College Should Be More Affordable Essay

Ava Nicolas

Jenkins

English II

March 8, 2023

Why College Should be More Affordable As U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said, “Education should be a right, not a privilege.” However, the high cost of college tuition makes education more of a privilege than a right. Basic necessities alone can be difficult enough to afford and with the addition of pricey tuition, students are struggling to stop drowning in debt. This is why college tuition should become more affordable and be lowered in cost. College tuition should be more affordable because it lessens debt, creates a disadvantage for low-income families/students, and creates a more educated population. Overall, lowering tuition fees would be beneficial to many and we should all fight for this. Lowering

Families with low income may find it difficult to afford to pay for higher education because a large percentage of their income is going towards paying for it. According to Christiana Datubo-Brown, lead author of the report and research associate for SREB’s education data services, ‘“Families who earned less than $30,000 a year — categorized as the lowest income bracket — had to pay approximately 19% to 46% of their annual income to be able to afford a year of enrollment at public four-year research university in 2017-2018”’ (diverseeducation.com). This reveals how as much as almost half of a low-income family’s income goes towards paying for a student’s education. With the rest of what they have left, they still need to afford housing, food, clothes, and other essentials. The inability to afford a student’s education prevents students from applying to higher-cost institutions. For instance, a top student refrained from applying due to financial issues. “Karen’s father recoiled from private colleges’ list prices, which were higher than his annual income. And while Karen was confident she could be admitted to institutions with large price tags, she concluded there was “no point in applying” since she didn’t believe her family could foot the bill” (theatlantic.com). Karen’s story exhibits the reality for many low-income students and how college costs hold them back

Senator Bernie Sanders once said, “Education should be a right, not a privilege.” Rebuilding our higher education system so that anyone who wishes to advance their studies is able to, would be revolutionary. The foundation of society is built on the education of the individual and we can support that by making college tuition more affordable and accessible.. By doing this, we are helping low-income families lessen their financial burden and are leveling out the playing field for those who are at a disadvantage with obtaining a higher education, reinforcing the idea of education being a right rather than a privilege. Despite the amount of money in someone’s pocket, college education should be easily attainable for all because it allows them to create a better future for themselves and progresses the economy and society’s political well