Many public colleges were founded on the principle that tuition should be free and accessible to all. However, in recent years, there has been a shift in this attitude. College tuitions are on the rise at an alarming rate, and students are forced to face the consequences. Student loan debt, one of the highest source of debt for most Americans, needs to be addressed in order to aid both students and our nation’s economy. Many minorities and impoverished people suffer from insufficient funds to attend universities and would benefit greatly from cuts in tuition costs. Job selectiveness, loan paybacks, government involvement, the wealth gap, and societal roles are all factors that contribute to the allocation of student debt. Due to the rising costs of college tuitions and consequential rising student loan debt, steps should be taken to cut tuition costs in order to make secondary schooling more affordable and readily available to students from all backgrounds.

In this age of technology, jobs are becoming more selective towards those with a college education, making a college degree more valuable. Unfortunately, many struggle with obtaining this accolade due to the rising costs of college tuition. With rising attendance of college worldwide, the US is falling behind in test scores. Bernie Sanders touches on this in saying “We live in a highly competitive, global economy, and if our economy is to be strong, we need the best-educated workforce in the world” (Sanders). Overall, college attendance has been rising in the past couple years and with it so has tuition. A high school degree used to be enough for a middle-class lifestyle in the US, but now a college education is required. Statistics show that “the unemployment rate for workers with no more than a high school diploma is more than twice that for workers with a bachelor’s degree: 8.1 percent versus 3.7 percent” (Rampell). Along the same lines, earnings for those with just a high school diploma have dropped. “Typical earnings for a full-time, male high school graduate in 1972 were $45,000 (in constant 2003 dollars) that figure had dropped by a third ($30,000) by 2005" (Deming). Most news medias and popular press sites are calling the college degree the new high school diploma. Since a high school degree can no longer support most families, the government should put in effort to allow Americans to sustain themselves by granting college tuition reductions. A college degree has become increasingly more valuable and more necessary, and the government needs to realize this and aid the need that US citizens face. States offer free public schooling until the 12th grade in order to provide enough education for a student to make a living, however times have changed and more schooling is needed for Americans to live safe and healthy lives. 

College students accept tuition stipends, room and board grants, and public federal loans as forms of aid for affording tuition. While these seem like helpful loans at the time of starting a college education, years down the line all these bills must be paid back. This makes it extremely difficult for students from low income families, who have a low percentage of attending college at all, let alone finishing a college education. The cost lands numerous college graduates in debt that can affect them for years to come. After the second world war, the cost of a college education was extremely affordable for most Americans, especially through endowments like the GI Bill for veterans. This period was beneficial for both the economy and country, and some “scholars say that this investment was a major reason for the high productivity and economic growth our nation enjoyed during the postwar years” (Sanders). This government aid ended with health and prosperity for Americans, giving strength to the argument for reducing tuition in order for these benefits to once again go into effect. Despite the rise in tuition, schools continue to become increasingly wealthy from donations and endowments. “As their tuition levels have increased, so too have the number of applications they receive” (Ehrenberg, 24). Those who attend these types of schools are known to benefit from higher economic gain in their future careers so the schools often receive the most applicants. The only way institutions will lower costs is if the most competitive schools like Yale, Princeton and Harvard lower their costs first. “The market leaders, the most selective institutions with the highest endowment per student and tuition levels… slow down their rate of in-crease in tuition, the other selective institutions will eventually have to do so also” (Ehrenberg, 25). Universities who continue to increase their profits need to realize the most beneficial way to help their school and the nation is through tuition cuts. Student loan debt will lead to families unable to afford college at all and a default on these loans will cost taxpayers and potentially rob them of chances at college. Steps need to be made for college tuitions to be reduced. 

