A Weight on Our Shoulders

By Sam Szemerenyi

I’m an economics major. I work with numbers and trends every day, and the college debt crisis will not have a happy ending for many. Tuition is rising at a much faster rate than inflation and financial aid grants are. The cost of a degree is constantly increasing while the value of a degree steadily declines as more and more people attend college instead of other viable options such as apprenticeships or trade schools. This is not a sustainable equation.

While I’m very fortunate to not be in a desperate financial situation where I would need to rely on financial aid, all Boston College sees is that my family makes above a certain amount a year and that essentially disqualifies us from any aid whatsoever. It costs about $70k a year to go here. My brother is going to college next year as well. Seeing how hard my family works to maintain a sustainable economic equation puts a lot of pressure on me to perform well, and while I may be able to thrive under that, many many others can’t do that. It is a weight on our shoulders that gets heavier and heavier.

Economically, mentally, morally, we cannot withstand this for much longer.