Documented Argument: Raising Tuition Prices

Why does college have to be the most expensive when we can’t afford even to pay half of our tuition just to stay in school right? In my Documented Argument, I attended to argue that the problem of rising tuition costs affects not only students, but also their families. Most average eighteen-year old’s planning on attending college don’t have enough money to pay for college, forcing them to rely on their parents for financial help and cause them to be in debt for their rest of their life’s. I want to be able to understand why the government rises the tuition and why they rely on the family’s income to see if they’ll get benefits or not. Raising tuition prices are starting to change people’s mind about what they really want to do with their life. My personal experience, why the government rises tuition and financial aid each year will gives us in insight about not giving the opportunity of an education to someone who has no money.

As I’ve made research, it all starts with your own personal experience College for me is most

important stepping stone in my life, but tuition stands in my, my parents way. Its keeps me from reaching and achieving what I’ve dreamed about being a sports medicine doctor one day. The tuition of colleges and universities, damages us college students financially. Scholarships are never guaranteed, so the only road left to take is taking out student loans. Everyone wants to be able to succeed in life and further their education, but the expense of college makes it extremely difficult. My parents have gone to the extreme to make sure my college is paid as much as I hate it that they pay at least 3,000 thousand a semester is just unexpectable, we shouldn’t be paying so much to get an education that people require us to get so bad so we won’t be working at a minimum wage job for the rest of our life’s. Instead of helping us it’s just a big burden in our life that we have to get through. I’ve proximally been in college for a year already. I read in one of my articles where it states “ How can field make money on new students when every time they raise tuition, they claim tuition is too high and can barely pay for half of the students” (swell,p.25) as for that I totally agree how do you expect to help pay for students when you guys keep raising the tuition, “The percentage of applicants who receive aid typically varies by income level and so does the amount of aid received” (swell,p.26) the kind of help these students get is by financial aid but some students don’t get it because there has been claims where parents make too much money and don’t qualify. I in the other hand, I qualify for financial aid my mother is the only provider at the house. My dad got hurt so he can’t work, so imagine my mom paying at least 3 thousand dollars a semester and still having to support the house hold and I still get financial aid that still doesn’t cover the cost of books, food and dorm living.
So why does the government rise the tutition each chance they get ? The rise of tuition is mainly due in part because the colleges need more money to upgrade and stay on top of the technology era. There are also many other reasons why tuition is on the rise though. One writer states that, "As almost every state reels from the effects of recession and tax cuts, legislatures slash funding for higher education, the largest discretionary item in most state budgets." (Reed Jr., p.25). Another writer states, "A need to improve facilities, state budgets that are declining and inflation are all contributing to the rising cost of higher education, and there appears to be no end in sight." (Gallagher, p.13). This same writer gives another reason, "Universities, private and public, have to raise tuition to cover the costs of new construction, renovations and technological advancements and to keep qualified professors." (The Augusta Chronicle). All of these statements show that there are many reasons why college tuition is on the rise, but they don't seem to make sense to me. There should be other ways that colleges are able to pay for these advances in technology and inflation besides just hiking up the tuition cost. The tuition cost is so high that they have plenty of money to pay for all of the technological advances that they want and still have money left over for other’s things that the school has to be able to pay for from the tuition from students.
Education is a very powerful thing; the saying knowledge is true As tuition costs are constantly rising more college students will face the sticker shock of acquiring a secondary education. Still struggling with flat economies, huge budget deficits, and ballooning college enrollments, many states significantly raised the cost of attendance (Arnone, p35). This leads to greater stress on family’s financial situations and less spending in the economy by the recent graduates due to their constant payments to the student loans that they acquired during the continuation of their education. With the prospect of family income being equal to the high college costs looming far beyond the horizon we have to ask why are tuition costs constantly rising, and what can be done to offset or slow its drastic ascent.
Another reason I can probably say for the increase in tuition cost is due to the reduction of state funding. Between 1984 and 2003 state funding dropped from sixty-two percent to thirty-eight percent of total expenditures (Micceri). This meant that what universities had previously been receiving to cover their costs of teaching, the youth of the world, was drastically reduced. By receiving severely reduced funding the colleges have had to find a way to cover their overhead cost so they turned to the simplest and fastest form of greater revenue, increased tuition for the students. A college will always have students that will pay for their education and because of this when the governmental subsidies were cut the students had to cover the monetary reduction that was incurred. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, prices for undergraduate tuition, room, and board at public institutions rose 42 percent which was faster than they had during either of the two preceding decades (Gothal). It is easily seen that colleges will continue growing as the years pass by and kids will start dropping out, because they can’t seem to afford the cost of college.
This issue is very close to me because I am attending college as I said before it’s a very big deal to me and among others. Hearing about their struggles with paying for college is something I hear about often and is something I constantly think about. Some of my friend’s parents are paying for their education and this is a great help to the students but this causes a strain on the parents and can make them decide to pull money out of their check(carpenter). While going to college is important it can be very tough to pay for it. Some students have to rely on student loans to pay, while others have parents who are paying for it, while others can’t go at all because it would be too hard financially and to their everyday life to be able to go. Finding the right way for you can be a process. While many jobs require a degree, the cost of getting one has risen very dramatically over the years. Colleges seem to be able to raise tuition with a moment’s notice and expect the student to deal with it. The government can only shake an angry finger at them because they don’t want to take complete control over the colleges all over America. How the parents, student, and government look at the cost, the need for a degree, and how they will pay for it determines how much they are willing to.
When the tuition cost is raised it benefits the students that can’t afford it because financial aid will pick up the difference having almost no difference in what they are paying without aid. This intern makes up for the wealthy students who will most likely not be compensated by the change in tuition prices. The problem will not be solved by lowering tuition but by increasing financial aid. The only way for an increase in financial aid is to raise tuition costs. Students pay different prices for financial aid depending on what their parent’s income is. The goal is to enhance quality not maximizing firm revenue. By increasing the effective tuition for some of our wealthier students, we might be able to reduce the price for some of the less wealthy By understanding the opposing view it has helped me shape my views a little bit. It also helps to know what kind of thought process they go through to understand how this will help the college tuition system. Still firmly believing that this is not the way to help tuition prices but the exact opposites. While this process of increasing tuition to help the wage gap, making the less wealthy students pays less in student loans. Only helps for a short time. Until tuition prices rise so much, that even that middle class students cannot afford it because the student loans will not cover it.
As you can see my specific audience I have been aiming this whole time, is towards parents, college students and the people that raises our college tuition.

