Causes Of College Tuition

College tuition has increasingly become one of the leading policy issues. Tuition prices have risen, and continue to rise, over the past few years. Many studies show that “tuition and fees have been rising faster than inflation for nearly three decades” (GHK, 413). The data given on the increasing tuition and fees is shocking and often a painful sight for those considering college. Some of the reasons for the growing tuition prices are faculty salaries, information technology, student services, academic support, and administration. Over the past few decades, cuts in funding and increases in tuition have shifted costs from the states to the students. There are important questions to ask such as why tuition is so high, and how can we look to

One of the major reasons given as to why college costs so much is that the state government has decreased its support for higher education. For example, over a span of 25 years the government support per student decreased by $2,591. On average, states are spending 17 percent less on higher education than they were prior to the recession. Another article from the American Council on Education provides a study, based on trends beginning in 1980, showing that the “average state fiscal support for higher education will reach zero by 2059.” States are decreasing their support for higher education and some will reach zero prior to the estimated 2059 deadline based on when they began reducing investments and what trends they have followed. This leads to an increase in tuition costs directly to the students, fueled by inflation, competition, and recruiting out-of-state students at higher

Not only do the students suffer, but the faculty take a hit as well. Students are being forced to come up with more and more money every year. Faculty are being released from their departments. Fewer courses are being offered each semester. These are just a few of the many impacts of state funding cuts. College is becoming less affordable and less attainable for those in need of a degree to thrive in today’s competitive society. By cutting funding from higher education, states are diminishing their middle class and taking away from the skilled workers that would have come from a college or university, but cannot afford