If you really think about it, college is often completely run like a business.

We pay for a service that is provided for us. The payment is issued over many years, like the payments for more expensive items, such as a car or a house, usually are. Not only that, but we can often pick how much we pay per month and have a variety of interest rates that increase the cost of our product over time.

Most colleges and universities advertise to students, as well. These advertisements promote that their college is where you will get the “best education,” even if you know you could get a better education elsewhere. Why do colleges promote their education this way so shamelessly? I have seen everything from TV commercials to magazine advertisements and never once understood why they choose to market their schools as though they are a product rather than institutions for higher education.

According to radioopensource.org, public universities only give 27 percent of tuition to instruction. The rest goes to many different expenses that should be taken care of by the money coming from the state, not money from the pockets of students.

I am at college to get an education. I am not here to watch my school promote itself in countless ways. It is honestly sad to me, watching schools promote themselves the way they do.

I still get advertisements in the mail and I am a second-semester freshman. My education costs would go down tremendously if schools stopped doing such simple acts, so please stop advertising so shamelessly and spend that money on making our colleges better.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not representative of The Slate or its staff as a whole.

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