Yes, I Got Into College! Now How The Freak Am I Supposed To Pay For It?

Colleges need to understand that people these days just cannot afford to go to college.

College reasoning is quite odd to me. The brightest kid might get into an Ivy League school but not their safety school. The same kid might get into a state school but not the Honors program of that school. Finally, this kid might get into their dream school but has to decline the offer because of money. ‘Money makes the world go round’. This quote is quite superficial but it seems like it is the motto society lives by. People will decline an opportunity that will give them a great experience because of money. People will live in the most dangerous neighborhoods because of money. A student will give up the best education for them because of money. There is no getting away from it.

Many students decide not to take the risk of taking out student loans to go to the college of their choice and this is very understandable because they will be paying off those loans for years to come. The cycle will most likely repeat itself when it comes time for their kids to go to school.

To me, it seems like colleges want families to stop making money so that their kid could attend college. Because the more money a family makes, the less they will get from a college. Colleges need to realize that even though some families are making good money, they do use that money for expenses like, paying off the parents’ student loans, sports clubs for their kids, and private schools. All these factors are not taken into consideration.

Many students enter scholarship contests with cash prizes to hopefully become that one in a million that ends up winning and getting more money to pay for college but once again, that is a one in a million shot. Other kids develop exceptional talent in art, music, or sports so when it comes time for college, colleges are pretty much paying them to go to their school. What about those who have no exceptional talent, cannot win a scholarship contest, and cannot afford the college of their choice? They settle. They settle for the cheapest college, giving up the college they want to go to and the college that fits them academically.

Like I said before, I just don’t get it. Colleges need to open their eyes, realize that we are in a recession plus take in consideration the expenses that people have to pay (which they currently don’t care about) and give students financial packages that would allow students to go to their school. I’m not saying that everyone should get full rides to college but every family should be given some type of package that won’t put their families in debt for generations to come.

Roger Dat,

Chloe