Degree or Debt Sentence?
College tuition is a growing concern these days. People used to not pay attention to the cost of tuition. Today, things are changing. People are finally realizing how expensive college really is and they want change. While I was doing research on this topic, I came to essays upon essays of students and graduates attacking the administration. I did not find a single essay from the administrator's point of view attempting to defend themselves. Although college institutions cost ample amounts of money to run, students should not have to live their entire life in debt just so they can say they have a degree. The amount of debt some students accumulate defeats the purpose of them attending college at all. When I began to do my research for this paper I started to discover the real reason behind why college tuition has gotten out of control over the years.
Students and their parents are becoming angry with the rise of tuition and they have every right to this reaction. “In the past 20 years, the cost of tuition has increased twice as fast as the as the overall cost of living. (Larson)” “The price of tuition from 1980 to 1990 increased by
But for those people like me where every penny counts, we know where every penny is going. College administrators are constantly giving us vague answers saying it is all because rising costs. "What costs," you ask? Well, conveniently enough, a "cost" is anything the college chooses to spend it's money on (Sowell, 16). In his article "Why College Tuition Costs So Much," Dr. Thomas Sowell believes that administrators’ claims that tuition does not cover the full cost of an education are not valid, pointing out that "there is no more reason why tuition should cover all the costs of a college than there is for magazine subscriptions to cover all the costs of producing a magazine (18)." Research is to a college what advertisers are to a magazine (Sowell,
In the essay, “College Consumerism Run Amok” authored by Kevin Carey describe how colleges are careless with their money. Throughout the essay, Kevin Carey explains why normal people think the average price of college tuition has risen across the United States. People believe college tuition is rising because students demand colleges to have “creature comforts”, such as luxury dorms, a fully operational gym, and a climbing wall. Also, that the creation for “creature comforts” in colleges has caused academic standards to decline. Yet, colleges market to students with these amenities instead of showing students comparable statistics: the quality of teaching, scholarships, and academic environment. Kevin Carey, in the end, sums up his idea with
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...
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.
In a letter to columnist Ann Landers, a college professor wrote about his views of the education system. He feels that universities have turned into businesses where teachers are just looking for money and students are just looking for a piece of paper with a title on it. He says that the students of today think they are automatically entitled to a degree because they pay tuition (Depressed Old Prof. 3-B). Adding to the profit motive for schools is the government which, for the p...
Imagine only paying for transportation, meals, supplies, room, board for college, and small college fees. This is exactly what other countries like Germany and Sweden are doing. Instead of having students pay an enormous amount for their education, these countries only require an individual to pay for their own basic needs with a small tuition fee as well. It is no surprise that students from the U.S are traveling overseas to get these benefits. 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
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:
Ask any college student to state one of their largest expenses and it would be safe to bet the response would be “Textbook prices!” The cost of purchasing required materials for courses has reached numbers high enough to cause many students to take out second loans. Information released this year by the American Enterprise Institute shows that “College textbook prices have increased faster than tuition, health care costs and housing prices, all of which have risen faster than inflation” (Kingkade, 2013). This information equates to an 812% increase in the cost of college textbooks over what they were just over thirty years ago (Kingkade, 2013). The figure here shows an unusually large increase that has far outpaced that of average inflation. Combine this information with the equally troubling information released by Bloomberg stating “college tuition and fees have increased 1,120 percent since records began in 1978” and a serious financial problem for students emerges(Huffington Post, 2012). One thing should be clear given these statistics: something must be done to help lessen the financial burden being placed on today’s students. Considering the implications of these two figures, the University of Delaware should attempt to remedy the increasing cost of textbooks as soon as possible before they overwhelm students any more than they already have. In order to help reduce these runaway costs, this institution should pursue a policy similar to those high schools and elementary schools practice, namely a sort of loan program.
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...
As The “Progress of Education Reform” suggests, tuition discounting is major contributor to the rising cost of college in the sense that while it provides a tuition discount to the one particular student receiving the grant or scholarship it places a heavier burden on the majority demographic that attends the university without such discounting. (The Progress of Education Reform” 1). In contrast to popular opinion, scholarships and grants which are normally regarded as blessings are ironically a contributing factor to rising tuition prices. Basically, the universities have to make up for the money they lost by awarding the scholarships so the majority of the student population who did not qualify feel it in their pocketbooks. A final cause of this ludicrous tuition spike is the shift in university budgets to cater to the administration departments of the schools. Jobs in this department are non-teaching jobs that provide student services ranging from student safety to counseling and wellness programs. These jobs are definitely
Fighting the cost of college tuition is a hot topic these days. As long as I can remember, tuition has always been a reason why most people don 't pursue their bachelor’s or even associate degree. Today 's society has changed students are fighting for grants, financial aid, and even loans to pay through school. In order to be financially comfortable in the 15th century a college education is a must. It is an everyday battle getting financial support from a college’s administration. Colleges need to be more affordable, obtaining funds less stressful, and colleges must enact policies that condone these principles.
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...
From conducting this survey, I learned that many students,whether they attend a public or a private school are unsatisfied with the rising tuition prices. The findings support my hypothesis. The next step in this research would to ask more college students about their thoughts and opinions about rising tuition prices. I would ask more students from different types of college and students taking on different types of degree. An implication this research could have for other research is that rising tuition prices are hurting students financially.
With the rapid growth of college tuition, it has become an important issue in higher education. College Tuition is simply defined as the charge or fee for instruction, at a private school or a college or a university. Most people agree today that college tuition is too high or that it needs to be completely dismissed. There are some however, that may disagree with the claim about college tuition and state that college tuition is necessary for college growth, and it’s primary purpose is to pay for college expenses to support the institution financially. Research shows that college tuition is too high and that debt has become a standard in America after attending post-secondary school.
In an article called The three reasons tuition is rising by Matthews (2013), he addresses two main issues to why tuition cost keeps rising. One reason is that colleges are spending more money. Matthew mentions that what is happening is that even though tuition prices are increasing, it is not keeping up with the new spendings. Colleges have to be able to pay faculties, build more and co...