Argument Essay on College Tuition

Over the past decade, it has become evident to the students of the United States that in order to attain a well paying job they must seek a higher education. The higher education, usually a college or university, is practically required in order to succeed. To be able to attend these schools and receive a degree in a specific field it means money, and often a lot of it. For students, the need for a degree is strong, but the cost of going to college may stand in the way of a successful future. Each year the expense of college rises, resulting in the need for students to take out loans.

As today’s struggling economy copes with unemployment, inflation, and low job expansion more and more people are entering the arena to higher education to make their way to the middle class. With this increasing surge in the market traditional public universities and colleges are approaching capacity and are becoming highly elitist in their way of acceptance for enrollment, also, many of these aspiring students are first generation college-goers from low-income families and don’t find appeal in the traditional “liberal arts” college experience, or are adults who are in dead end careers and want to get their dream job. These students are career driven and want a degree that focuses on the job they seek. To answer this niche in the market independent for-profit institutions, such as the University of Phoenix, have created pseudo “shortcut” degrees that they advertise will put students in the exact job they want before they even graduate, and have them on the fast track to success. With huge catalogues of degrees that all boast to be industry accredited, and to be attainable in two and a half years cause these institutions attract tens of thousands.

If you are interested in going to college, this may be important information for you to read. College costs steadily increase and it would be beneficial to you to know how to cut college costs and get financial aid. College is important to get a better job and live with a smaller amount of financial struggle. The effects of the steady increase in the cost to go to college will probably draw people away from going to college. With higher costs there may be less people, more stress for people in college, and a possible financial struggle for anyone who pays the higher costs.

Low wage jobs, underemployment, and high unemployment rates have forced individuals striving for 'the American dream', upward class mobility, and a greater education to choose indebtedness, often at prices they can not and will not be able to afford. The vast amount of borrowed money is not only damaging the lives, productivity, and standard of living of individuals, but also the economy, and needs to be resolved. With society's stress on the necessity to obtain a college education in order to get a well-paying job, be considered successful, and have a higher quality of life, everyone desires a degree and many try for one. However, the typical middle-class family cannot afford to attend college without taking on moderate amounts of debt, and largely depending on scholarships and grants to send themselves or their children. Lower-class families have an exceedingly difficult time getting a college degree, living in low-income neighborhoods with poor public schools does not produce the competitive ... ... middle of paper ... ...are of Young Adults Live in Their Parents' Home.” Pew Research and Social & Demographic Trends.

For example, we see students switching majors because that are far too difficult or people taking on the more academically challenging courses so they can make the most money possible. Yet at the end of the day, I still believe that going to college and receiving your degree and learning what you have is beneficial if you make the most out of your college experience. The suffering and challenges you may go through during college may be hard at the time, but it all depends what you make of it. There are many viewpoints into whether or not college is worth its cost. Some believe college is worth the money, and some believe it is not.

Most expect that by attending college and graduating they will be able to find a good paying career with benefits in a field that will interest them. It seems that from high school it is drilled into our heads that we must attend college to be successful in life and contribute to our society. However, college graduates often find themselves working in a field that is unrelated to their degree. This could be due to how many people are also trying to apply for jobs in that specific field, or it could be that that job does not provide them with enough money to live off. The most important thing that students really need to ask themselves before they attend college is, “is a college degree really enough in today’s world to get a good career and a well-paying job?” The last thing that a college graduate expects is to be working at McDonalds and living with their parents.

The high school senior is bombarded with a myriad of higher education choices upon graduation. Ivy-league schools, public universities, private colleges, as well as community colleges are vying for the students’ enrollment. Anticipation of college life also brings a startling revelation of increased tuition rates for most parents. Historically factors affecting rising tuition rates include supply and demand, excessive strategies, exorbitant spending, and decreased state and government spending. Too often families and/or students are faced with the difficult choice of securing loans to finance an education.

The last thing students want for their future is having to work to pay off their college debts. Like I mentioned earlier, college is the next step in life, meaning it helps to open more opportunities in having a successful and happier future. However, this is not the case, Universities and Community colleges need more money to provide students and faculties with newer and higher resources such as healthcare, constant technology updates and software, and disability services. The following three articles attempts to explain the reasons of increasing tuition, how it is affecting students, and what is currently being done to solve this issue. Rising Tuition Affecting College Rates In an article called The three reasons tuition is rising by Matthews (2013), he addresses two main issues to why tuition cost keeps rising.

There was a time in America where college was based solely on merit, higher education and pursuing the American Dream to obtain a career and gain social status to be successful in society. According to the Economist newspaper, rising fees and increase of student debt, shared with dwindling financial and educational returns, are undermining at least the perception that university is a good investment. Now due to high cost of an average good university, students are leaving college owing back over $100,000 and are not getting the job of their original dreams. Colleges have failed to stabilize tuition cost and has risen almost triple the cost since the 80’s in reference to The Economist news paper. In our country only 57% of Americans will be able to successfully complete their four-year college degree within six years as high tuition costs remains.

26 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Feb. 2015. Ross, Andrew. “Mortgaging the Future: Student Debt in the Age of Austerity.” New Labor Forum (Sage Publications Inc.) 22.1 (2013): 23-28.