Benefits Verses Cost At what point do we say enough? Most of us can agree, these days the cost to attend some four-year universities can be extremely overwhelming. What exactly are students paying for anyways? There are many higher education videos and articles available to date in any college library, which ask this exact same question. I believe that if the powers that be cared more about the benefits and quality of higher education than they did about lining their own pockets, the cost of going to college would be considerably more affordable. The benefits of going to college may outweigh the cost if getting a degree makes students more marketable, secures job placement, and if the future salary is greater in return than the investment …show more content…
There are many who believe the higher the tuition the better the education the student will receive. Nemko stated that even though some high school students are able to make it through college, he offered that the benefit for those students would not outweigh the “often six figure cost.” $100,000.00! What exactly are students are paying for? William Deresiewicz, who wrote “The Miseducation of America,” spoke of “institutional competition, expansion, and borrowing” as well as “administrative bloat, the rise of the “party track” and its concomitant amenities.” I believe this may be the bulk of what students are paying for in main stream universities. Colleges should promote what they have to offer based on what students are able to learn during the time spent at college, not based on which colleges have the most available amenities. Charging more for tuition can be beneficial to a college and its board members. However, it does not always seem beneficial to the students attending or family members paying the tuition fees. Nemko argues that “institutions tend to educate students in the cheapest way possible” and goes on to say that colleges offer big and small classes, but that the classes are being taught by teacher’s assistants and not professors. I believe that if a college is going to charge so much for students to attend, its classes should be taught by an actual professor. Deresiewicz emphasizes that “colleges and universities have a lot to answer for.” He states that “if they want to regain their support of the larger society, they need to prove that they are worthy of it.” One way to do this would be for colleges and universities to take all the funds they are putting elsewhere and invest it into the college professors. Professors should know that
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
In addition, the writer of “The Benefits of a College Degree” wrote that”One of the most important and obvious reasons to earn a college degree is to increase your earning potential”(“The Benefits”). While it is true that college is indubitably expensive, the years of learning a particular trade or skill for the future of career of these students is important and worth the cost. Also, students can apply for a variety of scholarships for different amounts of money to help pay for college and lower the amount of debt caused by schooling. Furthermore, multiple students believe that a college education is not needed for their future and that they can get good paying jobs without it. This philosophy does not apply to any good paying careers with the exception of the military and some construction jobs. The good paying jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree in many cases, except for a few that require an
In the article “Learning by Degrees” by Rebecca Mead describes both sides of the argument is college worth the money. Rebecca tells us the benefits of going to college by giving examples of certain degrees that are paying well and have a good hiring rate. For example college students who earn a degree in business have a 44% chance of making it into a job right out of college or students majoring in economics have a good starting pay around $50,000 per year and could get to over $100,000 before they retire. Both of those examples show why college is a good investment and will get people better jobs.
Based on Three Reasons College Still Matters, there are three main reasons why a college education is so important. From an economical standpoint, an education is most of the time needed to earn enough money to live comfortably. Attending and completing college provides a possibility for future economic stability. Within a highly competitive workforce a college degree can put a foot in the door to a job of a person’s choice. Statistics show that people who obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher get paid more than those who do not obtain one. Many question the worth of a college degree because of how expensive it is, though some say that the money spent is an investment on a person’s future. One can say that the worth of a college education is within the eye of the beholder. Many q...
Rep. Dick Zimmer predicts that at the current rate of rising college costs, by the year 2000 the average price tag for attending a four-year public university will be over $50,000 and the average four-year cost at a private university will exceed $104,000. (College costs continue to climb, 14) During the years between 1970 and 1994, the consumer price index increased just under four times, but the average cost of tuition, room, and board at four-year public colleges went up nearly five times, and private college costs rose almost seven times, from just under $3,000 to over $20,000. According to the U.S. News Cost of College Index, the average middle-class worker must now labor 95 days to pay for a year at an average private college. Two decades ago, it took slightly more than half as long to pay for the same education. (Elfin, 90) By 1994, the average four-year cost at a private college was over three times the typical family's annual income. (Reiland, 59) However, The College Board recently announced that US college tuition and fees for 1996-97 increased at nearly the same rate as they had in the previous year, adding that the more than $50...
