If you really want to make a name for yourself in life, college will definitely help you in achieving success; but for many smart students in high school, achieving success is difficult with the high cost of college tuition. The poor really do suffer when it comes to getting a college degree. A student could be smart enough to get into Harvard and not be able to attend because the family doesn’t have the money to afford it, even if the student does get scholarship money. Paying up to $60,000 per year to go to college is a bit absurd, and for some families, out of reach. If you have the grades to get into a good college that will make you successful in life, then you should be able to attend the college regardless of your financial state. It really is a shame to see extremely intelligent students not be able to achieve success because they don’t have the money to do it.

According to college board, on average, the cost to go to a private college has risen from 25,000 dollars in the year 2000 to 40,000 in 2015. At this rate, the cost of college will only get higher. For example, a boy named David Nguyen got into his dream college at Tufts University in Boston. His parents made around 130,000 dollars a year and Tufts University was 63,000 dollars a year. Unfortunately, Tufts only offered him 10,000 dollars in scholarship money. He was unable to go to his dream school because he couldn’t afford it.

“I had to make a really hard decision,” Nguyen said, according to Emily Jane Fox, a reporter from CNN. “Would I go to a city I love and go into debt, or stay in-state?” He ended up going to the University of Michigan.

Nguyen’s case is not a unique one. While he was contemplating his college future, Katie Hutchins on the west coast was doing the same.  She wanted to become a nurse at the University of California in Los Angeles. She worked hard during her four years in high school and was accepted to the school. Unfortunately, the school only gave her 2,000 dollars in scholarship money. She would have to pay 58,000 dollars a year to go to her school. Her parents were both school teachers and couldn’t pay for her daughter to go to her dream school.

“I stayed up late at night, made As to get in. What was the point of working so hard when I can’t even go?” Hutchins said, according to Fox, “I did my part as a student, but my parents felt like they couldn’t do their part as parents. It was heartbreaking for them.”

Do colleges today care too much about money? Another girl in New Jersey named Irene Parriski got into the University of San Diego. Both her parents worked for a long time in the military. She worked hard and joined as much booster clubs as she could to be accepted. The college awarded her on 1,500 dollars in scholarship money. Leaving her with 55,000 dollars a year to attend the University of San Diego. “It made me so sick in my stomach, making the decision,” Parriski said according to Emily Jane Fox (CNN). “It was all about money.” It really is a shame that this happens to many students every year.

Students have great opportunities to achieve greatness by attending their dream college. Can money really buy greatness these days? Things need to change.