The Price of Education May 2013 | Page 33

Compared to the rest of the world, the United States has some of the highest college costs. In the United Kingdom universities are allowed to charge a maximum of €3,145 (the equivalent of $4,109) per year. In Germany all universities charge the same amount of tuition, €1,000 (or $1,306), and in France all universities are public and no tuition fees are charged. In the United States the average cost of a public college is $6,600 and the average cost of a private college is $25,000, with a whopping 15% of citizens without a college degree (that is over 47 million people).

While you may be thinking, how could this get any worse? I am here to say that it still is. As tuition continues to rise in most all states nation-wide protests are being held in hopes of reversing this major issue. Shouldn’t education be a main priority? Is it acceptable to charge so much for an education? How will we grow as a country if so many citizens cannot afford a quality education?