Colllege Students Struggling with Rising Costs

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Colllege Students Struggling with Rising Costs

Kristen Carlow, a 20-year-old former Northeastern University student left Boston last spring after her freshmen year, because of overwhelming tuition prices.

“My parents make a decent amount of money and I’m an average white female student. I’m nothing special, where the government or Northeastern was going to give me enough money to pay for school,” Carlow said.

This is the current situation that many college students face across the United States.

“I had a choice to both be in debt and struggle to pay $120,000, or to transfer to a school I could afford,” Carlow said. She chose to leave Northeastern to go to the University of Tampa, where it is 50% cheaper.

The Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of people receiving college degrees, with the trend expected to continue. Since 1940, 20.6% more 25-year-olds have college educations.

Going to college has increasingly become competitive for both the public and private colleges. High school students are working harder then ever to stand out in their graduating classes, so they can be accepted to their first choice colleges.

“I knew going to a good school would affect me for the rest of my life. Everyone is going now, because without a degree, you’re not going to make it in this country,” said freshman Northeastern student Dan Riordon.

But what many high school students don’t consider is how they are going to afford it. Many students believe that the well known schools will lead to a better job. Yet many second–year college students start to feel financial anxieties about paying for college, especially students who are taking loans to stay at private schools that cost close to $40,000 a year. Students...

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...n studying for my master's. I’m taking additional loans to pay for my education, but in the end it will be worth having the better job.”

Receiving a college education has now become a vital part of being able to succeed in today’s work force. Paying for college will continue to be a struggle for many, yet hopefully within time the government will take a larger role in paying for students to continue their educations and more schools will continue to grow with their financial services.

“Any willing person who wants a higher education should be able to receive one,” Northeastern sophomore Filippa Petruccelli said. “Money should not be an issue in wanting to learn more. Without students continuing to grow, our country all together will not continue to succeed; our government needs to put that more in consideration, especially when denying us for financial aid.”

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