Cheaper College Tuition

In the article, “Freedom to Fail? The Board’s Role in Reducing College Dropout Rates.” by Stan Jones says, “ To retain students, boards should consider an approach to governance that reduces the time it takes for a student to graduate, lessens the number of choices, and provides more predictability and structure.”(Jones, Stan 20-23) At least the Boards and Government is taking charge of this issue because college dropout increasing and that can affect the future of this country. Although going to college in the United States is a high demand, there are many students who drop out in their first year school due to, high tuition, inadequate academic preparations and how their raised. One of the main reasons why students drop out is because of how they are raised. Parenthood is very important in a child’s life.

Department of Education, less people are enrolling in college. People are feeling more secure after the 2008 recession, and assume they might not need a college education to support themselves. But people were struggling when the 2008 recession hit, especially those without college degrees that helped them get jobs, and it is always a possibility that this recession may hit again. As stated above, this rising cost of tuition may also cause prospective students and their parents to decide against a college due to its high tuition price-tag. For those students who do decide to attend college, they are forced to take out loans provided by either the government or their university, which has a large interest rates.

In the meantime, colleges in the U.S have only become more expensive each year, and it’s greatly affecting graduating high school students since each student has to find a way to pay for his or her college tuition. The college graduates are then affected because they have to pay for the outrageous debt

Another cause of this is the inability of students to pay off their loans. Nearly two-thirds of college freshmen feel concerned about how to pay for college and almost the same amount graduate with debt (Marill and O’Leary 64-66, 93). Since high tuition and loans drastically affect a person, many students feel forced to take this into consideration when making plans for their future. Many plans and dreams that high school students have become altered when reality hits them about the cost of continuing their education. Therefore, students just cannot afford higher education.

In the United States attending a four year university has become a standard for many young adults. It has presumably become this way because in the current economy more and more jobs require a college degree. This is due to the increase of fields that need higher education as well as attending a university becoming more accessible to the masses thanks to financial aid. Financial aid opened the floodgates for college graduation, giving many people opportunities never previously offered to them, but that’s all it is, opportunity. Attending school has left many students with crippling student loan debt with only the opportunity to get a job in a market where the chances of getting a one are constantly diminishing.

If nothing is done to stop colleges and universities from increasing the cost of attending their school, the amount of time it takes for students to pay off their loans will become longer and longer. The extreme expenses to attend a college or university may leave a student in financial distress: which may ultimately lead to hardship in creating a living for them and affect the country’s economy. The cost of college tuition continues to increase each year. If this keeps increasing the way it has been, students will be indebted the rest of their life. Author of “The Looming Student Loan Crisis”, Jackson Toby states that student loans have increased along with the increase of tuition costs.

Based on research, some students are intimidated by the amount of money they will eventually have to pay back. Studies also show that college graduates are moving back in with their parents because the jobs they can get do not pay enough for them to pay to live and pay off their loans (Reed, Curtis “students in financial crisis.” 8. 27 February 2008). However, congress passed a law on August 2, 2011 that raised the ceiling on the amount a student can borrow. In an attempt to help more people afford college.

While college is a lofty goal for many, escalating tuition costs threaten the enrollment of lower income students. Obtaining a college degree is a major accomplishment, but can be quite hard to achieve. Jennifer Washburn, a fellow at the New America Foundation, confirms, “In 1979 students from the richest 25 percent of American homes were four times as likely to attend college as those from the poorest 25 percent; by 1994 they were ten times as likely” (140). If college costs become too expensive, students will just circumvent college altogether. High school graduates will opt to pursue employment opportunities instead of obtaining a higher education.

According to Abel and Deitz, “In recent years, students have been paying more to attend college and earning less upon graduation—trends that have led many observers to question whether a college education remains a good investment” (2014, p. 1). If the student cannot find a job that pays a decent amount of money, after graduation why should the government ‘fund it?. College costs are rising each year. Future generations may not be able to go to college because tuition will be too high. But Abel and Deitz explain the reasoning behind it, “The return has remained high in spite of rising tuition and falling earnings because the wages of those without a college degree have also been falling, keeping the college wage premium near an all-time high while reducing the opportunity cost of going to school” (2014, p. 1).

But for the middle class and low income families, they face tougher times being that they don 't have the financial help like higher class families do. For the middle class and low income families, it makes more sense attending a community and junior college rather than a four year university. Although a college education grows more and more expensive every year. People begin to question whether college is a good idea to invest in or not. “As college costs continue to rise, students and their families are looking more carefully at what they are getting for their money.