The Accessibility of Higher Education

Many kids hope to get accepted into their dream college one day. They simply cannot wait to get out of high school to be able to go to college by themselves and be independent. College is a place where many students come into their own, and really start to realize their potential in being successful in the world. However, this dream is not a reality for many aspiring students. The cost of attending these universities, primarily in the United States, can often be too high of a mountain to climb. Instead, many have to join the workforce straight out of high school to simply make ends meet. Through the use of a survey sharing website, I was able to gather 35 responses regarding the availability of higher education. To preface, I know that all these responses were completed by real people, as the survey sharing website allows me to review submissions before they are counted.

Who?

The first question I asked was whether or not the responder had, or will have any levels of debt from attending college.

As you can see from the poll, just over 48% of the respondents will have, or currently have some levels of student debt (Maier, 2021). Although it is less than half of the sample population, we have to remember just how much money this could be. Most, if not all of those who answered “yes” have debt upwards of $50,000 to $75,000 in debts that they will owe. How can we fix this? How is it fair to have these students start their professional career with all of this debt? I believe that accessibility to education should be a basic right, and that colleges and universities alike need to become more affordable. It will pay for itself. Allowing more people the chance at an education will only allow there to be more productive members of society, and thus make more money for all.

What is the Effect?

Next, I asked the respondents if the idea of steep debts steered them away from going altogether.

As seen in this graphic, an overwhelming amount of the sample population decided that their education was worth the debts, which was to be expected. 14.3% stated that price had little to no bearing as to whether they attended school. However, over eleven percent of the population realized that they just could not afford the cost of college, and instead had to change their plans (Maier, 2021). These are people who could very well go and be successful without schooling. However, some of them will not. Being able to network themselves and grow at a college would set them up for future success, but since the costs of schooling are astronomical, they have to take a different path.

How Important is this?

For the final question, the respondents were asked just how important they felt it was that everyone receive an equal shot at a quality education.

As expected, an overwhelming portion of the population answered that everyone should be able to receive a quality education (Maier, 2021). However, as noticed previously, this just simply is not happening. Still, there are many who choose a different path due to the daunting costs of higher education. I believe that we are setting ourselves up for failure. Although many who do not attend college find success, many do not. Having education costs be as high as they currently are will only continue to push people away, leading to a less productive and less educated society.

References

Maier, J. (2021, March 4). Education Accessibility Survey. Retrieved March 9, 2021, from https://forms.gle/N1YKQsR52aonRQ5B7