College Should Be More Affordable Argumentative Essay

In today’s society, the cost for students to attend college to earn a degree continues to increase. Just about everyone will agree that college should be more affordable. As the cost rise’s so does to the number of students who need financial aid. Due to college and student debt rising, fewer people are attending college to obtain a higher education. With this being said college is to be seen as one of the most fundamental institutions in our world so why wouldn’t you want to go to college? It is where most of our future careers, inventions and hero’s are made from. So, wouldn’t we want more people to attend? Though, it seems that the price tag that comes with a college education is something that is too hefty for some of the students. Many debates have gone on about whether the price of college tuition should be limited or if the cost should still be on the students to be paid for.

There is no doubt that the price of college tuition is expensive, price’s can reach over a quarter million for a bachelors degree! Putting college out of the option for many low and middle income families. Students who are just trying to better themselves and their future shouldn’t have to cost thousands of dollars in debt. Many to most of the employers now expect a degree for job entry’s, so going to college is your key to a successful career. Therefore, if company’s are requiring a degree for the job positions, it should become more affordable for people to obtain a degree. Obtaining a higher education is a very important investment that Americans can make to have a successful future, as well as increasing potential earnings and decreasing risk of unemployment.

The first reason why college should be cheaper is because if students can’t afford to pay out of pocket for college they sometimes can’t go to the college of their choice. Such as going to local or instate institutions that might not offer the best course of study for their particular degree. Students would then feel forced to apply for loans or for scholarships. Therefore, making it not fair or equal to all students by having to pay out of pocket or rack up student loan debt. After students complete their degree, they leave with such significant debt from the loans they applied for to just earn a degree that doesn’t make enough money to pay off the debt. And even worse is that students usually only have six months to a year to to find a job to cover loan payments. Why should students have to rack up such a high student debt bill just to earn a degree that does not make enough to financially recover from it? This makes coming fresh out of college hard to start saving and many other financial stability needs. The only way to make it fair or equal for all students would be to make it affordable for everyone. 

A few ways for college to become more affordable, is to allow more students to qualify for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known as FASFA. Many medium-income based families don’t qualify or this aid. FASFA supports billions of dollars in money for college students, but completing the process is not easy. One of the reasons why students do not qualify is due to the age or requirements needed to be met for being considered independent. “A students age 24 or older by December 31 of the award year is considered independent for federal aid purposes”. Unless the student is married, has dependents, served in the armed forces, and several other unique purposes will not qualify as independent. If the student doesn’t qualify for one of these, the odds are very slim to be considered independent and have to provide parents salary on the aid. Left to believe they will receive help from their parents or guardians. The worst part about this is, not every 24 and under have support from their parents still.  Leaving the student with no financial aid help and having to file for loans. Not trying to speak for every college student, but speaking for other college students and my personal self, we have been independent on our taxes for the past few years and pay our own bills was denied help from FASFA due to having to file under our parents. All because of not being 24 years or older yet. Knowing I get denied and have no other choice, leads me to believe that others in my same situation are left with no help either also. With this being said the eligibility to receive financial aid should be branched out more to help those in the younger age range. Allowing those who have been financial independent long before they turned 24. Giving them the chance to get help, especially if helping a student could lead to a persons or society’s success.

Another reason for cheaper college is that there would be a larger amount of an educated population. If a lot of people don’t attend due to not being able to afford college, then that is less people attending to obtain degrees. Having a more educated population has shown multiple positive and successful things. For example, a higher political participation. “In most studies of political behavior is found that individuals with higher education participate in a much larger extent in the political activities than individuals with lower education.” With this being said, having more people involved in our society, could potentially lead to opportunity to make positive change and to move our society at a faster rate. Wouldn’t you want people who have attended college or have a degree helping make the decisions for your families future? Having a more educated population would also help with having less people on unemployment or assisted programs and to help with a greater tax revenue. Education also helps with the reduction of crime. With these roles in being educated I also believe having an education tends to lead to have a happier and positive attitude in a person’s life.

More positive impacts having a more educated population is the economic growth. When you have almost an entire educated society, average income increases, productivity increases and unemployment goes down. Leading to economic growth and having the stability of a society. Another helpful thing from attending college for our society is it gives the students a sense of responsibility. Having a daily task, staying on track, managing their time, budgeting and giving it your best helps students grow up. Preparing them for adult responsibility’s and the future. Which also helps with students establishing a communication and social skill without the student even realizing it. Having the society you live in being educated wouldn’t just help you, but our growth in our future. Therefore, having college be more affordable will allow more students to go earn a degree. Benefiting in a more educated population which will help and grow for our society.

The last reason on why college should be cheaper is after the financial toll lost of families and students have had in the past year due to Coronavirus pandemic. Many families either lost their jobs or were cut back due to the pandemic. Before COVID-19, the cost of college was already moving into a more unfavorable direction for the average household. Prices going up and causing more financial strain. Even after knowing many families had their own financial strain. Causing the student drop out rate to increase. But with these changes and then having the pandemic put into the equation has now presented with multiple issues. Because institutions have already suffered a financial impact due to lost revenue there is already a good chance the price will increase at a faster rate in order to make up from lost revenue. But colleges are not the only ones who took a financial toll, so why should we have to pay more to receive education just because they had a bad year. With high tuition cost comes along with higher student debt record. Causing student loans to surge even more than they already are. And leading to more students dropping out. If the government sent out relief money to families to help get through the pandemic, don’t you think college tuition could cut back on all the extra fees?

In conclusion, I’m not here to argue that students should get their school paid for, but I am a firm believer, and so studies shows that education has a positive impact. On our future and society. Alternatively, I think college should be cheaper and that we should take the measures to ensure that students receive a degree without being left with an endless amount of debt. A more affordable college education leads to a more education nation and an overall more productive and efficient society.