Over the years college has become increasingly more expensive and less affordable. Nowadays, a college education is almost always necessary for a desired job with decent pay. The average American pays on average $26,120 per year at a four year college, which calculates to a total of $104,480 when you finish your bachelor’s degree. After years of the cost of education rising, future college goers face or will face the struggle of crippling student debt.

A promising solution has arose, but just for New Mexico – a plan of making every college and university in New Mexico free for only in-state residents. The state will compensate by using the revenue from their prolific oil production. It gives a chance for students whose family income is too high for federal aid, but makes education accessible for low income students. New Mexico isn’t the first state to try and make college education free. In fact New York has embarked on a similar proposition. They passed legislation in April allowing students to attend a two year community college for free, but there are some restrictions. There are household income rules and other requirements whereas New Mexico has no such criteria to fill. Both scholarship programs do not include living costs. This is a major step towards affordable college and better education, but it will take quite some time for the kinks to work out, nevertheless it might inspire other states to experiment with this and lead us to a better future.