With a presidential election in just a few weeks, the economy is on a lot of people’s minds. It is pretty thoroughly acknowledged that our economy is struggling. The employment rate is dropping, stocks are dropping, but one thing that is not dropping (and shows no signs of dropping anytime soon) is college tuition.

Something needs to be done. Experts are saying you must save $450 a month from the moment your child is born until they are 18 to pay for four years of a state college education. That averages out to $24,300 a year, without interest. Without interest that would be enough to pay for a year of University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, in state.

But is it realistic to think that every child is going to want to go to a state school? There are literally hundreds of options for college. Illinois is the home of many great state schools, but there is no way around the fact that they are not for everyone. Not to mention, some of the schools simply do not offer what some kids are looking for.

My parents have been preparing me (and themselves) for college as long as I can remember. When I told them and other adults the statistics of saving $450 for 216 months straight, they did not believe me. To us that might not seem like such a large number; it’s not even in the thousands! But when you think about it, really who can do that from the MOMENT their child is born? I can almost guarantee that new parents are thinking about how they are going to sleep for the next six months rather than saving for college.

Then what happens when you have more than one child? That’s $900 a month.

The numbers are getting ridiculous.

MSNBC reports, “The five years [2002-2007] have seen prices rise 31 percent above and beyond the general inflation rate for other goods and services — the worst record on college prices of any five-year period covered by the survey dating back 30 years.” In the last ten years, tuition at Illinois public universities have risen 47%.

Education is a solution to many of our problems in society. The way the world is going to improve is through education. With rising costs, it is making it very hard for college to be an option for majority of the population. Whether it is internationally or nationally, it is important either way. Both presidential candidates advocate a change in our country, so now is their opportunity to fix this mess. In an ideal world, college would be free. Unfortunately, I don’t think that is going to happen anytime too soon.

The good news is that the price sticker you see isn’t always what you are going to pay. You are more likely to get scholarships and grants from private schools, which is not to say you can’t from public schools. It’s important not to rule out college for financial reasons until you have done your full research. Counselor Marsha Hubbuch advises parents to start to calculate the amount of money they can contribute on collegeboard.com.

--Submitted by Emily Mussio, Editor-in-Chief