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Controversies on rising college tuition
Student debt in america essay
Student debt in america essay
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American culture has embedded the idea that education is essential for a successful and thriving future; however, the price for higher education has increased almost 82% since 1980 (Shabazz). On the contrary, minimum wage, jobs, and government programs have been stagnant. Students are expected to pay back steep student loans with mediocre jobs and deficient wages. This ignorant concept leaves students with an absurd amount of debt that is practically impossible to pay off within a reasonable amount of time. Student debt creates a long-term financial struggle that can deter future socioeconomic decisions and opportunities. The American Government has inadvertently created a system that undermines “The American Dream” while trying to pursue it. The tuition has been at a constant increase for the past three decades for many reasons. The simplest reason is that inflation continues to rise. Inflation is an increase in the overall level of prices, including products used by colleges to function (Flynn pg 532). …show more content…
Today students are much more likely to both borrow and work-- and given the desires of students and their families to avoid taking out loans, it is clear that this behavior is not based on a change in preferences… Debt has implications not only for financial capabilities post-college but also for the odds of completing a degree in the first place.” 3 Low income families hold the largest student loan debt, even while using the Pell Grant, because they don’t have extra cash to throw towards loans when they are paying for essentials like food, utilities, rent, etc. When comparing impoverished families and wealthy families’ loan debt, impoverished families owe around 70% of their income to loans, while wealthy families only owe 10% (Rab pg 94). For the majority of Americans, giving 70% of your income would be undoable especially for families below the poverty
Martin and Lehren’s article “A Generation Hounded by the Soaring Cost of College” addresses the issue faced by current and former college students dealing with large amounts of debt due to student loans. The article presents the reader with stories of former college students who have either graduated or dropped out, and their struggle to pay off their student loans. The article also talks about issues such as students not being informed about high amounts of student loans and why student debts have increased. Martin and Lehren also make the issue of student debt more intimidating by giving examples of high amounts of student loans students have had. The article gives a very hard reality check to anyone reading as to how bad the problem of student debt is.
The second chapter of this book advocates students to attend college, even if they must take on a moderate amount of student loan debt. They give statistics showing the tremendous gap in wages between a college graduate and a non-college graduate. The third chapter of this book argues the opposite viewpoint of the second chapter. The author states that the cost of college today is too high and that there are too many college graduates flooding the job market causing many of them to go unemployed or seek low level jobs that do not pay enough to pay off their student loans. Both of these chapters will help me to show the two main ...
As The “Progress of Education Reform” suggests, tuition discounting is major contributor to the rising cost of college in the sense that while it provides a tuition discount to the one particular student receiving the grant or scholarship it places a heavier burden on the majority demographic that attends the university without such discounting. (The Progress of Education Reform” 1). In contrast to popular opinion, scholarships and grants which are normally regarded as blessings are ironically a contributing factor to rising tuition prices. Basically, the universities have to make up for the money they lost by awarding the scholarships so the majority of the student population who did not qualify feel it in their pocketbooks. A final cause of this ludicrous tuition spike is the shift in university budgets to cater to the administration departments of the schools. Jobs in this department are non-teaching jobs that provide student services ranging from student safety to counseling and wellness programs. These jobs are definitely
Today in America, “The average Class of 2016 graduate has $37,172 in student loan debt, up six percent from last year. $1.28 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt...44.2 million Americans with student loan debt”(U.S. Student Loan Hero, 1). We spend our lives working, learning, and trying to survive. In order to survive, we need to be educated. In order to be educated, we need money. To collect money, we need a good paying job. And in order to have a job, we need to be educated. It’s a large cycle that goes around in circles, and we can’t seem to find a steady way to help provide these things for everyone. While we all strive to make the best of every situation, money has become an issue, creating problems in many lives around the world. “According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2016–2017 school year was $33,480 at private colleges, $9,650 for state residents at public colleges, and $24,930 for out-of-state residents attending public universities” (COLLEGEdata, 1). And it’s not easy to have a positive look on the American dream when our own president in spouting things like “Sadly, the American Dream is dead” (President Donald
An education is one of the most important tools a person can acquire. It gives them the skills and abilities to obtain a job, earn a wage, and then use that wage to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, due to the seemingly exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being driven away entirely from earning a degree or taking out student loans which cripple their financial prospects well after graduation. Without question, the increasing national student loan debt is one of the most pressing economic issues the United States is dealing with, as students who are debt ridden are not able to consume and invest in the economy. Therefore, many politicians and students are calling on the government to forgive their student loan debts so that through their spending the slowly recovering economy can finally return to its pre-2008 strength.
