As seniors begin the college process, students are finding themselves seeking financial aid for the expensive price of attending college.

     According to the National Center for Education  Statistics (NCES), the average cost to go to an American college or university for public schools is $10,338 in-state and $22,698 out-of-state. Private schools cost $37,650. 

     As if the cost of school is not already high enough, the cost of going to college will continue to increase each year due to lower state funding and the overbuilding of facilities on campus, requiring more money to pay for the upgrades.

     College should be cheaper because it would potentially provide students with the opportunity to attend. Cheaper tuition allows for a more well-educated workforce and a population that has better critical thinking skills.

     According to the National Information Center for Higher Education Policy Making and Analysis, in NC only about 64 percent of high school students go directly into college after graduation.

     Lowering college costs would allow students to graduate college with less debt. Debt makes spending harder and saving a priority, which also delays making purchases such as buying a car or house.

     The average student loan debt total per person is $29,927 as stated by credit.com. With all this money to pay off, debt usually takes people about 10 to 30 years to eliminate. 

     Lastly, lowering the tuition of college could increase the graduation rate of colleges and universities, and could allow for students to stress less about money and focus more on their education and future. 

     NCES reports that in the U.S, the overall dropout rate for undergraduate college students is 56 percent, with approximately 30% of college freshmen dropping out before their sophomore year.

     The more people that can attend college could decrease poverty rates. According to the Center on Education and Workforce at Georgetown University, “Getting a Bachelor’s degree adds another large increase in lifetime earnings. With median earnings of $56,700 ($27.26 per hour).”

     Bachelor’s degree holders earn 31 percent more than workers with an associate’s degree and 74 percent more than those with just a high school diploma. Just by having a bachelor’s degree, people can live more stable, happy lives.

     Some say that tuition should not be lowered because students would no longer know how to correctly finance their money, or college would lose value.

     However, having cheaper colleges would allow for more people to attend and while in college they would have the chance to take financial classes, making colleges more valuable.

     With lower costs of college tuition, more people would have a better opportunity of getting an education and possibly be even more successful in the near future.