College Is Not Worth It: The Fleecing of America's Youth

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Kris, a wife and a mother, worries about the increasing cost of higher education. She and her husband have a two year old daughter whom they are determined to send to college. They want their daughter to succeed in life, but they have to weigh the complications of going to college as well. “I have always thought about college as a “catch 22”...You’re taught from a young age that in order to achieve the “American Dream” you must graduate high school and go to college,” Kris contemplates (Kris 5).Throughout Kris’s ten years of experience with college, she has seen the tuition increase to shocking heights. In fact, she claims that community colleges cost as much as state colleges did when she first started her college hunt. Back then, she recalls, people were overwhelmed with the tuition rate being fourteen dollars per unit. Now, the same colleges charge about $253 per unit. The irony is that despite the tuition hike, the same schools, the same classrooms, and the same degree programs are being offered. Kris’s latest attempt in higher education failed too, not because she slacked off but because of the formidable cost. She had to pay $30,000 for one year of education. Unfortunately, Kris did not plan for it to be that expensive, so she dropped out. Kris realized it was not worth paying over $100,000 for college education if her future job only pays $30,000 per year. “As of now, I think the educational system is building up our youth and then tearing them down once they reach college. They implement that you have to work hard to obtain the “American Dream” but then you sit back and look at all these people living that dream and realize they didn’t work very hard at all,” Kris states (5). Most people dreams of going to college, which ... ... middle of paper ... ...12. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. McGuire, Jeff. "The Benefits of Having a College Education." College View. Hobsons Inc, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. "Michigan." Project on Student Debt:. Peterson's, Nelnet Company., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. Robbins, Alexandra. The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids. New York: Hyperion, 2006. Print Ruytenbeek, Jacob. "The Problems (And Solutions) Of Higher Education." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Shellenbarger, Sue. “Weighing the Value of That College Diploma”. The Wall Street Journal. WSJ.com, 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 04. Dec. 2013. United States Department of Commerce. “STEM: Good Jobs Now and For the Future.” Economics and Statistics Administration. 14 July. 2011. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. "What's the Price Tag for a College Education?" COLLEGEdata. NACAC, 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

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