Kaitlyn Whisenhunt
Eng 101
Mcgee
3 December 2014

Is college worth the price?
College has many beneficial outcomes. It is easier to get a well-paying job with a college degree, however, with the cost of tuition steadily increasing all of the money one earns from their well-paying job will go to paying off student loans. If the cost of attending a four year university keeps rising, the cons of attending a university will quickly outweigh the pros. It would be smart for people to start looking at other options for their future, instead of attending a four year college, unless they would like to spend the rest of their early adulthood drowning in debt. “Tuition charges at both public and private colleges have more than doubled-in real dollars-compared with a generation ago” (Hacker 179). Nothing about going away to college is affordable, unless you earn a full ride scholarship or come from a family of extreme wealth, and the costs of college is just going to keep rising as more and more people apply. “Young people often find themselves burdened with staggering loans. Graduating with six figures worth of debt is becoming increasingly common.” (Hacker 179). Most college students will not be able to find a job right after they graduate, let alone one that pays six figures. The value of the degree students earn will not pay off for many years, instead it will cause stress and financial burdens for years to come. Charles Murray explains that, “More people should be getting the basics of a liberal education. But for most students, the places to provide those basics are elementary and middle school.” (Murray 223). He is saying that one problem of the higher education system is that some of the things these students are paying six figures for are subjects that can easily be taught and understood in middle school and high school. If the education system was reformed than we may be able to cut down on the cost of getting a college education. One of the biggest problems in today’s educational system in the popular belief among society that going to college in the only option. Many people feel forced into going to college, “Guidance counselors and parents who automatically encourage young people to go to college straight out of high school regardless of their skills and interests are being thoughtless about the best interests of young people in their charge” (Murray 238). When young people feel forced into attending a college, they may feel forced and make irresponsible decisions that will affect that greatly. If a student who is forced into college does not actually want to be there they may not focus on their studies at all and waste their time and money. “It is true that some students spend too much of their college years partying” (Murray 238). The atmosphere at a four year university is always connected with the party scene, however the students who are only there for the party distract those around them who actually want to focus on getting and education. It makes absolutely no sense to waste all that time and money just because society thinks college is the only choice. The pressures that society puts on having a college is degree is that older people find it difficult to get decent jobs, so they make rash decisions. They know that they need to earn a degree, and fast, this is where for-profit colleges come in handy. Although they may seem like a great thing on the surface, the reality of going to a for-profit school leaves much to be desired. For-profits get much of their funding from the government, the 90/10 rule is a rule that “bars for-profits from receiving more than 90 percent of their revenue from financial aid” (Carey 218). This rule still allows for-profits to make up to ninety percent of their revenue from the government and tax payers. So not only are the students who feel forced into attending one these for-profit schools just to survive paying the price in loans, the tax payers also pay the price. Society needs