The price of a four year institution has soared over three hundred percent in the past twenty-five years or so. We would have to factor in general inflation numbers in order to figure out the real significance. After that, we see that in those twenty-five years, tuition has risen at a rate of two to four times that of the national inflation. That has not been the case with college, however, as enrollments only continue to go up. Ultimately this means that families are paying for a luxury they can no longer afford with money they don’t have. Families are looking at an expense that is thirty-eight
Allan and Davis mention the spike of college cost since 1995 has increased by 150 percent; student debt has increased 300 percent since 2003, and with education, second to the mortgage industry in the nation’s debt, America needs to redirect their attention to the future and focus on education (Allan n. pg). Budget cuts from national to state
It is a norm and expectation in society today for students to pursue higher education after graduating from high school. College tuition is on the rise, and a lot of students have difficulty paying for their tuitions. To pay for their tuitions, most students have to take out loans and at the end of four years, those students end up in debt. Student loan debts are at an all time high with so many people graduating from college, and having difficulties finding jobs in their career fields, so they have difficulties paying off their student loans and, they also don’t have a full understanding of the term of the loans and their options if they are unable to repay.
Children of the twenty first century spend nearly 13 years in school, preparing for what is college, one of the only ways to achieve the so-called “American Dream”. College is the best way to start an advanced career and go further than one possibly could if college degrees were not available, allowing people to achieve their view of the American Dream; whether it be large houses, shiny cars, multiple kids, or financial comfort, college is the stepping stone to achieve the American Dream. But all great things come with a price, college dragging along debt. Students who attend college struggle to find ways to pay for it, leading to applying for student loans. These loans a great short term, paying for the schooling at the moment but eventually the money adds up
When it comes to achieving success in the working industry and accomplishing a successful career an education is important. Getting a degree is essential to be successful. The issue is the higher the education the person wants the higher the cost is. Nowadays, not everyone can afford paying out of pocket for an education, which mean that students are forced to take out large amount of student loans to achieve that degree. Student debt is an ongoing problem, students are gaining oversized debts that most of the time if not ALL are defaulting and jeopardizing future credits. How much debt it too much debt? Everyone should have the liberty to
A college education has become the expectation for most youth in the United States. Children need a college education to succeed in the global economy. Unfortunately for the majority of Americans the price of an education has become the equivalent to a small house. The steep tuition of a college education has made it an intimidating financial hurdle for middle class families. In 1986-1987 school year the average tuition at a private university was $20,566 (adjusted to 2011 dollars) while in 2011 the average cost was $28,500 for an increase of 38.6%. Similarly in public universities there has been an increase in tuition: in the 1986-1987 school year the average tuition at a public university was $8,454 (adjusted to 2011 dollars) while in 2011 the average cost was actually $20,770 for an increase of 145.7%. Most families who are able to save for college try to do so, therefore their children are not left with large amounts of debt due to loans. Nevertheless, families are only able to save on average around $10,000, which is not enough to pay for a full educ...
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.
Over the last few decades, college tuitions and fees have increased by over one thousand percent, surpassing every category associated with the cost of living including food and medical. This unprecedented rise in cost has resulted in an avalanche of issues for young and middle-age adults. As, a result of steep student loan amounts, graduates are being forced to move back with their parents, fewer young people are becoming homeowners, they are delaying retirement saving, and are dropping out of college at an alarming rate of nearly fifty percent. With all the controversy surrounding the topic of increasing college cost, the revised income-driven repayment program has been created to help borrowers pay back student loans according to their income.
With the ever-increasing tuition and ever-tighten federal student aid, the number of students relying on student loan to fund a college education hits a historical peak. According to a survey conducted by an independent and nonprofit organization, two-thirds of college seniors graduated with loans in 2010, and each of them carried an average of $25,250 in debt. (Reed et. al., par. 2). My research question will focus on the profound effect of education debt on American college graduates’ lives, and my thesis statement will concentrate on the view that the education policymakers should improve financial aid programs and minimize the risks and adverse consequences of student loan borrowing.
In that year, the number of college graduates was only 432,058 (Sourmaidis) and ever since the demand continually increased as did price. This trend allowed for the student loan crisis to occur, which is a problem we face today. As of 2016, American students have accrued a massive 1.3 trillion in student loan debt. Just 10 years ago, the nation’s balance was only $447 billion (Clements). This ever-present cumulative burden has caused many post graduate Americans to delay important life events such as marriage, homeownership and children because of this substantial encumbrance (Clements).