Nationalizing the Education Industry by Seth

Nationalizing the Education Industry by Seth - July 2022 Scholarship Essay

The education system is long overdue for a complete overhaul. High schools across the country have different grading systems and curriculums, which can affect a student’s chances at getting into certain colleges or other post-secondary education options. Furthermore, once these students get to college, they pay an arm and a leg to attend and get a degree. I am just starting to look at careers and when I research the associated costs, it feels like I may never pay off all the debt that I have to acquire, just to get through the first couple of years of tuition, let alone other expenses, like room and board or meal plans.
Personally, high school could have been way better for me: the course choices, the peculiar grading systems, and the constantly changing curriculum. As a military brat, I have moved around a lot, and switched high schools three times (only one of these times was my choice). I started in an average Department of Defense school, with the freedom to choose what I was taking, from advanced math classes to cooking or computer programming electives. However, when I moved to Tennessee and started at Rossview High, all of this changed. The grades were based on a seven-point scale, meaning that 93 and above was an A, 85 and above was a B, and so forth. Advanced level electives were only offered to select upperclassmen and the other options were meager, to say the least.
Luckily, toward the end of my sophomore year, I was accepted to the Middle College program. Through this high school, I was dual-enrolled in Austin Peay State University, allowing me to get an Associate’s degree in Liberal Arts at the same time as my high school diploma. However, failing a class required a refund of at least $800 per course, which was just the beginning of my experience with the overpriced education industry. During junior year and the summer afterward, I began to ask myself the ever present question: what do I want to do with my life? Multiple surveys and assessments later, I started the search for the best colleges and programs for my chosen path. Almost immediately, I stumbled upon a rather large problem, which seemed to get worse the more I investigated.
Post-secondary education costs a fortune, in most cases far above the price of a suburban house. Sure, applying for scholarships, grants, and the FAFSA could ease the burden, but it would never be enough. My future is quite certain within the established system. Go to college and get a degree, then spend the next decade worrying about student loans and attempting to balance paying them off with basic life necessities, running the risk of ruining your credit. All of this is without even considering other life expenses, such as rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, and the cost of keeping and driving a vehicle.
Change could not come fast enough to the education system. High schools should have standardized national grading policies and more opportunities, both in course load and course catalog and programs such as dual-enrollment. These fixes could improve a student’s chances of being accepted to better post-secondary opportunities as well as their quality of life. At the college level, tuition and other expenses could be more affordable, or have plans in place so that debt is manageable and not completely overwhelming, thus promoting a more educated society. I have hope that some of these changes can be implemented within the next decade, forever enhancing education.