One of the most discussed topics over the course of five interviews was minimum wage in the United States. Many states have been contemplating raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour which is a major increase for most states. The first interviewee was against the increase in dollars per hour and stated, “Jobs that offer minimum wage are beginner jobs and are just meant for young adults to gain experience.” The statement shows the viewpoint that minimum wage jobs are just intro level jobs and allow young people the chance learn what it means to have a job and what working is like. However, that is all the minimum wage jobs are for and no one should stay in a minimum wage job forever. 

In reality, many people throughout the United States stay in minimum wage jobs because those are the only jobs they can find and they try their best to raise a family off of a small income. Therefore, an increase in minimum wage would benefit them because raising a family off of the current minimum wage is extremely challenging. When asked the question “How do you expect those in long term minimum wage jobs to find better jobs,” an interviewee responded by talking about trade school. They gave their opinion and discussed that trade school is a great way for people to earn a higher income without going to college and having to take on student loans just to get a degree and escape the hole that minimum wage jobs are. 

This topic turned the conversations around to the problem of student loans and how colleges have been abusing the system. An interviewee stated, “Student loans allow colleges to inflate their tuition and funnel money into administrative costs and unnecessary spending.” This quote is accurate in the statement that student loans let colleges inflate their tuition without a complete uprising from society because there is still a way for people to pay for college. However, many students are faced with a massive debt and struggle to pay it back. 

The conversations ended by talking about the possible ways colleges can cut their costs so that tuition can deflate back down to an affordable amount. The best way that was discussed was getting rid of unnecessary programs and buildings that are just created by universities to “look nice” in order to get students to enroll.