Lauren's Voice
How have increased tuition fees impacted you and your family?:
Tuition increases have greatly impacted my family and I. Both my parents have worked hard all their lives and as a result we own a home. We not wealthy, nor do we have the amount of money the state estimates we should have to pay for my schooling because we own a home. I get no financial aid we are paying full price. My parents saved for my education but because it is so much now I have students loans in attention to the help my parents have given me. I worry about these loans a lot and how I will have to pay for them after I graduate instead of buying a house or traveling. I think about it almost daily, the strain it may put on my life later. I also feel bad for my parents who really wanted to be able to send me and my sister to school without us having to get loans but because tuition is SO much as a STATE school they cannot. Education should be our state's biggest priority, it is the most important thing! Our school officials should not be given the salaries they are given. Students should be able to attend a state school on their own without help from their parents and just working but that is completely impossible these days. If tuition continues to rise only the rich will be able to attend university and that is not right, this is America, the land of opportunity! I work in the development office at school and the alumni that i call daily tell me i should be able to work my way through school like they did. The fact is that is literally impossible. I understand that the cost of school had to go up but it is not proportional to inflation. Most students now have loans and will most likely have at LEAST $20,000 in debt when they graduate if they are lucky. Our economy is failing and my entire generation will not be able to help and pump money into the economy because we will be paying off loans for years instead. Please don't raise tuition again many students like myself simply cannot pay anymore. I have worked hard in school my whole life and I deserve to go to college for a fair price and have a chance at a good future!
What are you studying at SF State and what do you hope to do once you graduate?:
I am studying communication at SFSU and I hope to not have thousands of dollars of debt when I graduate!
Lauren V., 19 Westminster, Ca
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