Free higher education has several economic benefits for students and for the government. According to Thomas Mortenson from the American Council on Education, tuition has risen 230% at state universities and 164% at community colleges since 1980. Student loan debt has reached 1 trillion dollars. As stated by Scott Hines, the founder of the World Education University, “the return on investment just isn’t there.” Many students choose to drop out or skip college altogether because of the high costs. These issues will be resolved if the government funds colleges and more people will be able to graduate. Currently, the government spends billions of dollars on academic programs with very low graduation rates, around 30% (Samuels). This is because colleges spent too much money on luxuries and amenities, and as a result, they raise tuitions while the quality of instruction remains the same. If higher education were government funded and caps placed on tuitio...
Since the 1973-74 school year to the 2008-2009 school year, the price of attending a four-year public or private school has roughly tripled after adjusting for inflation according to College Board. (Update). The current price of college tuition leaves students with many problems in order to receive a college degree which most careers today require. Attending college is part of the “American Dream” and the freedoms that this great country offers but when students can not afford the freedoms we offer, then it becomes a problem. Most college students are left with substantial amounts of debt restricting them from further advancing in their careers after they graduate and the average family can not keep up with the rising costs of education and have to resort to finding other ways to get the desperately needed money. College Tuition--tripling in 40 years, leaving students with large amounts of debt, accounting for 3.3% of the total U.S. gdp-- should be lowered.
On a daily basis I see students including my self-waking up at 8:00 to attend class, going to work at 3, and then working until 10 o’clock at night. Students are so concerned about trying to keep their debt down that they barley have sufficient time to study. Students are having to do this simply to pay for their education. However, covering the outrageous cost of tuition is not all that has to be paid for. What about books for 12+ credit hours? According to the University of Tennessee-Knoxville website they predict that their students will spend on average $1,598 a year just on books alone (One Stop). Beyond this number students still have to buy food and other necessitates one must have. College should be more affordable because although many states do offer some assistance it is simply not enough to make a significant difference. For example, the tuition at my University cost $12,436, while the state of Tennessee’s lottery program does offer 3,500 dollars, I am still left with a costly $8,936 to come up with (One Stop). Furthermore, since the majority of students make minimum wage it doesn’t allow students to make enough money to pay tuition alone without the student
As McArdle points out, the cost for a college education has gone up over the years, leaving students in debt. I agree with this statement, because a college education was more affordable years ago and now it has doubled it’s cost. According to the article, McArdle states “The average price of all goods and services has risen about 50 percent. But the price of a college
Should college be expensive as it is now? I believe that college prices are fair because each individual student determines the price and what they are willing to pay for. College is a big business, which means they got a lot of bills to pay for and to keep the system running. There are many ways students can earn money to help bring down the cost of tuition. Thirdly, there are other alternatives to pay for education at a lower price.
College is one of the most fundamental institutions in our modern world. It is a place where most of our future politicians, doctors, scientists, and leaders are made. Though, it seems that the price tag that comes with a college education is something that is too hefty for some students. Countless debates go on about whether the price of college should be abolished or whether the cost still is on the students to pay for.
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
While some may say that college tuition is a fair amount of money to pay for education, I say, along with many others, that college tuition is a broken system that robs students and their families and is responsible for hundreds of thousands of students in debt. College tuition should be lowered because the average family can’t afford it, the system is unfair, and way too many Americans are in debt because of the high prices.
In today’s society, the idea of receiving a college education has been pondered quite a bit as to whether or not it is actually worth it. According to Michelle Adam, many people “…today believe that getting a good education is key to success in our society, this revealed surprising issues that challenge the notion of higher education being worth its price tag” (59). Naturally, many high school graduates apply for college right before or after graduation. Others decide to go into the work force, armed forces, or simply remain unemployed. The question that many people debate about is, is a college education worth it in the long run? Though some people believe a college education will benefit ones’ career, others believe it will cause a mass of debt and loans for college students and graduates, and postpone life events.
The first reason why one may say that college tuition isn’t too much is because they aren’t paying for it. There are students who are attending colleges and institution on scholarships and grants. They don’t have to worry about the costs because the government has given them free money to go to school because of their academics, athletic abilities, or any other ability one may possess. The second reason why one may say that college tuition isn’t too much is because they went to college years ago when the costs of everything regarding school was cheap. As it was stated earlier, college tuition is increasing every year. When these people were in school tuition wasn’t really much of concern. In California as of 2015, the tuition cost for attending a California State University is over $6,000 and over $13,000 for the University of California school systems (Henshaw). 10-20 years ago college students didn’t have to worry about the high costs and it was more affordable to go to school. The final reason why someone may say that college tuition isn’t too much is because they didn’t choose to go to school at all. If you didn’t go to college you wouldn’t have to worry about school