Everyone knows college students are forced to penny pinch. Universities, such as Western Washington University, charge fees to every student whether or not they use the amenities they are being charged for. For example, at Western Washington University, students are charged upwards of $1,681 added to tuition for one academic school year. This includes, health center, multicultural center, legislative fund, and the list goes on.

Whether you take part in any of these things, you're charged.

It is no secret that the cost of tuition is at an all-time high, but there are no signs of it slowing. This is because universities are hiring professors they can't afford, paying professors that will never interact with a student personally but through a TA, and building/renovating buildings that are not necessary. The highest paid professor makes more than $100,000 a year.

To pay that one professor, it would take the full tuition, of more than five students to have enough money for the university to pay them.

That is disgusting.

Western has about an 18:1 student to faculty ratio, that sounds great, to all who do not attend. I consider paying a professor over $100,000 and then building a new multicultural center to be living beyond the universities needs. Of course they receive donations, but with all the extra fees the university forces on you, living within your means really equates to ramen, wearing the same clothes every week because buying new ones would be too expensive, and memorizing how much a sweet tea at McDonald's costs after tax ($1.09 in case you were wondering). "My name is Cheyenne and I am addicted to McDonald's sweet tea." OK, moving on.

The university itself does have resources such as the food pantry, and the occasional clothing swap throughout the dorms and campus. But as a college student, as prideful as I am, I would turn down those resources, as I have in the past. That being said, that doesn't mean other students wouldn't also turn down these resources.

The universities need to lower their costs of attendance. That is nothing new, we all know that. But after breaking down how much the university actually spends on professors who only interact with students through their TA's, it wouldn't be terrible to start to demand a change from our universities to not only stay in their budget but to decrease some of the expenses students have to pay.

If that means not building a brand new building, I'm sure we will all live, if it means professors actually teach their classes and give students their money's worth, I am totally down for that.

Many of us pay for college ourselves or through grants, and scholarships. Every $100 that can be saved by the university reducing these expenses will not only make the students happier but will also make achieving graduation and reaching the degree we are paying for easier to receive.