The only reason I believe I’m aiming towards them because parents take up a huge role in college making sure their kid gets the best and goes to the best. For example, my parents play a big role in my life they make sure that they pay for my college even when they can’t, even when we’re living check by check just so I can get the education I deserve. As for students, this absolutely is for them this essay, we have so many questions we want answered. I know there’s students that don’t even have their parents to help them because they can’t so they have to do it on their own, can even bring t some discouragement to those students. Now the government the government takes a huge toll on this because as I said in the beginning we want answers and as I’ve been researching I’ve been getting

them.
This is not only an issue NMSU students have to face but, but people who want a prestigious education. Raising tuition prices are starting to change people’s mind about what they really want to do with their life. Not giving the opportunity of an education to someone who has no money sounds wrong and unfair. College tuition should be more affordable to students because increasing tuition prices give less of an opportunity to students who want an education.
The social norm today is presuming students to get good grades and work hard to go to college and get good jobs. However, receiving good grades and working hard in school isn’t always enough. Student’s that are eligible to get into the college of their choice are often cheated by tuition costs. Student aid is available, but not for every student. Every school offers workshops for student aid like grants and loans, but there are some who qualify and some that do not. Most students do not qualify for grants or financial aid because their parents earn too much. If they do qualify they still spend years paying off the debt. If tuition prices do not lower or change, students will be unable to finish college by not being able to pay their costs. Us students won’t be the only ones affected by this, but also our society. Some affects students could endure are increasing chances of dropping out of college, going to a 2-year community college, or lowering the chances of keeping a steady job. This could start to result into a cycle, As a NMSU student I would like to change the social norm in this situation.