Megan Hill

Pols 1100
08/06/2015
Education: Is it Worth the Cost?

Throughout life one of the major questions is What do you want to be when you
grow up? Even now I am asked this all the time. The answer to this question has definitely
changed throughout my life, and there are many things that influence the answer that I give. One
thing that has heavily influenced my decision is the cost of education. The longer you are in
school, the more you have to pay, and many people are just not able to pay what it costs to
become a doctor or a lawyer. Many times people sacrifice their dreams because of the cost of
education. There are resources to help pay for college and some include, FAFSA, student loans,
scholarships, and many other types of financial aid. However, many students feel that these
resources are not as helpful as they could be.
To understand why these resources are needed, it is important to know how much money
students need to get themselves through college. Of course everyone always thinks of tuition
prices, but there is so much more to getting through college. Some other things that students have
to pay for include, fees, boarding, books, and supplies. One of these things may seem relatively
inexpensive by itself, but together, these things really add up. According to the College Board,
the average tuition alone for the 2014/2015 year for an in-state four year university was $9,139
for the whole year. Out-of-state tuition for the year jumps to $22,958. On top of that room and
board for the same year is $9,804. Together that is $18,943 for in-state, and $32,721 for out-ofstate. On top of that students pay for books and supplies which can definitely add up. Most
students cannot pay this kind of money just to get themselves through school and this is where

the resources mentioned earlier are supposed to come in. (Average Published Undergraduate
Charges by Sector, 2014-15)
One of the major resources that students have to get through school is FAFSA. According
to fafsa.edu.gov, FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. In short, this is
money that comes from the federal government to help students pay for school. How much
money you get depends on many things, According to Federal Student Aid, Your eligibility
depends on your Expected Family Contribution, your year in school, your enrollment status, and
the cost of attendance at the school you will be attending. The financial aid office at your college
or career school will determine how much financial aid you are eligible to receive. I recently
attended an orientation where FAFSA was discussed and many students voiced their concerns
with the process. Some of the concerns included, the application process was hard, their parents
make too much even though their parents dont pay for their college, and all they can get is loans
that they have to pay back later. FAFSA can be a good resource for those who qualify, however,
for those who dont it can be more effort than its worth. (Federal Student Aid)
The next thing that most college students rely on are student loans. Those who do not
qualify for FAFSA often use student loans to get themselves through school. They may not have
to pay these back while they are in school, but when they stop going to school, they have to pay
these loans back. For the major four-year universities in Utah, out of all the graduates in 2013
55% of them had some amount of debt from school. The average debt from the 2013 Utah
graduates was $22,418. This may not seem like a lot compared to other states, but this can still be
a toll on those students lives. (The Institute for College Access and Success)
Another big factor in paying for school is scholarships. There are scholarships given by
the school and there are also private scholarships given by different businesses and other

organizations. Scholarships given by the schools are often academic based scholarships. Your
eligibility for these scholarships can be based on many different factors. Some of these include,
GPA, SAT scores, ACT scores, involvement in high school, and many other criteria. For many
students, learning does not come easy and these scholarships are totally out of reach for these
students. My sister actually got a partial academic scholarship her first year of college and was
promised if she kept her grades up, she would get it the next year also. However she was notified
the next year that they had run out of money and she would no longer have her scholarship even
though she kept her grades up and reapplied early. This actually caused her to stop school for a
year and work so she could afford it the next year.
The other type of scholarships are private scholarships. According to the University of
Michigan, Many private college scholarships are offered each year by corporate, professional,
trade, government, civic, religious, social and fraternal organizations ranging from small
honorariums to thousands of dollars. Students must meet eligibility criteria and complete an
application, if required. Start searching as early as possible; high school students should begin as
early as two years before admission to college. These scholarships are based on a number of
things that can be pretty much anything. There are scholarships for minorities, different hair
colors, the best duct tape outfit, and so much more. Some of these scholarships are easy to apply
for and others take lots of time. However in most cases these scholarships are a minimal amount
of money with only a few awarded and many applicants. (University of Michigan)
Another thing that students have said is there is not enough help in high school. Like
mentioned before, the university of Michigan states, High school students should begin as early
as two years before admission to college. In my experience, I did not have enough resources in
high school to prepare me for paying for college. I remember one day that we talked about

scholarships, and it was a good amount of time into my senior year. According to the previous
quote, this was too late. I did not feel that I had enough time to apply for scholarships to pay for
my college and I know many those in my class felt the same way. (University of Michigan)
The only other resource for students going through school is paying for it themselves.
This requires having a job, which is very hard for some students to have. Kelci Lynn Lucier said,
One downside to working in college, however, is the potential for students to work so much that
their jobs interfere with their college goals and academic progress. UPenn's Perna explains that
"working a higher number of hours, especially when the employment is off campus, increases
time to [a] degree and reduces the likelihood of completing a degree." A full-time college
schedule is usually twelve to seventeen credit hours and they usually say there is about two hours
extra homework per week per credit hour. This is overwhelming by itself and then you add a part
time job onto that which is around twenty hours per week and a social life and this can be almost
impossible. This is when the grades begin to slip and it gets harder and harder to keep up and
actually graduate in a field that you like and will be successful later on. (Kelci Lynn Lucier)
In conclusion, college can be very expensive and many students cannot afford to pay for
it themselves. Many try to pay for it through working, but the workload is often overwhelming
and interferes with schooling. Also it may not be enough to even get them through school. There
are resources to help students pay for school such as FAFSA, student loans, and scholarships.
However, these are often hard to apply for and many students may not even qualify for these
things. College tuition prices are a problem and yes, there are resources, but these are flawed and
there are several things that can be done to improve them to make the college process easier for
students.

Resources
"Average Published Undergraduate Charges by Sector, 2014-15." - Trends in Higher Education.
College Board, n.d. Web. 07 Aug. 2015.
"FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid." FAFSA on the Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Aug.
2015.
Lucier, Kelci Lynn. "Consider Pros and Cons of Working in College." US News. US News, 13
Sept. 2012. Web. 8 Aug. 2015.
"Office of Financial Aid: Private Scholarships." Office of Financial Aid: Private Scholarships.
University of Michigan, n.d. Web. 07 Aug. 2015.
"The Institute For College Access and Success." State by State Data. The Institute for College,
n.d. Web. 07 Aug. 2015.
"The Office of Federal Student Aid Provides Grants, Loans, and Work-study Funds for College
or Career School." About Us. Office of the US Department of Education, n.d. Web. 07
Aug. 2015.