The idea of freedom and equal opportunity that America was built on has sadly been lost and replaced with a system of quality education only being accessible by the wealthy. In-state college tuition should be free for all students meeting admission requirements, allowing students from the full spectrum of economic backgrounds to have the same opportunity to receive the same education. The incidence of poverty in the U.S. is directly linked to educational level. When a college degree is earned, income levels rise (College Board). The best use of federal government anti-poverty funds is not another welfare or assistance program; it is to make college education affordable for everyone. A high school education is no longer sufficient to succeed in America’s increasingly complex economy. However, because of the high price point of a college education, far too many Americans are unable to afford education beyond high school. As shown in the graph below, the higher level of education received greatly increases the chances for employment and also dramatically increases the average salary potential of an individual. (College Board) With more Americans falling to the lower middle class, (Curtis) action needs to be taken to ensure that young Americans are not priced out of college because the price of tuition is so high. In addition, many of our top private universities are in danger of being accessible only to those from the most affluent families. With the total price tag of a bachelor's degree from a top-tier U.S. College or university hovering around $150,000, even some of the most highly sought-after high school graduates are turning down universities like Yale and Stanford in favor of more economical options -- com... ... middle of paper ... ...ebruary, 2010. 6 May, 2012. Woodruff, Mandi. “Even a PhD Couldn't Keep This Man Off Food Stamps.” Business Insider. 9 May, 2012. 11 May, 2012. < http://finance.yahoo.com/news/even-a-phd-couldn-t-keep-this-man-off-food-stamps.html> Murray, Sara. “Numbers On Welfare See Sharp Increase.” The Wall Street Journal. 22 Jun. 2009. 20 May. 2012. Curtis, Jack. “America's Sinking Middle Class.” American Thinker. 5 Apr. 2010. 19 May. 2012. Lucas, Fred. “Obama Will Spend More on Welfare in the Next Year Than Bush Spent on Entire Iraq War, Study Reveals.” CNS News. 22 Sep. 2009. 19 May. 2012. < http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-will-spend-more-welfare-next-year-bush-spent-entire-iraq-war-study-reveals>
Education comes at a high price for this generation and not just financially. Going to college can give students plenty of debt with no promise of a job in return, which can set a student father back on their course of life. Young adults trying to start their lives by going to college encounter many setbacks. Today the average cost for a private university is $25...
Secondary education rises faster in price than auto insurance. Yet, secondary education is almost required in the United States to succeed. Yes, there are hundreds of people in the United States that have been successful without a college degree, but they are outliers. Students should choose not to go to college based on outliers, but go to college based on the fact thousands have succeeded because of their college degrees. It is more important then ever to know what makes a college great if students are going to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars over four
Community colleges and vocational tracks are not wrong about the high cost of traditional higher education. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, one year at a public, four-year institution costs upwards of $23,000 on average, while private institutions will cost nearly $10,000 more on average. Coupled with the fact that prices at public institutions rose 42 percent and private institutions rose 31 percent between 2001 and 2011, it’s not a shock that parents and students alike worry about paying for college. However, this won’t always be the case, as this rise in prices simply cannot continue the way it has. Eventually, people will be unable to pay the price that colleges charge. They will either settle for com...
Ridzi, Frank. Selling Welfare Reform: Work-First and the New Common Sense of Employment. New York: NYU Press, 2009.
According to Trade Schools, Colleges and Universities “Many of America's top-performing high school students never apply to the most challenging colleges and universities even though they have the ability to succeed at them. They often come from minority and low-income households and end up pursuing more affordable, less-selective schools instead.” College can be a burden to many students in a variety of different ways, but the most common reason is due to funds. Making college free for students will help this problem by increasing jobs in the work industry that require degrees, they should be affordable to all people at all cost, as well as the funds should be completely cut off because it would increase jobs and help America's economy grow.
"Parents with incomes below $40,000 were much more likely to say they couldn 't afford college compared to those with higher incomes. The unsettling aspect of this poll is that in all likelihood, these parents ' perceptions mirror reality," says Tamara Draut, author of "Strapped”. She talks about how most middle class families can 't afford to put their children into college. The highest education they can get is a high school diploma, which we all know in this modern world it cant get you a lucrative job to maintain your whole life. Most American don 't get the chance to develop their full capabilities through higher schooling due to lack of resources like funds to enable them see their full potential. People will say that education is meant for people who can afford to go. And already the government has made schooling from pre-k to high school free for all public school, so making community colleges free will cost the state about 60 billion dollars as said by the white house spokesman Eric Schultz . Education must not be limited to only privilege people,it should be universal for anybody willing to educate themselves to make their life better and help grow Americas economy reducing
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college tuition and relevant fees have increased by 893 percent (“College costs and the CPI”). 893 percent is a very daunting percentage considering that it has surpassed the rise in the costs of Medicare, food, and housing. As America is trying to pull out of a recession, many students are looking for higher education so they can attain a gratified job. However, their vision is being stained by the dreadful rise in college costs. College tuition is rising beyond inflation. Such an immense rise in tuition has many serious implications for students; for example, fewer students are attending private colleges, fewer students are staying enrolled in college, and fewer students are working in the fields in which they majored in.
