Go to college. Accrue debt. Get a job. Pay it off. Rinse and repeat. This monotonous cycle has been one Americans have come to accept despite the fact that no where else in the world has a system like ours. From the moment we are born, those who have the resources to do so, start a college fund. Continuing throughout our whole lives, every time we get a bit of extra cash we are told to “save it,” specifically with the idea of college in mind. The obsession with money and figuring out how you’re going to deal with the inevitable debt is a mindset I have been struggling to come to terms with. Why must I spend so much time thinking about which job will give me enough money to pay off my loans when I should simply be asking myself what job am I most passionate about? I know this mentality is not unique to myself so I wanted to get to know more about my peers’ perspectives.

When asked about how big of a role money played in their college decisions, all of my interviewees responded with a similar reply spanning from, “it was one of the biggest factors” to “that’s how I had to decide where I could go.” It was so sad how instantaneously each of them knew how much money is looming over the entire college processes. One pointed out that even her college search was limited as she “couldn’t afford to be travelling to visit all those places and send [her] SAT, ACT, and applications” because as we all know, even getting into college is a financially gruelling task. 

As I continued to talk to each interviewee it was evident when the frustration grew in their voice. Each told a similar story of how paying for things is always at the back of their mind or how they’re trying to “not think about it because it’s too stressful.” For each the idea of graduate school is a strong possibility; however, they all also said that they didn’t know if they would still want to after four years which also depends on cost. I followed their stories with an optimistic fantasy, “If someone were to tell you right now that you would no longer have to pay for any part of college, what would you do and how would that change things?” What stood out to me the most was the wide eyes one of my peers gave me as if the idea is so farfetched she couldn’t even procure an answer. For each of them, their end goals didn’t change in the slightest because each of them are on the paths to pursuing “what [they] love.” However, their journey before the destination of a job would be opened up to many new horizons with the relief from money. They each mentioned how they would love to study abroad without feeling the pressure to finish in 4 years or take more classes just for fun and to learn without feeling like they are “wasting their money on an unnecessary class.” 

The American higher education system is strangling to those that wish to go to college. And for the people who are lucky enough to get the opportunity, debt looms over their head as post graduation plans usually revolve around paying it off. We must ask ourselves, what is the true price we are willing to pay, both monetarily and mentally, for a college education?

By Caldonia Carmello