An examination of McLennan Community College data over the last ten years offers a good example of an institution that has met the challenges of increasing enrollments and reductions in state funding while maintaining indicators of quality and financial stability. As with most community colleges, the major sources of revenue for MCC are tuition and fees, state appropriations, and local taxes, as well as strong usage of federal funds. Similar to national trends, state funding for MCC plummeted from approximately 75% of total revenue in the late 1970s to approximately 25% of total revenue in 2012-13. To counter the loss in revenue the percentage of revenue from tuition increased from approximately 10% to almost 50% in that same period of time, while the percentage of revenue from local taxes increased from approximately 10% to just over 20%. Relative to State of Texas averages for other community colleges, MCC is in the bottom quartile with its maintenance and operation tax rate but represents the second highest in-district tuition rate in the state. (Institutional Dashboard, 2014)
Although the average net price of attendance for McLennan Community College students is well above the median measure for a self-selected peer group, the percent of students receiving grant aid is also well above the median measure for the peer group (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). This data supports the theory that institutions may offset losses in state funding by increasing revenue through substantial increases in tuition as long as the percentage of students receiving financial aid parallels the increases in net price of attendance.
The institutions percent of total expenses related to student services (4.8%), institutional suppor...
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..., but did not meet the established thresholds for Primary Reserve and Viability Ratio. Using the Composite Financial Index (CFI) as an overall calculation of financial health, however, MCC met the established state threshold for stability (Table 1.1) (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2012). According to the THECB (p. 20), the Composite Financial Index (CFI) “measures the overall health of an institution by combining four ratios into one metric. The four core ratios include return on net assets, operating margin, primary reserve, and viability ratio…The calculation process is taken directly from KPMG’s publication, Strategic Financial Analysis for Higher Education…A CFI below 2.0 calls into question the institution’s ability to carry out existing programs and effectively position itself for future success” (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2012).
One of the biggest issues that many students and parents have concerning college education is the cost. Due to the state of the economy, affording college has become very difficult. Fortunately, the government is able to provide financial assistance in addition to the University’s own financial aid. Case is a private institution which means that it costs more compared to a public college. The tuition for Case was approximately, $38,000 in 2007 not including living or book expenses. Even though there was a tuition rate increase for every following year. The only way I was able to afford the tuition at Case was because of the scholarship I earned. In addition, I received federal grants and a substantial amount of aid from the University. I did not have a free ride but I received a great deal of financial help to pay for my college education.
In all colleges in the United States, students are required to pay for their classes’ tuition either by themselves, their parents, guardians or a scholarship that they may have. The average tuition fee for an individu...
Community colleges and vocational tracks are not wrong about the high cost of traditional higher education. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, one year at a public, four-year institution costs upwards of $23,000 on average, while private institutions will cost nearly $10,000 more on average. Coupled with the fact that prices at public institutions rose 42 percent and private institutions rose 31 percent between 2001 and 2011, it’s not a shock that parents and students alike worry about paying for college. However, this won’t always be the case, as this rise in prices simply cannot continue the way it has. Eventually, people will be unable to pay the price that colleges charge. They will either settle for com...
Allan and Davis mention the spike of college cost since 1995 has increased by 150 percent; student debt has increased 300 percent since 2003, and with education, second to the mortgage industry in the nation’s debt, America needs to redirect their attention to the future and focus on education (Allan n. pg). Budget cuts from national to state
The California Community Colleges (CCC) system is composed of 108 colleges organized into 72 districts that serve more than 1.4 million students statewide. Under the direction of the CCC board of governors, the Chancellor’s Office provides statewide guidance and leadership to the community colleges. In addition, the voters in each district elect a board of trustees charged with developing local policies that govern the day-to-day operations at the district’s colleges, including overseeing the compensation of teaching faculty and other employees. For the fall 1999 semester, the districts reported to the Chancellor’s Office a total population of 41,754 teaching faculty, of which 28,180 (67 percent) were classified as part-time and 13,574 (33
On October 1st, 2015 a religious incident affected Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon forever. Sadly people were killed in this horrific incident by a twenty six year old man named Chris Harper-Mercer’s. He killed about thirteen innocent people and he, also, left about ten people injured. This incident impacted and changed many students, staff, and parents lives forever.
