a college degree and making a difference in the world should be everyone's goal, but achieving that goal is becoming more unattainable because of the cost it takes to get there. Lowering college tuition is becoming a popular topic in our society because people are starting to see that it is going to become a serious problem if it is not addressed. 

Sarah Bloom Raskin, the treasury official who was interviewed about the topic, points out that a 4-year college education is a great investment in a person's potential and our economy as well, so it is important for as many people as possible to be able to have the opportunity to go. Being the deputy US Treasury secretary, Raskin is fully knowledgeable about loans and student debt.  As such, she is a very credible source. She admits that there is definitely a considerable amount of work to be done on the cost of attending college so that more people can attend. College graduates can boost our society's economy and morale, bring more job opportunities, and just make the country a better place by having well educated people. However, it seems as if that opportunity to get a 4-year college degree keeps dwindling. College tuition has risen by 50% in the past 20 years, and student debt accumulation is now more than $1 trillion (Epperson 1). Raskin knows that she and other officials need to keep working on ways to make college more affordable, not only for the students, but also for America's future economy. 

There are many horror stories about student debts. National Public Radio interviewed two students about their current situations, where one student owed $150,000 and the other, an unbelievably high price of $300,000. While these are some of the highest numbers in student debt, about 10% of all borrowers owe over $54,000 (Crisp 2). I cannot imagine trying to pay that off. It is unfortunate that students are burdened with having to pay back so much once they graduate, because they have to save every cent they make every month, and do not have room for more luxurious things they could be buying after years of hard work in college.  

These days, Americans are probably asking themselves if college is even a worthy investment anymore. In the article, "Why We Need to Reduce College Tuition," by Dr. Carlos Campos, President of Ashland University, it is definitely believed that high tuition rates are making people turn away from getting a higher education. Some institutions are realizing this, like Regent University, who has lowered tuition in order to "increase access, respond to the economic realities of the day, and combat a trend that must be reversed for higher education to meet its goals in America" (Campos 3).  Going to college is unfortunately out of the picture for some people, therefore, they give up hope of ever being able to attend. While this definitely seems like a reason to lower college tuition, Campos also points out that some people do not think that it should be lowered. These people worry that if tuition decreases, the quality of education will decline as well. They believe that if class sizes become larger, and professors are asked to teach more students for less pay, quality and morale of campuses will plummet. However, I still believe that it should be lowered. The more educated people in our country, the better for our future. Campos points out that the word "tuition" comes from an ancient word linked to "tutor" and translates to guardianship. Campos stresses that "What was once a guardian is now threatening to become an impediment. If a college degree is still the gateway to the middle class, we will all have to be innovative and intentional to ensure that the gate is not locked for many" (Campos 8). Education is a primary key to success and a good life, therefore limiting a certain pool of people to this key is not in our country's best interest. 

Education is definitely a necessity. Max Page and Dan Clawson argue for this in their article, "It's Time to Push for Free College." They remind us that not long ago, high school was just starting to be seen as a necessity, and the same is happening for college today. Pre-school through high school is free because of the fact that education is important. Why is it that college should not be affordable as well? Many studies show that a college education can have numerous benefits on a person's life.  Page and Clawson highlight these benefits in their article by revealing, "Over their lives, college graduates smoke less, commit fewer crimes, draw less on social welfare programs, and generate more taxes" (Clawson 2). The authors of this article are members of the teacher union National Education Association. They could seem biased towards wanting people to receive educations, however I do not think they are being completely biased, as they bring up reasonable points and back them up with evidence from studies that have been done in the past. They even bring up the opposing argument of people fearing that free college will cause turmoil due to more students, less professors, and less money to take care of the campus. Page and Clawson respond to these arguments with the evidence from Tennessee where free community-college was recently put into action. The colleges report that they are hiring more teachers than before, for all of the eager students that now have the opportunity to gain a higher education (Clawson 7). I do not think that all colleges should be totally free, however I do think that it should cost much less than it does now. It is not fair that some people do not even think about going to college because they know they are not going to be able to afford it. This can lead these people down a long, hard path full of "what-ifs?" I actually saw this firsthand when I was getting lunch here on my college campus one day, and the man who was serving my food just looked at me and said "Working here makes me really wish I could have been able to go to college, but that's never gonna happen with the money I make." This made me realize how lucky I am to be receiving this education, and also that others should not be denied this opportunity just because of their financial status, especially if they are willing to get an education. These are the people we need to make this change for.  

