For most people today, the conversation about higher education usually ends with the understanding or agreement about how expensive it is.

According to the website, College Tuition Compare, the average cost for in-state tuition for a state school in California is approximately $20,000, depending on if a student lives on or off-campus. That is a drastic difference between community colleges, averaging an annual cost of $4,000, as reported by Community College Review.

With a small portion of the funding coming from the student tuition fees, it begs the question of should community college be free.

Coming from a military perspective, college costs are covered by the federal government for those who have served. Because of these benefits, many believe the responsibility is on the individual to cover the cost of community college.

However, for some people, the cost of community college might be more than they can afford.

Our community college system has many plans in place to help those in need to afford the costs. Some of those include FAFSA, scholarships and other tuition waivers to help lower-income households. For those who are qualified, these systems do help lower the cost significantly to the point of being non-existent for the student.

Higher education, in some veteran students’ opinions, is not a right, it is a privilege. Being that, it is not a requirement to be successful in the working world. A degree certainly helps, especially in area specifics fields, but it is not a requirement to be successful.

Many people who do not have college degrees start there own businesses, create new products or go into professions that do not require higher education to be successful. According to USA News, the top profession for those without a college degree is a web developer. Salaries average around $70,000 a year, more than most jobs that require a bachelor’s or a master’s.

Coming from a unique position, many have had to pay their dues to have college covered by the government, whether through the military or other means.

Some students believe that college should be affordable and available to those who make the effort. However, it should fall on the individual to pay for something that is not a requirement to be successful.