In the stressful months surrounding college applications, students have to make difficult decisions on where to apply based on their proximity, majors, extracurriculars and tuition. Many students may have to exclude what schools they are willing to apply to based on their tuition costs alone, but it wasn’t always this way.

According to the Education Data Initiative, in 1963 the average four-year tuition cost was $243 and when adjusted for inflation, about $2,487. Compared to 2024 where a four-year tuition costs roughly $76,000 in total. This inflation has caused a disconnect in the nature of college education for the general public, the attitude around the necessity of college has not shifted but the affordability of it has. With the inflated costs of tuition, a simple four-year degree is becoming an impossible standard to hold most people to.

The impossible standard of tuition costs also hinder the opportunities for many lower-income students. If lower-income families can’t afford high quality education, it later impacts the job offers available and the salary received. This creates an unfair advantage between the higher and lower classes that continues into adulthood and bleeds into the upcoming generations. Education is a right and shouldn’t be limited by what certain families can afford.

A study by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce estimates that by 2031, 42 percent of U.S. jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree, and that 72 percent will require post-secondary education. These statistics establish that college education is a necessity within the workforce, especially when it comes to livable wages and opportunities.

However, the steep costs of college tuition are in place to directly fund and benefit the schools they go towards. Despite this, I think there should be other ways for an institution to receive its funding. Public colleges and universities should receive more of their money through government funds and be able to provide options for student living that can cut out unnecessary costs.

It is clear that there are many issues with the tuition system in America that have inflated costs and limited the accessibility of a college education. But these issues need to be addressed and combated in order for everyone, despite background and income, to have access to college. Higher education shouldn’t be a privilege, but a right that can be afforded and achieved by all.