Informal Writing 7

Informal Writing #7

Is college a basic need that should be affordable to everyone?

Mediator: To begin the debate I would like to start off by asking, is college too expensive or should it cost more?

Dorfman: I believe that right now college is in high demand. When something is in high demand prices should be raised. Thousands of students are applying to top-notch colleges and only a small percentage of them are being accepted. For example, only 5.8% of the 35,000 students who applied for Harvard were accepted. Clearly students from all over the world aspire to be Harvard graduates so the price should be raised as the competition rises.

Leonhardt: It is not fair for many students who cannot afford college. Many kids come from households that did not come from a college background or their families don’t have the means to pay for school. Low-income families generally live in areas where the education system is not the greatest so the same resources that middle and upper class families have are not available. These resources that they are deprived of may help them with their SAT scores or their GPAs. Prestigious universities simply do not admit many low-income students. For example, the University of Virginia only had 8% of students with low-income in their undergraduate class last year. This is a decrease from 11% the previous decade.

Mediator: Should all colleges be affordable or should students only look at options that they can afford?

Dorfman:  College should be attended by students who can afford them. Not everyone should aspire to go to the best colleges in the country if they cannot afford it. Most of the prestigious schools in the country give out financial aid. The average student does not pay the average price. At Harvard it costs $59,800 for full price when the average student only pays $15,500. If this is still not affordable there are plenty of options out there. Community and technical schools are perfectly good options. Those students who intend on specializing in a career that typically does not pay much should consider low-priced public school options. In addition, students should not attend private colleges if they cannot afford to pay off student loans in the future. Working in college is also an option. There has been research done that working twenty hours or less a week does not significantly effect grades. College is not expensive, it us underpriced.

Leonhardt: How can you say college is underpriced? Many students shy away from college simply because it costs too much. They have to potential to succeed in many prestigious colleges throughout this country but simply do not go because they can’t. Most students who drop out of college are of the lower income class. They say they will return for their degrees but 1 in 3 Americans in their 20s never do. I was interviewing a man named Andy Blevins from Chilhowie, Virginia. He is a college drop out from Radford University. Ever since he dropped out he has regretted it. As a low-income student himself he was at a disadvantage. Towns of low-income families have low graduation rate and few go to college. They don’t have as many resources available to them, which makes it hard for them to attend college. Colleges now don’t accept many low-income students.  Mr.Casteen, the president of the University of Virginia has noticed the problem for low-income students. He is making a new system for financial aid. Beginning in the fall not tuition costs or loans will be required for students who’s parents have an income of $37,700 or less. They have also increase the financial aid for families in the middle class. John Blackburn, the admissions dean at the University of Virginia, made it his goal to attract students of lower income. He went to small towns for college fairs and in a particularly poor town he noticed not many students came up to his booth. He realized the UVa flag was intimidating even though he was advertising for low-income students. Simply the universities flag gave off the bad reputation UVa had obtained to low-income students. These colleges need to seem more friendly to students who cannot afford the education they have the potential for. They should not be afraid to attend college because they cannot afford it. They need the resources to live up to their abilities.