When it comes to college education, so many people feel cheated by the system.

Bloomberg reports that College tuition rates have risen 538 percent since 1985. The minimum wage, on the other hand, has stayed stagnant; it is not enough for a single person to live on. For example, if you make minimum wage in Louisiana you’re making 7.50 dollars an hour that barely comes above $13,000 annually. That is 2,000 dollars above the poverty line, according to the National Bureau of Labor.

This all relates to the increased amount of summer school courses at Loyola and how it’s unfair to the students who want to learn. Loyola why don’t you let us learn?

How can we expect students to shell out even more money for online summer courses? How is it fair that students who already may be taking out loans to afford college education be forced to take out more if they want to take an online course over the summer? It has never made sense to me, how students, who already going to be in debt by the end of their four year college journey, can be expected to shell out 2,000 dollars for one three credit course.

One of my friends is a music therapy freshman whose major requires her to graduate in three and a half years, and do a six month long internship for the last semester. Why is she being punished for taking courses that are required for her degree plan? Would the university rather her take 24 credit hours a semester on top of a working job, playing an instrument and having enough sleep to function on a daily basis?

The mental health strain on college students is already ridiculous. According to the Associated Press, 80% of college students experience some form of stress or have a mental health condition. How can we allow students to be fleeced by a university where taking a few classes over the summer is punished by more loans which adds more stress?

Adding to the burden is if you want to take a summer class on campus at Loyola: it costs roughly 4,500 dollars with room and board. So, if you learn better in a classroom, it’s time to fork over another 4,000 dollars, which is an egregious fault of the summer sessions at Loyola.

How can you allow this to continue, it wouldn’t be all bad but there is literally no way to pay for this unless you have the money or if you take out loans. Scholarships aren’t an option. I went to the scholarship and financial aid section under the summer session tab at loyno.edu and that page didn’t exist once I clicked on it. Not a lot of students know about this as well. I have friends who registered for interesting summer courses including an English course about the world of Tim Burton. My friends didn’t understand the cost of the summer program and are now frantically looking to drop the course.

When students can’t take classes at Loyola they look for alternatives that they can take to the common curriculum. Students head to a university or community college to take the classes that Loyola’s entire identity is founded on. The liberal arts education is for Loyola – and it works for Loyola – however, the cost of a single course is too much compared to other colleges.

For example, one three-credit class over the summer at University Nevada-Las Vegas on campus is roughly 1000 dollars – even if you stay on campus. An online course at UNLV is 98 dollars for one online class. How can Loyola claim to be a Jesuit, liberal arts university, but increase the amount of money it costs to take a single class over the summer? A good portion of the classes on LORA don’t have students registered, yet the university stills advertises that summer classes are good to take. Do they mean good for the university to make a quick buck, or good for an individual who wishes to excel at their education? Loyola, let us learn.