Pro

Gabbie Byers, staff writer

Growing up and going through the public school system obviously has been a lot cheaper than private school. As I go through high school I’m constantly asked what college do I want to go to and what I want to achieve in my life because that’s what high school is preparing us for.

In the job market, one needs a college degree to get a good job that can actually provide a decent living. However, 62% of people in America say they can’t afford to go to a state college. How do we expect our generation to be able to go through college and get a good job to help out the economy when they can’t afford it?

Speaking for some families, I have one working parent with 3 other siblings, which will obviously be very difficult for my family to afford since attending a good college is what we are expected to do. Yes, there are things such as grants and scholarships, but its hard for some students to be able to get one of these and most of them don’t even cover the cost of college.

To save all that money, teenagers are forced to get jobs to try and save up for college, play sports to try to get scholarships and still attend school while successfully completing hours of homework. Teens and even parents are stressing out so much about the cost that it takes a toll on them mentally and physically.

If state colleges were free there would be so much less stress in family homes and people who want to succeed, regardless of socioeconomic status, can succeed! If someone wants to go to a out of state college then they can pay the prices of a out of state school.

Let students from low income families go to a state college for free. This would not only help them tremendously but would allow lots of more people to go far in life rather than working at a fast food joint then sleeping for the rest of the day on their parents couch. Let’s set up our younger generations for success, not failure.