Students all over the United States spend 13 years of their childhood sitting behind a desk with one goal in mind: getting into college. It seems that almost every dream imaginable to U.S. students requires graduating from a college to achieve it. Performing arts means Full Sail, criminal justice means Liberty University, law and order means Harvard Law School. As essential as college is in a country like the United States, it’s definitely not as accessible as it should be.
In the 2014-15 school year, $1 of every $3 that public research universities and land-grant institutions spent on financial aid went to students who weren’t financially disadvantaged.
According to College Board, the average published tuition for the 2017-18 year for a public four-year in-state university was $9,970, and $32,410 for a private four-year university. These costs are predicted to rise to $41,228 by 2030. Considering the fact that the latest reported average income in the U.S. is $59,039— the highest ever recorded— the cost of college isn’t so favorable for most U.S. families.
“For college, mostly I’m worried about the money, or that I’ll have to take student loans,” CCHS junior Mateo Smashey said. “And just all-around just not getting in, because I don’t feel my grades from freshman year were good enough.”
It’s a generally accepted fact that college is ridiculously expensive, which is why financial aid exists. As long as a student does pretty well in high school, the fact that there’s bound to be a scholarship for them somewhere should be a relieving one— except, colleges and universities give financial aid to a lot of students that don’t necessarily need it.
In the 2014-15 school year, $1 of every $3 that public research universities and land-grant institutions spent on financial aid went to students who weren’t financially disadvantaged.
Financial aid went to these students through merit scholarships, which rewards students for high academic success in high school. While merit scholarships reward students for good grades and rigorous schedules, they are rewarded based only on merit and not financial situation.
“I don’t think the way merit scholarships are distributed is fair,” junior Alexander Miller said. “What’s the point of giving aid to people who are doing fine on their own?”
This puts students from lower-income families at a disadvantage. The purpose of financial aid was to keep financially disadvantaged students from being marginalized, and merit scholarships do exactly that.
“My main concerns [about admission into college] would be my GPA or test scores not being high enough to get in,” junior Chris Santana said. “If I were to get in, I’m worried that I wouldn’t get scholarship money and that I’d be drowned in debt from taking out student loans.”
The way that merit scholarships are currently distributed is like providing affirmative action for the wealthy. Students in high-income areas have access to better education and resources and therefore can build a better college application than most low-income students can.
“I don’t think the way merit scholarships are distributed is fair,” junior Alexander Miller said. “What’s the point of giving aid to people who are doing fine on their own?”
No person from any type of background should be at a disadvantage. One word important to the United States is “equality,” and that value should be inherent in every aspect of American society, including college.
Forty-four million Americans have student loans, another form of financial aid for college. They prevent some from buying homes, damage credit and follow people financially throughout life. Like merit scholarships, student loans also put low-income students at a disadvantage, and according to journalist John Wasik, “lower-income borrowers and students of color were more likely to default on their loans.”
College is too expensive for the average American. For the future of the United States to be the best it could possibly be, the cost of college should be lower, or financial aid should be changed in a way that benefits both high-income and low-income students.
No person from any type of background should be at a disadvantage. One word important to the United States is “equality,” and that value should be inherent in every aspect of American society, including college.
Photo by Carly Cuoco
