Elijah Brown

In the eyes of many students and parents, higher education is a sacred opportunity and is required after high school. It is viewed as a rite of passage from the stage of childhood or teenage years to the responsibilities and establishment of adulthood. That ideology is being challenged in the 21 st Century as college tuition continues to rise to unforeseen levels. While many avenues have been made to help students achieve their higher education dreams such as scholarships or grants, most students and parents must take out student loans in order to cover the high tuition balance. Current estimates for American student loan debt are around $1.7 trillion, increasing by 91% in the past decade (Johnson Hess, 2021). Many initiatives are aiming to college more affordable, such as free community college or full-need scholarships. However, these initiatives are not widespread, as the documentary The Ivory Tower , explained full-need scholarships are only available in 1.25% of schools, with Har...

Financial literacy is one of the few skills necessary for life success. Though money cannot buy happiness, it provides safety, freedom, and the means for necessities. Understanding how to manage money is the foundation of financial literacy, so people can achieve financial freedom within their means. Some tools of financial literacy necessary in life are saving, investing, smart spending, and budgeting. With these tools, it allows people to budget to stay within their means, stay prepared for life changes, have reserves for any possible emergencies, and save for retirement or future date. Other benefits of financial literacy tools are increasing earnings through investments, stocks, bonds, savings accounts, or interest-earning checking accounts. Though a need, many people are unskilled in money management. In fact, two-thirds of Americans are unable to pass a basic financial literacy test and only one-third of the world is financially literate (Kruse, 2019). This is a huge issue as man...