The word “necessity” often brings up the three basic needs of food, shelter and water in one’s mind, and from the word “luxury,” items can bounce from new shoes to a week-long vacation. When these two words are put together, thoughts of college begin floating around.

A necessity is something needed to survive and prosper. Normally, these are reachable for the average person. Luxuries are harder to grasp, and if it is something humans can live without, many people do not make it to them.

College is beginning to come hand and hand with living as humans are now born and raised to learn how to talk and walk, and then they are immediately sent into schools where they learn to socialize, and above all, they are told every decision they make will affect their future.

According to College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the last school year was $31,231 at private colleges, such as New York University, $9,139 for state residents at public colleges, such as Kent State University, and $22,958 for out-of-state residents attending public universities, such as the University of Miami.

Kent State University has their undergraduate tuition for Ohio residents on ksu.edu listed as $10,012 without room and board for the 2015-16 school year. If this price did not change for the next few years, it would end up costing a current student $40,048 for a four year education.

Looking plainly at the huge numbers strikes the topic of what else on which money could be spent.

According to charitywater.org, it costs about $20 to provide water to one person for 20 years. With the price of college at KSU for four years, over 2,000 people could receive clean water for those 20 years.

While providing water seems to be a really spaced-out example, there are many products that put the price of college in a new perspective.

College prices often shy students away from the experience. A minimum-wage job does not provide enough money for a student to pay his or her way through college.

When the $40,000 price is displayed, it scares students, especially when the price does not include living arrangements, meal plans, books and extra-curricular activities, such as sports equipment.

The prices of college has huge margins, and if they were lowered, so much money could be saved for students and their parents. As well as saving money, people would, in the end, experience less stress without having to worry about abundant student loans.

The price commitment acts as a leash for students, and that is no way to excel in college.