When students are looking for colleges to apply to, one consideration might be how much it will cost them to attend that college. This is a very important matter to consider because the cost of going to college is the highest is has ever been. Even though there is some aid to assist students in paying for college, those services are not available to everyone. Some students are awarded scholarships but some of them are only for a few thousand dollars, which means that they still have a considerable amount of debt to pay off. When you take into account the cost of text books, classes, application fees, and room and board, the final bill ends up being overwhelming. The large total at the end of the bill could scare students who cannot afford all of this. Lankford poses the question “Can anyone attend college?” He ...
For the past few decades, receiving a college education has been a stressed importance in today’s society. However it is often misunderstood that attending a 4-year school is the best and only way to go. Following this belief, many students attend these schools with out being academically, financially, or mentally prepared. Unfortunately students like this have failed to over look the more realistic options available to them, such as community college. Junior college is a resource available to anyone regardless of his or her previous academic performance. The variety of courses and the inexpensive tuition gives students flexibility to explore the many options presented to them. Though Universities hold more prestige, community colleges provide endless opportunities for students who aren’t fully prepared for a 4-year education
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college tuition and relevant fees have increased by 893 percent (“College costs and the CPI”). 893 percent is a very daunting percentage considering that it has surpassed the rise in the costs of Medicare, food, and housing. As America is trying to pull out of a recession, many students are looking for higher education so they can attain a gratified job. However, their vision is being stained by the dreadful rise in college costs. College tuition is rising beyond inflation. Such an immense rise in tuition has many serious implications for students; for example, fewer students are attending private colleges, fewer students are staying enrolled in college, and fewer students are working in the fields in which they majored in.
Since the 1980’s the cost of attending colleges have increased rapidly. Rising costs of for Medicare, highways and prisons have caused many states to reduce a percentage of their budget for higher education. Colleges and Universities currently face a very serious challenge:
With tuition rising every year, students face the challenge paying the debt achieving a college degree comes with. “Student debt surpassed credit-card debt in June 2010 for the first time in history, rising to about $830 billion — or nearly 6 percent of the nation 's annual economic output”(Clemmitt, Marcia). Not everyone has a ton of money just laying around. Being that financial trouble is the biggest problem for students, they begin to question whether college is worth it or not. In recent years, students have taken out loans to help with expenses. Most students choose to attend a community and junior college to help minimize the debt. Even after graduating with a degree, students still face the struggle of finding a job in this economic time. For higher class families this may not be a problem to them. 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.
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...
One cause of increased tuition is the reduction of state and federal appropriations to state colleges, causing the institutions to shift the cost over to students in the form of higher tuition. State support for public colleges and universities has fallen by about 26% per full time student since the early 1990s. In 2011 American public universities took in more revenue from tuition than state funding. About 80% of American college students attend public institutions. In a financial bubble, assets like houses are sometimes purchased with a view to reselling at a higher price, and this...
Everybody loves how they don’t need to pay for college because of FAFSA, will here are some things that makes it even better so we pay less. In college there are many things that student want or expect things from their college. Three criteria that colleges should have and seeing if Saint Paul College have these requirement which are free parking space, cheap school supplies, and a low interest rate on loans.
As colleges’ funds dry up, colleges must turn to the public to further support higher education. By raising state taxes, colleges can collect funds to help improve the school’s budgets. The state provides funds from the taxes for colleges to receive a certain amount for each student currently enrolled. All community and traditional four year colleges collect these funds in order to maintain the school’s budget. As reporter, Eric Kelderman states, “less than a third of colleges’ budget is based from state taxes”. The school’s budget is how colleges are able to provide academic support programs, an affordable intuition, and hire more counselors. Colleges must now depend on state taxes more than ever for public colleges. Without collecting more funds from state taxes, as author, Scott Carlson explains how Mr. Poshard explains to senators “our public universities are moving quickly toward becoming private universities…affordable only to those who have the economic wherewithal to them” (qtd. in.) Public colleges must be affordable to anyone who wishes to attend. If colleges lack to provide this to students, it can affect dropouts, a student’s ability focus, and cause stress. The problem of lack of funding is that colleges have insufficient funds. Therefore, the best possible solution for the problem of lack of funding would be increasing and collecting more funds from state taxes.