3891 Sapulpa Drive

Shidler, OK 74652
918-768-9158
mdoyl323@students.noc.edu
March 12, 2019

Betsy DeVos
U.S. Secretary of Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202

Dear Betsy DeVos:

I hope you take time out of your busy schedule to read and consider this letter. Mrs. Devos, have
you considered using your power as Secretary of Education to assist financially challenged
Americans attend college? The rich are easily able to pay for their college degree and walk away
debt-free. The middle class have difficulty paying for college, often having to pull out student
loans and bear the burden of a massive amount of debt. The poor, unless they can receive an
enormous amount of help from scholarships, are very unlikely to attend college. The United
States was built on an idea, which claimed that the people have control of their own lives.
However, the high financial cost of college has prevented some people from receiving their
college degree and working in their desired field. I wish to become a veterinarian, but I fear the
gigantic cost of college will prevent me from entering my dream career. Perhaps you, Mrs.
Devos, could conceive of a way to control the cost of college in the United States, thereby
enabling more of the nation’s citizens to pursue higher education.

America was not built on handouts as the colonists viciously fought the British to earn their
freedom. Similarly, certain people believe college should remain expensive to ensure that
individuals have to work hard to achieve their dream career. These people believe that by having
college costs remain high, individuals are incented to work hard in order to graduate. College
students must find various ways to earn and save money. For example, students may choose to
work at a grocery store to earn money, or they might rewear clothes multiple times to save on
laundry supplies. Having college remain expensive acts as a deterrent from individuals who do
not have the drive to complete what they have started. The colonists did not begin a revolution
against the British only to surrender a year later. They continued to fight until they won their
freedom, and then they created a new nation. As a result, expensive colleges ensure that the
fighting American spirit is never diminished.

Despite the fighting American spirit, many individuals who attend college acquire a high amount
of debt. As I want to become a veterinarian, I will likely spend more time in college and thus
have more time to accquire debt. According to a CNBC article by Abigail Hess, “[r]oughly 70
percent of grads leave college with student debt,”. As you likely know, the federal student loan’s
standard plan predicts that individuals will pay off their loan debt in about 10 years. However,
according to the same CNBC article, 60% of loan borrowers do not pay back their loans until
they are in their 40s. That is an extra 10 years those individuals could have been saving their
money for a house, retirement, or to start a family instead of repaying loans. These findings raise
an important question: how much money do individual college students need in loans in order to
completely pay for college? Goldy-Brown posted an article on Student Debt Relief website
which states that out of a cost of about $26,593 per year, most 4-year college graduates leave
with $30,100 in student loan debt. This includeds interest and is the amount of student loan debt
college students have not paid upon graduation. Having to use student loans greatly increases the
total amount college students must pay for their education. However, they still receive the same
quality of education as all other students at the same college, regardless of how they pay for their
education. At a restaurant, a double cheeseburger will be more expensive than a single patty
hamburger. Why then are some students forced to pay the price for the double cheeseburger, but
are still given the single patty hamburger? It is ridiculous that students are forced to pay even
more money for college by taking out student loans simply because that is the only way they
could hope to pay for higher education.

Next, controlling the cost of college can be interpreted as a right of United States citizens.
Certain jobs require certification for an individual to earn that career. For example, I will attend
Oklahoma State University in the hopes that I can earn my Bachelors of Science in Zoology and
graduate from the college’s veterinary medicine program. Both of these tasks would help
immensely in ensuring that I can become a veterinarian, which is my dream career.
Unfortunately, I come from a very poor family. My parents only recently started making enough
money to be able to set some aside for a college fund for me. I will heavily rely on scholarships,
grants, and loans to pay my way through college. The Declaration of Independence states that
every human being is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These three
inalienable rights are supposed to be protected by government. If this is the case, then it is the
responsibility of the United States government to guarantee that its citizens can attend college if
they so choose. Allowing the cost of college to increase by $5,312 between 2006 and 2017, as
stated by Sarah Goldy-Brown, decreases the possibility of poor United States citizens attending
college. Even if they do decide to attend college, an NBC article by Tom Anderson reveals “that
56 percent of people aged 18 to 29 have put off major life events like getting married, purchasing
a car or home, or saving for retirement, because of student debt,”. All of these events could be
described as pursuing happiness, which is supposed to be guaranteed by the government.
Personally, I cannot afford to put off saving for my own retirement. I am an only child, so my
parents will rely on me to help them when they reach old age. If I leave college with debt, then I
will be forced to choose between saving for my own retirement or saving for my parents when
they are elderly. Why should I be denied the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
simply due to my inability to pay for college completly on my own?

Finally, I believe that if limits were placed on the cost of college, then more individuals would
decide to attend college. Here in the United States, many colleges require freshmen to live on
campus. For example, I will be attending Oklahoma State University starting in the summer of
2019. Oklahoma State University requires college freshmen to live on campus. While students
can “have instant access to campus events [and] make [them] feel more a part of the school
community,” as mentioned in an online article by CollegeBasics, it comes at a high cost. At the
very least, students need to pay hundreds of dollars monthly for a room. Some colleges, such as
Oklahoma State University, also force certain students to select a minimum meal plan which
increases the student’s total cost of college. Even though students can save on transportation and
utilities by living on campus, the high cost of a dormitory can even out the “savings” or even
lead to debt. In conclusion, a sensible first step to controlling the cost of higher education would
be to federally prohibit requirements of students to live on campus.

In the end, Mrs. DeVos, the power to control the cost of college within the United States is
currently in your hands. Attending college has dragged numerous individuals into inescapable
debt. This in turn has delayed their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as they
struggle to eliminate their student debt. Personally, I believe a fantastic starting point to
controlling the cost of college would be to prohibit forced on-campus living. This is an expense
that many college students are forced to pay, but living on campus is not necessary to have an
impactful college experience. I am only one of many college students in the United States who
will struggle to finance their way through college. Mrs. DeVos, will you help enable more people
to achieve the American dream, or will you doom them to drown in financial debt for the rest of
their lives? Thank you for your consideration of this issue, and I would appreciate a response to
my email, mdoyl323@students.noc.edu.

Sincerely,

Maya Doyle
 Works Cited

Anderson, Tom. “Debt-Locked: Student Loans Force Millennials to Delay Life Milestones.”

NBCNews.com, NBC Universal News Group, 5 Aug. 2015,

www.nbcnews.com/better/money/debt-locked-student-loans-force-millennials-delay-life-

milestones-n404636.

CollegeBasics. “The Benefits of Living on Campus.” CollegeBasics, 11 Apr. 2018,

www.collegebasics.com/going-to-college/benefits-of-campus-living/.

Goldy-Brown, Sarah. “The Average Cost of College in 2018 - Student Debt Relief.” Student

Debt Relief | Student Loan Forgiveness, Student Debt Relief | Student Loan Forgiveness,

28 July 2018, www.studentdebtrelief.us/news/average-cost-of-college-2018/.

Hess, Abigail. “This Is the Age Most Americans Pay off Their Student Loans.” CNBC, CNBC, 3

July 2017, www.cnbc.com/2017/07/03/this-is-the-age-most-americans-pay-off-their-

student-loans.html.