Senior year is an expensive time. Paying your way to graduate and participate in graduation activities. It’s something we’ve all heard about. Fees for caps and gowns, prom, pictures, Grad trips, and of course college applications.

Applying for college shouldn’t be another expense seniors have to add to their list. With the highly competitive nature in being accepted to a college, we shouldn’t have to pay if there is a possibility we are not even going to end up going there.

Some students can apply for waivers but they should be more accessible for everyone. In college we already pay an abundance for an education. It’s a major investment that shouldn’t require up too $100 in copay, with no obligations of a refund whether or not you get in.

For students who are not qualified to receive a fee waiver often limit themselves on the amount of colleges they apply to due to the price of applications. I don’t think it’s fair how one kid will cut back on how many colleges they apply to just because their parents’ income is a little over the limit required for aid.

Some like to say that if a kid doesn’t qualify for financial aid they are “well-off” and paying for college apps should be no problem. When that is not the case for many. An abundance of students who come from middle-class families who don’t qualify for financial aid struggle to pay for these college expenses. It is not fair to punish them and strip them from the same opportunities they cannot afford just like lower-class families.

Fee waivers should be accessible to every student who wishes to pursue higher education. I’m sure colleges could continue to manage to make a profit without fee waivers. It’s not like they charge people hundreds of thousands dollars to get a degree.