Steve Cohen shows the disparity between the rising cost of college and a family’s capability to afford it. Cohen explains “Tuition has risen almost 1,200 percent in the last 35 years, and the sticker price for many four-year private colleges and out-of-state public universities exceeds $250,000.” Moreover, he goes on to say that even at public universities, it is about $80,000 for four years for tuition and other college related expenses. Later in his article, Cohen explains how this leaves middle-class families in a very uncomfortable situation. The parents or other money-making entities in the household want their student to go to college and earn a degree, but now there can be an element of stress in figuring out how the fees will be paid for. Furth...
Not everyone has to have a diploma to prosper. And you would be right; Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Stacey Ferreira are just a few of the many successful people without a college degree. Consider this, the top 1 percent of wage earners in the U.S. earn almost $500,000 per year. The odds of anyone making it to the top are low, even with a college degree, but the odds are better than those with no college education. Of those with college degrees, roughly eight in 1,000 make it into the upper field of income earners. For those without a college degree, the odds drop as low as three out of 1,000. While that may seem unrealistic, on average people with a bachelor’s degree or higher earn about $20,000 more a year than those without a
Introduction: In the essay America’s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor’s Degree by Marty Nemko argues that attending college does not benefit most students. Many of us grow up believing that going to college is the best option to get good jobs, even if we did not do so well in college. In this essay, we explore statistics presented by Nemko to get a better idea if college is worth the time and money spent on the benefits of having a diploma.
Rep. Dick Zimmer predicts that at the current rate of rising college costs, by the year 2000 the average price tag for attending a four-year public university will be over $50,000 and the average four-year cost at a private university will exceed $104,000. (College costs continue to climb, 14) During the years between 1970 and 1994, the consumer price index increased just under four times, but the average cost of tuition, room, and board at four-year public colleges went up nearly five times, and private college costs rose almost seven times, from just under $3,000 to over $20,000. According to the U.S. News Cost of College Index, the average middle-class worker must now labor 95 days to pay for a year at an average private college. Two decades ago, it took slightly more than half as long to pay for the same education. (Elfin, 90) By 1994, the average four-year cost at a private college was over three times the typical family's annual income. (Reiland, 59) However, The College Board recently announced that US college tuition and fees for 1996-97 increased at nearly the same rate as they had in the previous year, adding that the more than $50...
Having the college experience is everyone’s dream, especially High School students who are ready to get out into the world and explore. College is very important for furthering someone’s career, but no one thinks about all the costs and the stress that comes along with college. Tuition fees and costs are increasing more and more each year. Now days it feels like you have to be a millionaire just to attend a good college and get a good degree in what you were attending for. There are some students that do not have a lot of money and live on very little things with their parents, but indeed are very smart and have a 4.0 GPA. Those students are the ones that are unable to attend college if they cannot afford it. College tuition is too expensive,
Consequently, lower, regulated tuition will make college more accessible for those who are worse off. College should not just be limited to the wealthy. Senator Bernie Sanders once said, "Education should be a right, not a privilege. We need a revolution in the way that the United States funds higher education." (Sanders, Bernie. U.S. Capital rally. March 27, 2015) It should not matter where one lives or where they are on the social ladder. What should matter is if a student wants to open his or her mind, learn from a college
A college education is necessary today in society. Students can focus on their academics and try to get a high score. The cost of education for each student has become more difficult to afford. Thus, many students and teachers wonder if free college tuition must be granted. Free education must be responsible and funded by the U.S. government because it will help students focus on their studies, and encourage them to work harder in school. Even thought many people think that education must be free, it is very important for many reasons such as the economy, quality of education, and value of a college degree.
By attending college, students guarantees themselves a better job that the average Joe. Because the world is changing rapidly, and many jobs rely on new technology, more jobs require education beyond high school. With a college education, an individual will have more jobs from which to choose. In addition to obtaining a better job, people who go to college usually earn more money than those who do not. College furnishes you with proper credentials and documents to land high-level jobs. Figures from an A&E television program on ‘The Working Class’ show that in 2004 the average earnings were $23,895 for a high school graduate and $41,478 for individuals with a bachelor’s degree. Getting a college education is simply a stepping stone in ensuring yourself with a good start in life. Some may agree that college students are open minded and knows exactly how to expre...