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Twitter Gave Us A Reality Check On Why The Cost Of College Is A Nightmare

Carissa Dunlap

Let’s get real here. College education is pretty much the second-highest cost we are going to make in our lifetime—probably right after our first home.

 It’s expensive, and so many of us are feeling the weight of that cost on our shoulders, by working three jobs to save some money or taking out a ton of student loans. This is why it pains me, literally pains me, to say that one twitter user found out the cost of going to the University of Houston in 1975 was a lot cheaper. We are talking way less than a thousand. 

Bax Kapital posted on Twitter Monday that they found in a book a fee statement from the University of Houston in 1975. This student shockingly only had to pay $152.50. I don’t know about you, but I think my brain just exploded.  To give you a comparison to what that would give you in college today, $152.50 would probably account for half of my used textbooks. 

 

 

“This is why boomers all think you can pay for college by working part time at the Woolworths,” Bax Kapital also tweeted. 

It’s obvious that college tuition prices are a lot more in comparison to prices over two decades ago, but even I wasn’t expecting that price. The cost to attend the University of Houston right now is well over $25,000 for non-residents and that price doesn’t include the additional fees the college has. That right there is a significant price increase from 1975. 

According to the Institute for College Access & Success,  seven in ten seniors graduate with debt, with an average of $29,650 per borrower. More students are basing their college decision on the price because of such high tuition costs. According to a 2017 survey by EAB’s enrollment services division, over 40 percent of students turn down their first-choice colleges because of financial reasons.

Our choices are reduced because of our socioeconomic status pretty much before we’ve even taken the SAT. 

College has just become super unaffordable and in turn unavailable to so many people. I think the vast majority of us can agree though that college is worth it. We experience new things, learn some things, and can gain a whole world of opportunities. But TBH, this tweet was just yet another reminder as to why higher education needs to invest in expanding students access to college so that we can all benefit from it. 

Carissa Dunlap is a Her Campus News X Social Intern for Summer 2018. She is a current Publishing major and Journalism minor at Emerson College (Class of 2020). When she isn't perusing the YA bookshelf at the bookstore, she can be found watching dog videos on Facebook, at her favorite coffee shops, or relaxing on the beach. Follow her on Instagram @dunlapcarissa or Twitter @Caridunlap.