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The rising cost of higher education
The rising cost of higher education
What brings about the rising cost of education
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In today 's high-tech economy, Americans believe that higher education as a key to the American Dream. Over the years college education has completely replaced a high school diploma as the gateway to the middle class, high school diplomas just don 't cut it anymore. However in conjunction to this belief is a very high price tag in the form of tuition fees. College education is something that most people are expected to have yet it is still something that a significant portion of the population simply cannot afford without going into massive debt with student loans. It seems to have become more of a privilege to those with higher income considering everyone else can 't afford it. "College students who fail to find employment at the level needed to pay back their loans in a reasonable amount of time have even been compared to the debtors under sub-prime mortgages whose homes are worth less than what is owed to the bank"(Psychological Today). So how exactly does higher education determine how much it will cost? It depends whether or not it is a private university, which can then charge however much they feel like charging their students or a public university, which uses a combination of public funds from federal and state government and tuition. Public universities are meant to be more of an affordable, yet competitive alternative …show more content…
It accounts for a quarter of the tuition increase at public colleges and a third of the increase at private colleges." He also found that regulations such as reporting requirements adds to the college costs which adds in to the tuition costs. Because of deregulation, a 90 percent increase in average cost in tuition and fees has been seen in public universities(Texas Higher Education Coordinating
One statistic that Owen and Sawhill presented was “Hamilton Project research shows that 23- to 25-year-olds with bachelor’s degrees make $12,000 more than high school graduates but by age 50, the gap has grown to $46,500 (Figure 1). When we look at lifetime earnings—the sum of earnings over a career—the total premium is $570,000 for a bachelor’s degree and $170,000 for an associate’s degree. (Owen, Sawhill pg 641). Owen and Sawhill also mention that “with tuitions rising faster than family incomes, the typical college student is now more dependent than in the past on loans, creating serious risks for the individual student and perhaps for the system as a whole, should widespread defaults occur in the future. Federal student loans now total close to $1 trillion, larger than credit card debt or auto loans and second only to mortgage debt on household balance sheets” (Owen, Sawhill pg 642). Basically, what the authors are saying is college is expensive, but for some career paths, the training and education received in college is necessary to have that job and the benefits outweigh the costs. With a high paying career where a college education is necessary, paying off student loans is no problem. On the other hand, people who go after low paying careers that don’t necessarily need a college degrees,
Vedder explains that universities in general believe that they can raise the price of tuition because due to the increasing amount of government aid to education, most notably student loans, the families haven’t been too concerned with the rising cost of education. He claims that there is a vicious circle in regards to university financing. In the first year, the tuition would be increased and to deal with the political pressure that comes with it, Congress makes student loans more accessible and affordable. As a result of this, the demand for education becomes greater and as such, the colleges are then able to raise prices again which would result in more political pressure and thus, more affordable loans. In order to deal with this growing problem, Vedder believes that the best way to do that would be to simply stop allowing these third parties to give more money when the tuition increases. By doing this, it would make the student more aware of the price of tuition, thus not as likely to enroll at a university with a relatively high cost of tuition.
Individuals are struggling nowadays to acquire an education higher than a high school diploma. One of the main reasons for this issue could be very well the price it is to attend college. The prices have skyrocketed throughout the years. A lot of the people who attend college have to take out a “student loan,” just so they can get by. I believe one should not need to be in serious debt before they even graduate, all because they want to go out and further their education, and become successful in their life. College is a popular topic for most and Sanford J. Ungar and Charles Murray has a unique way of explaining both their opinions.
A challenge that all seniors face at the end of their high school career is the decision that will shape the rest of their future. Will it be Harvard, Ivy Tech, or a job at the nearest fast food joint? Of course, there is nothing wrong with not going to college, but for the people of society who plan to marry and have at least three children, it is almost essential. After making this decision, the seniors who choose to attend college must then decide which one. Campus size, housing, nearby activities, and available degrees and study programs are all important traits to consider when searching for the perfect college.
Once a person graduates from high school they are left with a difficult decision, wither to go to college or not. Some families this is not an option, their kid will go no matter what, but many students do not want to go to school and have so much student debt by the time they finish that they will have to pay off that they decide that college is not worth it. According to Craig Smith in his article in Education Digest he says, “too many families cannot afford to send their children to college so the student is left with making the decision on wither to go to college and collect debt or just skip college altogether” (Smith 42). He has a good point. Too many students feel like they have to pay so much yet they are not really getting much out of it. Smith later on in his article states, “We must stop balancing our state and institutional budgets on the backs of students and families” (Smith 46). School should not be all about money, it should be about helping the students get the education that they need so they can make it out in the big world. If a student is so worried about how they are going to pay their school bill they are not going to be focusing on their class work and it ...
