College was never meant to be free
Many are of the philosophy that higher education is the only way to achieve success in the U.S., if not the world. There seems to be a rampant underlying assumption that college should be as accessible as apps/music/cat videos – and free.
The biggest morsel that many find a tough chew is the fact that an education of the past holds strings attached to it. These entanglements rear their heads regularly for graduates. Many, like me, would consider these to be the most cumbersome pillaging of one’s own budget.
This also piggy-backs on the idea that students who are in their learning phase must be compensated for their duties as students. This comes in the form of the proposed $15 minimum wage, an arbitrary number formed from ether.
The burden looms over my head any time I entertain the idea of buying a house, paying bills – breathing. Why not pay my debt?
A student could work a 40-hour week, get $15 an hour, take home nothing but experience and, in the meantime, pay off the debt of those who came before them.
So, why not pay me back? I mean, hey, they owe it to us.
Greg Bargas, Clovis
This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 4:52 AM with the headline "College was never meant to be free."