College is a Financial Problem

College is often portrayed as a bridge to adulthood. It is known to be the place where one can find their true self. College is shown as the place where your dreams can finally start to take place but are they really what they seem? In recent articles, it is shown that total U.S student loan debt has had a huge increase in federal debt. Many students who want to attend college to have a better future can not because the debt they will rack up could be more than they could ever pay off. Students who do attend colleges spend years trying to pay off all their debt. So the increasing cost of college shows how more education is becoming a financial risk instead of a place for success.

One big issue is that college tuition has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Since 2007 there has been a 114% increase in federal debt for total U.S student loan debt. College tuition is rising faster than wages so people are having a harder time paying off their debt so it ends up taking years to pay off their student debt. Lower income families are struggling to send their kids off to good colleges because the student loans are too much to pay off. College is becoming less and less accessible to low income students and minority groups because of the rising tuition and financial aid gaps.

The rising cost of college tuition also increases the gap between people who can afford college and people who can not. People who can afford college will get better learning opportunities and chances to get higher wages while people who can not afford to go to college will end up with lower income jobs and will not get as many opportunities. Education is supposed to be for everyone, not only the people who can afford it. People who need to support their families can not add student loans to their already financial problems but without it they will have to do more jobs to have a better income.

College is portrayed as a place to make a successful future but with the rising cost of college tuition, students are forced to choose between a good education and financial stress. If college is going to still be portrayed as a place for opportunities, changes have to be made to make college more accessible to everyone.