As seniors in high school, we’re all probably thinking about college, and many of us know what college we’re going to already. There are many factors that we thought about when choosing which college we wanted to go to, such as location, majors, and price. Most schools probably have your majors, so that was easy to check off. Location shouldn’t have been hard to decide, but then comes the price factor. The question I want to know is: Is it really worth going to the college of your dreams, no matter what the cost?
For me, the biggest worry was price. How do I find a good college that I can afford on my own without going into debt by the time I’m twenty? Let’s face it, student loans, scholarships, and financial aid will only give you so much money, and then you’re still at the point where you owe tens of thousands of dollars. When you’re struggling with money and mom and dad aren’t there to help you anymore, you’re stuck. This is where the government should come in and help. They say we’ll be most successful if we go to college and get a degree right? Well how do they expect some of us to do that when we just can’t afford it? Hopefully the answer is near.
Obama has a plan for us. He wants us to be a country where everybody has a chance, not just where a small group of people are successful. Everybody wants the American dream, and if they didn’t get it growing up, they want to get it as an adult and give it to their children by sending them off to college. They can make this possible by going to college to get a good education. “Obama’s proposal would boost federal investment in the Perkins loan program from $1 billion to $8 billion and revamp the formula for distributing the money. Under the plan, colleges would be rewarded based on their success in offering relatively lower tuition prices, providing value and serving low-income students”.
The thing is, all colleges seem to be concerned about is money. The most important thing should be education and making difference in people’s lives by making it possible for them to get the education they want and need in order to be successful. High class families are fine in times like these, but that’s only a small percentage of our population. The middle and lower class need help. Unfortunately, the republicans have objected to this new proposal, so getting congressional approval may not work out in our favor.
Even if the cost of college doesn’t drop in time for us to attend, hopefully by the time we are sending our own children to school it will be more affordable. It will benefit all of us.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-outlines-incentive-plan-to-reduce-college-tuition-costs/2012/01/27/gIQAc92fVQ_story.html
I completely agree with this because I know for a fact that money is one of my main concerns as college get closer. My parents keep nagging me to continue applying for scholarships and making sure that I apply for financial aid. I wonder how other families, with less money are feeling? I think that as the United States we need to make sure that we are allowing each person to have the opportunity to go to college. I do agree that education is the utmost priority and if it's too pricey than only the high class individuals will be able to prosper. Giving everyone an equal chance to become successful should and needs to be the goal of the United States.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! I had to cross one college option off my list just because of the price. Although it shouldn’t play a large factor in school life, money truly does make a difference. I think the new tuition prices would help everyone. While the colleges may have to cut back on some things, overall the price cut would benefit many people. It would be a great relief to not have to stress out about money and how students are going to afford their futures and the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI think that students should be able to go to their college of choice. While some universities are a little more expensive than others, there should some place to go to get a good education but have it still be somewhere you want to go. I think it's more important to go somewhere worthwhile and be happy than to go somewhere where your attitude will be down because it's not somewhere you want to be, but rather forced to be based on tuition. Scholarships are huge today, and I'm glad getting into college is somewhat maybe getting cheaper and easier. Everyone in America deserves their right to a good education so everyone is on a level playing field once they reach they reach the workforce. That way everyone has an opportunity to make a living of their choice.
ReplyDeleteI agree that many people do not seem to be able to go to the college of their choice because of the cost of college. There are colleges who give students a lot of money off a year already. Milwaukee School of Engineering costs approximately $32,000 a year but the average student gets $18,000 off which cuts the price more than half. If the government does help students with college more, the question becomes how is that going to help our economy.
ReplyDeleteThe cost of college is too high. My parents have been saving up for me to go to college since before I was born and it most likely won’t be enough. I’m hoping that I won’t go too much debt. I hope this bill passes so that others may be more fortunate and let this country become much more educated than what it is now.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest factor in my college search is money as well. My parents have to send two girls to college within two years, so they are encouraging us to search for as many scholarships as possible. They are also making sure we get as much financial aid as possible, but like you said there is still a lot of money left. It is important that tuition goes down, other wise people are not going to go to college, forcing the tuition to escalate even higher. It would be very nice for this bill to pass. Do you know what colleges would be participating in Obama's plan? I can imagine that these colleges would be very popular to apply to. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out!
ReplyDeleteMoney - whether it be for education, or simply to pay the for groceries- is a soar subject, especially (like you said) when it comes to college. It's probably one of the most expensive things we pay for throughout are life time. I totally agree with you that education should be fair for everyone and that everyone should at least have a chance at it. Though I don't agree with everything Obama does, I think he plans towards bettering students and their educational choices is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteEducation is our future. Those who participate will be the ones creating new technologies, finding cures for diseases, and hopefully getting this country back on top/
I really like this post Amanda! It really relates to every single person in our classes because most of us are going to be heading off to college next year! I agree with you in saying that Obama does look out for us students and he is doing all he can to keep prices down but it is not entirely his job. As you said everyone wants to live the American dream, and a big part of that is going to college because to secure a job in the workforce now a days you are going to need that diploma!
ReplyDeleteAmanda, I completely agree with you on this post. I can't afford college myself. I'm not going to my dream college because I can't afford it and I've looked into student loans and aids and they just aren't worth having to pay back in the end. I really am hoping that Obama is trying to look out for us as you say he is and as he says he is because I think it would increase college rates so much and there would be so many more graduated students that could attend college. Yes even though this may not happen in time for us, it's still a good idea and gives hope for the future, possibly for our kids' generation so that they can get the college education they need and not have it be too expensive to even consider.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we need some more help, because I am having that issue right now. I can actually understand both sides of this issue though at the same time. I am not generally a believer a lot og government financial support. I think people should buy things themselves and not make others pay through their taxes. However college is ridiculously expensive and I hope that Obama comes up with a plan that would benefit everyone that wants to go to college, so they would be able to graduate with little or no debt.
