Persuasive Essay On The Cost Of Education

Over the past few decades’ education costs have soared to all time highs, and are projected to rise even more in the coming years. According to the College Board, the average annual cost of tuition and fees at an in-state public university for the 2015/16 school year was $9,410, and for an out-of state public university was $23,893. Private universities were much more expensive with an average cost of $32,405. These totals still do not include the cost of room and board which averaged from $8,003 to $11,516. The high costs of education in the United States often hits the middle class the hardest, since they can not afford to pay the full amount, but do not qualify for many subsidies. Some students are lucky enough to get substantial scholarships,

They may start to wonder about the opportunity cost of college and what they might be giving up by paying for a college education. An opportunity cost is when you have to choose between two options and you judge the benefits of one over the other. In this case, someone could choose to go straight into the workforce after high school or to go to college. The student that chooses to go to college will likely have to pay around $70,000 for a four-year education. However, not only do they have to pay $70,000, they will also lose 4 years of income that they would have made had they chose not to go to college. Assuming that right out of high school they could have gotten a job for about $30,000 per year, the student that chose to go to college would be out $120,000 plus $70,000 for a total of $190,000. That $190,000 is the opportunity cost of a college education for that student. The invisible hand theory also plays a big role in how many people choose to attend college. The invisible hand uses the rise and fall of prices to guide our actions in a market. For example, if the price of something decreases, people will usually buy more, but if prices increase, people will buy less. This theory can apply to college tuition as well. As the price of tuition increases, less and less people are going to be able to afford to go to

Some examples of these include; Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Brazil, Slovenia, and Chile. There are a couple reasons that these countries are able to afford this. First, they have a lower percentage of students that enroll in college than we do in the United States. Second, they agree to pay higher taxes. The income tax in the United States falls anywhere between 10 percent to 39.6 percent depending on income. However, in countries with free college tuition the tax rates are much higher. Sweden has an income tax of 30 percent, Finland at 33 percent, and Denmark the highest at an incredible 42 percent. Let’s take a closer look at Germany and the United States. Each country spends its money differently based on priorities, size of the population, and politics, however, the three largest expenditures of most governments are military, health care, and education. Last year, The United States spent 19.3 percent on military and 17.1 percent on education. Germany on the other hand spent 3.3 percent of its budget on military and 9.5 percent on education (Wesley 2016). Simply put, it comes down to how the governments allocate their funds. Germany wants to spend more on education, while the United States would rather spend more on the