This previously ran in our December 2021 print issue.

To the Editor, 

College Application fees are despicable. Although it is well known that going to college in America costs a lot of money, no one ever discusses the problems with colleges requiring an application fee. 

As a senior in high school, I am working on applying to college. However, I feel bogged down by the horrendous process of the applications. Not only are they long and hard, requiring writing multiple essays in their sad attempt to get a “holistic view” of me but, they cost an obscene amount of money just to apply. The college application itself costs anywhere between $50 to $90 which feels like a convenient way for colleges to get money from students even if they don’t end up going to the institution. When someone combines that with the ungodly costs from the CollegeBoard–including the cost of taking the SATs and AP tests along with sending individual scores to certain colleges which costs an additional $12 per school–you end up spending hundreds of dollars with no guarantee of getting into a school at all.

There is a simple solution to this: don’t make students pay money just to apply to college. It is unnecessary considering that all successful colleges bring in billions of dollars per year. This would be the beginning of the necessary process of students paying less for the higher education they deserve. 

Sincerest Regards, 

Sam Loeper