Student Loan Argumentative Essay

In 1965, President Lyndon B, Johnson signed the Higher Education Act. The legislation, as a part of his Great Society plan, had the purpose of lessening the divide between rich and poor Americans by providing more support and financial resources through student loans to lower-income students pursuing a higher education. Unfortunately, more than fifty years later, that divide continues to grow.

Due to rapidly rising tuition costs and coinciding increases in student loan burdens, the college aspirations of teenagers raised in working and middle-class families are progressively being discouraged. The student loan program has good intentions an honorable aim: to provide an equal opportunity for an education beyond high school for those who

The associates degree at a two year community college is becoming the newest way to combat rising college costs. Students are no longer seeing enrollment as a freshman in a four year college as the only path to a degree. The stigma attached to attending community college has declined while at the same time the attitude towards the cost of attending a four year school has been one of growing disdain. My dad has attended the Bethel Park High School graduation for the last twenty-five years and he said he has noticed an obvious increase in the number of students listing Community College of Allegheny County for their post high school plans in the graduation program. The cost per year at a community college makes it an attractive option to limit the aggregate cost of a four year degree. The national published average for the yearly tuition and fees for in-district students attending a public two-year community college is $3347. In-state students attending a public four-year college pay an average yearly tuition of $9139. For private four-year colleges average yearly tuition is $31,231 ("College Costs: FAQs."). This means that by attending a community college for two years, a student realizes on average a tuition savings of $11,584 compared to two years at a public four-year college, and $55,768 in savings over two years when

By design the two year college is a commuter school and therefore is located in close proximity to where its student body lives. Four-year schools are not typically commuter schools and therefore require a student to take on the expense of housing and food whether that is through the college or on their own. One interesting trend in the published price of four-year colleges is the omission of what this cost is at the college. This helps prevent or delay the sticker shock that students get when they first see the annual total price of room, board, and tuition for one year. Commuting to a local community college alleviates this cost of housing and food for the student. Typically commuting creates little or no logistical issues due to the relatively short distance that a student has to travel to get to the college each day. The expenses of a car and gasoline reduce the overall net savings but not by much. So now students enrolled in a community college who would previously have been uncomfortable sharing with others they were attending a community college are more apt to speak up because it is well know that they are saving a great deal of