ReplyDeleteCollege is what we are all thinking about right now, and money is such a big issue. There's a choice between a good expensive, or an affordable one that may not be exactly what we want. We all need a little help to afford college, and more intervention by the federal government could help keep prices affordable. I think that it is hard for each state to do that alone, so I hope that Obama's plan does work, and that everyone is provided with the opportunity to go to college if that is what they want.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Amanda. I want to go to college right after graduating but because the prices are so high I am not going to be able to do that. Instead I am going to have to be working full time for about a year and the hopefully have enough to get through a year and not have to take out loans. It is crazy how much the price of college has went up. Like you said I hope that what Obama does for college goes through and that the prices of college go down even if it is not before we go to school but before our kids go to school.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good realative topic to all of us and I think we can all agree that college which is super expensive which makes this program super expensive also. Obama makes it sound like it's aweful to go into dept by the time we're 20 but in reality everyone that goes to college from a middle class family will have to go into dept to graduate college. The thing is that there is a reward for going into dept for a while. The reward is that you will end up with a lot more money in the end when we get higher paying jobs. The government shouldn't give students as much money as they need to stay out of dept. The government should only be a last resort for need based students.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, because like you said we aren’t all made of money, only a small percentage of the population is. My family on my mom’s side all attended Marquette University and that is where I am expected to go, but the yearly tuition for Marquette is $34,000 not including room and board and other fees. These prices are absurd, and scholarships can only pay for a fraction of the cost. My family is not made out of money, and without financial aid I don’t know how we can get through college without being in debt thousands of dollars.
ReplyDeleteAs respectfully as possible, I admit that I disagree with you. I do not believe it is our governments job to help us pay off our debts, even if it will lead us to a better future. I want to go to the best college possible so I can get a good job, but I don't expect anyone to hand me the money. I understand that there are many who cannot afford college and therefore cannot afford a better future, but unfortunately that's a personal problem. Getting a job, scholarships, long term loans with low rates, and getting money from family members who can afford it and want to help you, are all excellent ways to afford college. If it were a perfect world everybody would be able to go to a good college and have a good life, but our world isn't there yet. That's why I don't believe that the Government should be involved with personal problems such as tuition.
ReplyDeleteI think this post is something that each one of us can relate to. As seniors ready to begin a new chapter in our lives we have to decide what we are going to do after high school. For me the decision is simple, I am going to college for sure, no doubt about it. But deciding where to go gets tricky. I currently am looking into attending college in Florida or staying here in Wisconsin. While the simple and cheap choice would be staying in Wisconsin, the upside and opportunities are in Florida. Out of state tuition in Florida is nearly double what I would pay in Wisconsin, so I have to decide; is a Florida University with all it has to offer worth it for me? If Obama was able to step in and help me pay for college it would be an easy decision, go to Florida. Down there my opportunities of finding a career are so much better than in Wisconsin, but are the opportunities good enough for me to be in some serious debt after my 4 years at college?
ReplyDeleteI agree with this because its easy to say that you know where you want to go and what degree to get but it's hard to say that you will have enough money to pay for college. All though I am going into the Army and having practically all my college funds paid off, i know that if I didn't have that kind of security to have it mostly paid off that I would worry about debt nonstop. Students worry about debt more than anything and that is why I believe that the government should help out more students with college funds. At least if they want to see our country truly become the land of opportunity.
ReplyDeleteBy Tyler Kelly
I agree, the cost of college in today's world is ridiculous. The small percent that can afford college have it just fine but for the rest of us who are just scraping by now, how are we expected to afford a degree? In order to get a good enough career we have to have a degree, but to get the degree we have to pay loads of money that we don't have. We have student loans and scholarships but we either have to pay those off after college or compete against our peers. Going to college literally means going into debt at this point. A debt that may last the majority of our lives. That is the part of college that scares me the most.
ReplyDeleteEducation is probably the most important investment we make in our lives. Though I do believe that the cost of college is quite out of hand and I understand that many people come out of college in debt, I also see it as an individual responsibility to provide for yourself and your future. Now, I am not saying that no government help is necessary and I agree with the current programs that are in place, but in a growing, developing world, education is becoming more and more valuable. The college system in America is by no means perfect and although we have many of the best colleges in the world, the system is run so that every college is run as a business. These colleges need to make money as well and although it is quite excessive, they also spend quite a bit of money educating you for your future. My parents are unable to contribute to my collegiate future and I am proud to say I will be able to afford my own education with the current programs available, even with some tuition's looking to be around $50,000 per year. All I am saying is it is possible.
ReplyDeleteAmanda,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100% that college cost is too much and something needs to be done. However I don’t agree with Obama’s plan to lower the cost of education. You said that, “Obama’s proposal would boost federal investment in the Perkins loan program from $1 billion to $8 billion.” Sure that might sound like a good thing, more money for students. Unfortunately that is not the case. That money has to come from somewhere, which means the U.S. borrowing more money, and putting our country into more debt. Right now our national debt is at $16 trillion and growing every second. If we keep adding onto our debt we will never be able to bring it down to a safe level again. Does that sound like a good plan to you? Instead, I think the cost of college should be lowered by colleges bringing down the price of room and board, books, and any other expenses in general. Just something to think about.
-Molly Wetzel