I have both a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering. I funded all of my own education through grants, scholarships, loans and FULL TIME work. I filled out my own FAFSAs and I pursued every scholarship I even remotely qualified for even if the process took hours or days. I worked hard doing everything from flipping burgers, manning a cash register, waiting tables and working in a computer lab to pay my way through school. I maintain a high GPA and always knew it would pay off in the end.

I am 33 and will be paying for some years to come. I am accountable for every cent of my education and I never expected parents to take on the burden of my education. I have never regretted taking on loans or the fact I am still paying for them. I am far better off now than I would have been without my education and those loans and all the work was worth every cent and every drop of sweat.

I am floored by the number of students who expect their parents to pay or to take on the burden of taking out loans for them. It is a sad reflection of the self-entitlement generation that this has become an expectation of kids.

I believe higher education is necessary to get our economy back on track and, yes, it should not cost so much or be so difficult to get funding. However, this is the fact of where we are at and more hard work and less whining is what is needed.