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
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...
Anyone can see that over the past number of years, college tuition and overall costs to attend a university have skyrocketed and is at an all-time high. Although, most people are not too sure why this has happened. According to authors Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman in the article, “Explaining Increases in Higher Education Costs,” there are two opposing arguments as to why this has occurred over the years. These include the Cost Disease argument, which was William Baumol and William Bowen’s view of the rising cost of education and the other was the Revenue Theory of Costs, which was Howard Bowen’s view of the topic. There are multiple goals throughout this article. A couple of the goals include explaining the two competing arguments
As the numbers of college graduates employment have increased for each years, many people have being debating that whether everyone should have college education and whether college education still worth it for everyone. Some people found that they did not gain the benefits that they wish from college education, and some people found that they still could not find the job they desire after they spent all the money they have on college education and being in heavy debts. Therefore, people started to believe that colleges are not designed for everyone, and force oneself to attend colleges could lead to negative outcomes. Consequently, people who cannot afford to attend colleges, who do not have adequate academic skills to be successful in colleges,
There are so many students who would extremely grateful to attend any four year institution but can’t because of the lack of funds. College life can be very stressful, and the process can is very frustrating to most students the first two years. When the cost of college tuition is compared to the 21 century financial economy the cost does not make sense, because for a middle-class family it is impossible to afford sending their child to any four-year institution. It hard for students to graduate with the stress to pay-off hundreds and thousands of dollars in loans. Going to college is stressful enough without the need to worry about how we’re going to pay for it and what other costs will continue to rise with getting a degree afterwards. With the current increase of unemployment rate and the thought of going to college seems like a farfetched goal. Many people choice not to attend a four year institution, because they did receive a scholarship or enough government funding. Having a college background is very important for professional growth, it will eventually limit career opportunities. My stand point is, you may not leave college doing the same thing you began with but the life experience is endless. College experience not only gives knowledge that builds you into a better person by giving a broader erosion. With the cost of tuition increasing will hurt our generation, by causing physical and mental stress but in the end it will all pay off. Not all colleges are for the blame; some of the blame is our economy and other factors play a big roll. As students we need to be aware of all our resources offered, such as Pell Grants, and government scholarships. For example, the some states will pay for a student’s college if they graduate high school with a GPA of 3.5 or higher. There are many states that are willing to pay for all or some of college tuition only if students are willing to use
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...
Kantrowitz' study also found that "Complying with the increasing number of regulations, in particular, with the reporting requirements, adds to college costs," therefore contributing to a rise in tuition to pay for these additional costs. Since deregulation, the average cost of tuition and fees at the state’s public universities has increased by 90%, according to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Of the 181 members of the state’s 83rd Legislature, more than 50 have voted at least once to advance efforts to end tuition deregulation, while fewer than 20 have consistently voted to uphold it. Many have never voted on the issue, and more than 40 members are freshmen. This rise, however, is not entirely negative. Tuition increases help universities make up for that in their budgets.
In today 's society, many young adults pay thousands of dollars to go to college to be able to get a good job in the future. However, as society continues to move forward many young adults are leaving their campuses with expensive degrees, while also still struggling to get a job. One of the things contributing to the growing risk of going to college is how increasingly expensive it is to go to school. Things like student loan debt are a major contributor to that expense. Casey Bond stated how “The growth of student loan debt is being compared to the recent housing crisis because of the significant growth of subsidized lending,” The primary goal of college used to about gaining new knowledge and becoming a better member of society. However,
To begin to understand this issue, we have to first examine the history and the context from which it arose. 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, The Augusta Chronicle). 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 others things that the school has to be able to pay for from the tuition from students.
Those who think a college education is not worth it believe that college can become a setback in life due to the thousands of dollars that college students are spending on tuition and books. Students who attend college will not have the money to purchase a home, spend money on family, vacations, or any other costly items and bills. On the other hand, most college students end up paying for their college loans all of their life or go into debt. They will never have money to rely on since their credit cards will be racking up interest for college loans that need to be paid off. As stated by Paul Taylor in Michelle Adam’s report, the cost of a college education has been at a record level and the cost of tuition and fees has more than tripled which is causing a rise in student debt (58). With rising prices, the economy is making it more difficult for people to afford a college education.