To Policy Makers, Representatives, and Those Who Attended Our Deliberation,

We completed our public discussion about the national issue of high tuition costs on
February 28, 2017. We feel it is important to post the conclusions that were drawn, and update
you on the progress that we made.

Our deliberation consisted of a majority of interested Penn State students, who offered a
wide variety of backgrounds and meaningful perspectives, straight from the student-side. It was
universally agreed that tuition costs are at an all-time high, and this is an issue because people
who arent financially well-off cannot always take advantage of good opportunities for higher
education, and are forced to turn down overly expensive universities. Additionally, they may be
faced with high stress-levels and pressures to succeed-- as their future must be supported by a
career that can pay off the accumulation of tuition costs upon graduation. We took three
separate approaches in order to frame the issue.

First, we began by discussing the effect that the government can have on reducing
tuition costs. Three methods of government tuition relief were presented to the attendees, those
being a greater use of taxation, price ceilings on the necessities that go into attending college
and implementing a tuition collection for public institutions. However, the idea of moving military
spending proposed by one of the participants catalyzed more conversation and commentary
from the others. There was a general consensus that the government devotes too much funds
to defense and that even drawing just a small portion from that money could greatly benefit the
haunting cost of college tuition. Another solution that was discussed amongst the deliberators
was the idea of free community college. Free community college would provide an incentive for
students to enter higher education as there would be no financial strain and the ability to remain
living at home as community colleges are more widespread than four year universities . We also
hoped that free community college would propel students to complete their bachelors degree at
a four year university because they have already done half of the work and time necessary. The
city of San Francisco has recently implemented free community college which will let the rest of
the country observe this solution in action and see its benefits or possible flaws. However, we
understand that the idea of free college is subject to opposition because of the socialist mindset
behind it and the innate negative connotation that America believes of socialism.

Second, we discussed the steps that students themselves can take when trying to afford
college. One of the more discussed topics was scholarships. Nearly all of the students claimed
they had applied for one or more scholarships before coming to college. However, not all of the
students received these scholarships. Many claimed that the national scholarships were very
competitive, while their local scholarships were much more obtainable. We also discussed the
lack of motivation when it comes to filling out scholarships. Once it gets toward the end of senior
year, nobody has the motivation to apply for scholarships. Students would much rather spend
their free time outside in the nice weather. One way that this issue could be combatted is for
high schools to implement a Scholarship class. Take away an objective and provide a
mandatory class period for seniors to fill out scholarship applications. This will be a much more
effective use of time for students suffering severe cases of senioritis.

Thirdly, we discussed the ways that the institution itself could change the skyrocketing
prices of college tuition. The best conclusions that we could draw to lower the costs of students
tuition from this approach was for the institution to increase its efficiency, and decrease the
amount of unnecessary expenses by eliminating poorly received professors, decreasing the
surplus of wasted food, and spending less money unnecessary updates meant to glamour
certain aspects of campus. Also, we think that a more fluent connection between AP courses
and institutions would help students gain the credits they deserve for taking college-level
classes and working harder than their peers. Finally, we discussed how students took classes at
local community colleges and were unable to get their credits transferred once they moved to a
university of higher education. Making college credits regulated and universally accepted would
help to cut tuition costs for students as they will not have to repay for classes they already took.
After the deliberation, the students attending filled out a Post-Deliberation Survey. Based
on the survey, the more than half of the students concluded that the best way to lower tuition
costs is for the University to prioritize its spending on projects/maintenance of things the
students actually need, and cut expenses on unnecessary projects. This way, the quality of the
institution does not suffer, but the price of the books can be more affordable for all.
The second most popular answer on the survey was that the students themselves
should be more educated and pay more attention to scholarship opportunities. With so many
scholarships being offered, scholarships are a great way to make school more economical, and
students in high school need to be taught by the time they are juniors, how to seek for
scholarships that are available to them. Colleges should also implement more resources for
finding scholarships available to students in the school.
We understand that a college is a business looking to maximize income, but at what
cost? Students who are not fortunate enough to afford college deserve the opportunities to
reach their full potential despite their inability to pay. With the conclusions drawn at our
deliberation, we are gaining traction and becoming insightful on the ways we can give
everybody equal opportunity, and working together towards that goal is how we will one day
overcome it.