Jon Wiener also agrees that high tuition costs are the main problem of the higher education system today. In his article, "Aiming Higher: Make College Tuition Free," he reveals that student debt is now higher than credit card debt. This is a real problem that needs to be, and can be, fixed, Wiener proclaims. College tuition is now free in countries like Sweeden, Denmark and Finland. Germany just introduced tuition for college eight years ago, and since then has been abolished because the German citizens were not very happy (Weiner 224). America could follow their example, but for some reason, we have not. In 2014, America's government spent about $47 billion on grants and $101 billion on student loans. Anya Kamenetz of NPR states that, "with that kind of dough, there ought to be ways of buying better access and more equity" (Wiener 224). Wiener believes that if Tennessee can afford to make tuition free, so can the rest of America, which would make our country's future brighter and economy more active. He also points out that if student debt were lower, graduates would spend more money, jobs would be created, and tax revenues will go up (Wiener 226). Easier access to a college education is definitely needed, and would have more positive outcomes than people think. 

With all the benefits that come from getting a college degree, it is unsettling that more and more high school graduates are opting out of going to college, but that is the reality we have to live in until something is done about the price. In a YouTube video called, "Is College Tuition Worth the cost?" LeAnn McAdoo easily states many reasons why a college degree is not worth it. She sheds light on the fact that students going to a 4-year university are investing so much time, money and work to potentially end up making the same or even less than their peers from high-school who went to a technical school or opted out of going to college completely. After graduating from college, you are not guaranteed a job, and you have to pay off your student debt before you actually start making money. Students that graduated high school and went straight to the job force or to a cheaper 2-year college can start saving money right away, and not spend their life in debt. While this does not always happen, it happens enough for people to start noticing it, and many teens are becoming attracted to the idea of not going to college, because it just does not seem worth it. As tuitions continue to rise, more people will not go to college, which will really hurt our nation in the long run. The cost of college needs to be lowered because we need people to want to learn and make a difference in the world.  All of the claims made by McAdoo are primary examples of why tuition needs to go down. 

Former president of Kalamazoo College David W. Breneman agrees that it is time that tuition stops increasing. In his article, "The Truth About College Tuition," he informs his audience on how the tuition is basically set wherever the university wants to set it after looking at their budget. He asserts that students and parents are going to start getting upset if tuition levels keep increasing every year. He stresses, "The level of cynicism regarding higher education and its practices is reaching a dangerous level," (Breneman 5). He also suspects that when people look back on this time of history, our pricing of tuition will be judged for outweighing the benefits of lower tuition. If we want our education system to improve and grow, we need to start looking at the future. 

In the article, "Should College Tuition be Lowered, Or Will That Make Us Worthless Slackers?" Hayley Snyder argues against one of the biggest viewpoints as to why high tuition is a good thing. People think that if people are paying less to go to college, they will be less motivated. While this is a good point, I say that if people are paying less to go to college, more people have the opportunity, and the hard-working students and kind of people we want to be in our work force one day will flourish, even if they are paying nothing. The choice to go to college should not only be there for the wealthy and those who qualify for financial aid, it should be a choice for everyone. If someone wants to work hard and earn a degree, they should have the right to do so, instead of being destined to live in poverty or work at jobs they do not even want their whole life.  "If four-year public colleges in America were really tuition-free, it would not in fact do away with the hard work equals achievement formula of the American Dream" (Snyder 8). We should see education as a mandatory stepping stone in life, and when some people are given the option of crossing that stone and others know that they are not even close to having a chance, that does not seem fair. 

College tuition is a major concern for parents and students throughout the country.  With education being so important for personal and societal success, more people should have access to it. It also needs to become more affordable to those who can access it. Schools could start coming up with ways to reduce tuition, stop giving out so many loans, and strategize on the best ways to make the four year investment a good one. Why should students, after the grueling process of earning a degree, be met with a bleak future due to seemingly insurmountable college debt? There are so many people out there that are advocating for a lower college tuition, and while this is encouraging, it makes you wonder why there is not more being done to make college more affordable.  We need to start voicing our opinions to the legislature and universities if we ever want the burden of paying for college to start going away. 

