By Diana Gutierrez / Staff Writer
By Diana Gutierrez / Staff Writer
Raising prices has caused disruptions everywhere. From gas prices to budget cuts in school, no one is safe from the affects of the bad economy.
Riverside City College has been cutting classes and raising prices for some time now and it’s still short on money.
A new proposal has been thrown out, stating that older students should receive no financial aid and pay full price for all their classes.
This would apply to new older students and older students who have been around for longer periods of time.
“It is unfair; everyone should pay the same price,” said 20 year old student, Angela Cervantes
This was the opinion for the majority of the students, young and old.
“Finally, the school is doing something to make things better for the generation who should be learning,” said 22 year old student, Nicole Simmons. “It sucks if they were unable to learn or take classes before, but the school should have priority for students whose time it really is to study.”
While the two views are completely different there is still no actual rule that has been placed to allow the proposal to be put into practice.
Whether the board plans on voting themselves or allowing the students to have a voice in making the final decision is still unavailable.
“After two years of being in community college you should stop receiving aid. I know a lot of people who stay in school only to receive financial aid,” said 19 year old student Andres Tejeda. “It’s not fair to students who actually want to study.”
RCC has a lot of students who are over 35 years old, and it is sure that a lot of those 35 and over students actually need the financial aid.
While there may be a lot of students who use financial aid for purposes other than school or school related expenses there are a lot of students who really need it.
Two, even four years may not be enough to fill your general education requirements.
In a community college it is very difficult to find the classes you need, because of all the budget cuts and cutting of classes.
People also underestimate the fact that school prices are the not the only things rising. Gas, food and living expenses keep going up as well.
Most financial aid does not cover everything, it mostly covers tuition.
Also, most people who are over 35 years old have children or other extremely important expenses.
It would not be fair to students who are over 35 years old to get financial aid taken away from them because of their age.
Many students over 35 years old usually try the hardest in the class and they do not take it for granted.
There are many students who are under 35 years old who take classes for granted and think that partying and drinking is most important.
After reaching 35 years it is probably certain that knowing what you want in life comes natural; therefore, being in that age range and in school, using all the benefits to the fullest is what can be expected.
There will always be issues that separate generations, however, getting an education shouldn’t be one of them.
Budget difficulties will result in some hard choices, but punishing a specific segment of the population is not a solution.
Taking away financial aid from all the students is not only unfair, but wrong.
No one is perfect and if someone decides they need a second or third chance they should be able to use it. Everyone needs a little help sometimes.