The government plays a vital role in the rising costs of college tuition and should consequently put effort into stop the rising debt that students face. Ronald Ehrenberg of Cornell University touched on government involvement in this concept in saying “the government has put pressure on private research universities to reduce their indirect cost rates, and, …raised its expectactions for matching funds in grant applications.” Not only is the government passive in providing financial aid that doesn’t have to be paid back by students, but they are pressuring universities to increase their spending which results in tuiton spikes. Some argue that providing tuition reductions to all college students would result in raised taxes for US citizens, however there are other ways of acquiring the funds needed to cut tuition. Currently, student loans are backed by the US government, meaning if they default taxpayers will be left with the bill. However, the funds could be allocated from taxing financial transactions through the stock market, eventually paying off the costs. Individual colleges could also take away funding from advertising to help in reducing tuition. A universal law could be put into place to get rid of colleges’ and universities’ rights to advertising, in order for cheaper tuition. Tuition is usually a huge factor in most high school students’ decision when picking colleges so free tuition would have a large impact on a majority of high school students as well as their families. 

Some argue that there is a dilemma that making college more or completely free would mostly boost the wealth of college goers instead of creating egalitarian benefits. Lower income students typically attend 2 year or public 4 year universities and pay no tuition due to subsidized federal loans. This issue with this “free” college for impoverished students is that they still have to eventually pay off these loans. While there are some loans that do not require repayment, like the Pell grant, they “almost exclusively benefit upper income families (Dynarski, 2004; Dynarski and Scott-Clayton, 2006) and so are not candidate instruments for reducing poverty” (Denning). This specific grant, which is thought to target low-income students was found by “Hansen (1983) and Kane (1995)… [to have] no effect on the college enrollment rate of lowincome recent high school graduates” (Denning). Since loans seem to be very selective in who they benefit, and leave low-income students in the same position as they started, the only solution is to have reduced tution rates in the first place. While current college attendees who can already afford tuitions would benefit greatly from cut tuition costs, this would also open up a whole new world for those below the poverty line who never thought a college education could be possible. Facts show that “economic theory (and common sense) predicts that lowering the price of college will increase attendance” (Denning). So, not only will lowering tuition create new opportunities for low-income students, but it benefits colleges that need more money and to meet attendance margins. 

Some don’t recognize the true impact that student debt has on our economy and our society. Accoriding to a Forbes article, current student debt is at 1.2 trillion dollars and accounts for 6% of the United States’ national debt (Denhart). College graduates being forced to pay off loans “begins to affect when and if young people start families or enter the housing market” (Blow). Student loans could start new precedents in our society whose long term effects could create problems in our world. Families are beginning to make greater and greater sacrifices in order to send their children to complete secondary education. These sacrifices typically end in more debt and bad credit which impacts a multitude of other issues in their daily lives. When families take out too many loans, “overborrowing leads to bankruptcy and financial ruin” (Cecchetti). A New York Times article describes the extent of the sacrifices families typically have to make and states that “A September Pew Research Center report found that “a record one-in-five households now owe student loan debt”” (Blow). Not only is debt bad for individiuals and their families, but if student loan debt continues to rise at its current rate, repercussions will be felt in the national economy. Because, “For a country, too much debt impairs the government’s ability to deliver essential services to its citizens” (Cecchetti).  The debt the US currently faces is made up in part by student debt, so in order for the country’s health to improve, tution reductions should be put into effect. 

The rising debt among students and their households due to extremely high college tuition costs proves an issue in many facets. These high costs place students’ futures and the future of our nation at risk because of the financial instability debt creates. Job selectiveness creates more need for a college degree and therefore an increase in college attendance which goes hand in hand with an increase in loans. These laons require eventual paybacks which oftentimes takes years and in the meantime can ruin a young graduate’s credit and effect their daily life. Government involvement has proved to be in part a detriment to the increasing tuition rate so steps need to be taken for the government to provide aid to retract their detriment. The wealth gap among students is only increased through the tuition increases as it blocks low-income families from attending secondary schooling. Societal changes due to increased tuition puts pressure and instability on our nation. 
