Last week, I read an article about saving money in college by Technician correspondent Lauren Neaves, and it got me thinking. In the article, Neaves discussed her experience with attending a community college before transferring to NC State, all while having to balance school and work. She writes that she had to quit her job shortly after beginning State in order to fully focus on her studies and herself, while still having to budget in order to even afford to do so.
I can relate to her story immensely. I also went to a community college for a time, and I, like many students who go here, have to balance a part-time job with my studies and social life. All of this can be very stressful.
I do not depend on my parents for money, so I need to work to afford groceries, necessities and small luxuries. I also know that I’m in school to learn, so if I want to work, I still have be able to study and maintain a good GPA. This means sacrificing hours of sleep every night, and sacrificing a lot of my weekends to do schoolwork.
I am not saying this to complain. There are thousands of students working their way through school all over the country, even specifically at NC State. I am proud of the fact that I am able to earn my own money and get my education. But, for most of these students, this is no easy feat. And, the fact of the matter is, not everyone can balance work and school. Many young people have to choose one path, and therein lies the problem. More needs to be done in our state to ensure this doesn’t have to be the case.
The Technician reported last week that in the 2017-18 school year, NC State’s tuition will increase by two to five percent. We should all expect this to be the trend going forward – at NC State, and universities everywhere. Like clockwork, tuition will only increase every year.
Governor Roy Cooper promised during his campaign to make college more affordable in our state by making community college tuition free. According to an article in the News and Observer last week, it seems like he is trying to make good on this promise. This is a huge victory for students going to school in the state, who are worrying about how they will afford college. However, a lot more can be done.
In her campaign stumps, before inevitably losing the November presidential election, Hillary Clinton supported making public college free for families making less than $125,000 a year. Even though her candidacy failed, I truly believe that enacting this would have allowed even more students in our state, and nationwide, to go to college stress-free. It was the significantly less progressive alternative in comparison to Senator Bernie Sanders’ proposal to make college tuition-free for everyone, but it was the pragmatic approach, and it would be a great start.
Although I do personally believe that tuition-free public schools for students whose parents make less than $500,000 dollars annually would be an even better step forward, I also think making interest rates on federal student loans lower for public college students who work a large number of hours a week during the school year would be a great idea.
Making sure that students who have to work can do so without working strenuous hours to pay for tuition, and interest rates, as well as food, gas, etc., would increase the rate of students who can actually afford to go to college. Ensuring that families can send their students to school, without financial burden, would do the same.
In an ideal world, students would not have to choose between getting an education and financial stability. Critics of things like free public college often scoff at these proposals because they say that “nothing is free” or that it will encourage “laziness.” But the reality is that a college education is basically a necessity to succeed in today’s job market.
If we want our state and our country to stay educated and prosperous, we need to equip everyone with the opportunity to do so. Lazy people do not work or attempt to go to college to better themselves, and they certainly don’t do both. To act as if lending students a helping hand is radical or unfeasible dismisses the importance of education entirely.
I am aware that this conversation has already been had many times over. The election is over, Donald Trump has won; all of this is true. But, the problem of affordable education is still pressing. We have a progressive governor in North Carolina, who says he wants to make college affordable, and I believe him. And, even though the sorts of progressive ideas I’m discussing are not likely to be passed at a federal level, Roy Cooper could try adopting more of these policies, to give more students in North Carolina the opportunity to go to college.
Our state legislature has a conservative majority, which will make it harder on Governor Cooper to get things like this done, but there is no shame in trying. Students who care about this issue should email him and call his office about it. Let’s put the pressure on him to do so. I always discuss taking an effort to make a stand in my columns, so on Monday morning, I will email his office about the matter myself. We do have the power to shift the conversation, and we should. These tuition increases, and the problem of college affordability, will continue to affect thousands of students here and all over the state, unless we do.
I do take pride in being a working student, but I recognize it isn’t easy. Students like Neaves are a reminder of the hard choices students are forced to contend with in a society where college and the success it brings are not afforded to everyone. Students should not have to work while in school, only to still have to worry about the rising tuition costs. Students should not have to choose between affording rent and food, etc., and affording to go to college. We, as a state and as a society, can do a lot better. And, if we care about investing in the future of this nation, we need to invest in the future of everyone in it.
