Barriers Caused by Cost and Debt of College Tuition All over the United States, young adults are planning their future and preparing themselves for college. College is the next level education that the majority of the high school population thrive for. Yet two things are always a factor in the decisions made, which is cost and debt. These two things have become two of the most common reasons many students either drop out, or don’t attend a public university at all. According to Imagine America Foundation, the cost of college and the debt it can leave behind are two of the top 5 reasons people don’t go to college. With that being said, these two factors have become a problem to students as well their families. These problems need to be fixed for the community and by the community. The will have to work together …show more content…
To most people, it is the only way to becoming successful in life. To others, it is the only way to expand on their success. If college has become a necessity, then why is it that for nearly a half a century college has become more and more out of reach? The main problem that causes financial fear is being poorly informed about financial aid. Being poorly informed leads to students and families holding back from choosing schools, being too afraid of the debt to come. “Students in part make college-related decisions based on their perceptions of financial aid availability students in part make” (“Challenges”). Not knowing can greatly discourage a student and alter their mindset of choosing colleges in a negative way. Ultimately not knowing can cause the student to completely exclude college out of the picture. . Even when the student is aware of financial aid, they’ll have no knowledge of accessing or applying for any of it. Even if they did, it is still possible that they may not qualify. Due to the fact that they not be good enough or they didn’t have the right resources. Not everyone gets the same
In the year 2007, 18.2 million students enrolled into college. About thirty-nine percent of those students were between the ages of eighteen to twenty-four (Marcus). College is seen as something one must do to be able to have a successful life or career. Student debt is almost guaranteed for anyone that goes into college. Seventy percent of bachelor's degree recipients graduate with student debt. Student loans in just the U.S. alone are up to 1.2 trillion dollars, this is the second highest level of consumer debt, just trailing behind mortgages (Snyder). Student debt has been an issue for anyone thinking about going into, that is attending, and graduating or leaving college. How to solve this issue is very simple, which is to save money, lower
Although many people are considering student loan debt to be a national crisis, we must understand the reality behind it. Unfortunately not everyone is fortunate enough to make it through college without accumulating debt. In Robin Wilson’s essay, “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely”, she makes a compelling argument that shows how students get involved with really high debt. She claims, “…the problem among students who go heavily into debt is that they are determined to attend their dream college, no matter what the cost (257).” It is a true statement because students want to turn their dream into a reality. All students can reach their goal of attending a dream college by first choosing a community college in order to decrease the amount of student loans.
This memo offers a solution to help increase the percentage of the college education of our younger generation.This proposal below is motivated by the experiences of college students who are overwhelmed by the student debt they have collected over the past few years and still have not yet graduated. This is due to either difficulty navigating college from lack of exposure and resources to even properly begin the process of attending college causing inadequate preparation, and/or for those who have had a problem with finding a balance between handling school work and families all at one time. This proposal should not only help students with student debt and aid students in completing higher education but it will also bring light how the nation has been and is still currently going through a college completion crisis.
The U.S. is home to some of the greatest colleges and universities in the world. But with an overwhelming 1.3 million students graduating with an average student loan debt of $29,000 each and with youth unemployment elevated, the question of whether or not college tuition is worth the money arises (The Institute for College Access & Success, 2013). Higher education faces intimidating challenges: continually rising costs, access and completion problems, constant changing of technology, and responsibility pressures from state and federal officials. But no challenge is more intimidating than the fundamental question that many Americans face to ask themselves, "Is college worth the cost?" As a result of the economic turn down, many students who graduate are not finding well-paying jobs, either within their field of study or not.
However, college education not only delivers a degree or diploma, but also intellectual growth and a more promising future of financial stability and happiness. With things like fees, financial aid, housing and transportation, it is understandable for any individual to be frustrated with the many obstacles college may throw. However, college is only as difficult as one may approach it. It is an overwhelming statistic that “student debt has increased significantly,” within the past few decades (Leonhardt). With plenty of opportunities for financial aid, students can ease the tension of their wallets by taking advantage of the convenience scholarships provide.
Colleges are noticing a drop in students’ interest in a higher education, because it forces them to fall into poverty. Obtaining a higher education is a dream of many working class citizens, but the price to go to a choice college is not available economically. The majority of students use some type of student loan, they have become the norm for attending college (Johnston, Roten 24). College is becoming unaffordable to many lower class students. With tuition prices this high, students are backing out of school and looking for jobs that only require a high school diploma. Student loans should help people, but it is only hurting them because they feel like they can never repay it. Especially since student debt continues to rise. “Student loan debt rose by 328 percent from $241 million in 2003 to $1.08 trillion in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York” (Johnston, Roten 25).
College is where you go to get higher sources of education. Many high school students dream of attending college in order to attain more knowledge, yet so many people fail to realize the cost of college. Attending college, currently, is nearly impossible to do without being in some sort of financial debt or seeking out government help. According to the American Association of University Professors, “two-thirds of American college students graduate with substantial debt, averaging nearly $30,000 (if one includes charge cards) in 2008 and rising.” (AAUP, 2012) Although going to college is beneficial, there is an argument on whether or not going to college is worth the possible debt incurred. The goal
The problem however is the way students go about approaching college. In other words, students don’t evaluate all their options when planning a way to pay for college. To illustrate, many students don’t select the appropriate school that meets their academic and personal needs or are unaware of college cost. Leaving many students with unnecessary debt to pay off.
There is no escaping the fact that the cost of college tuition continues to rise in the United States each year. To make it worse, having a college degree is no longer an option, but a requirement in today’s society. According to data gathered by the College Board, total costs at public four-year institutions rose more rapidly between 2003-04 and 2013-14 than they did during either of the two preceding decades (Collegeboard.com). Students are pressured to continue into higher education but yet, the increasing costs of books and tuition make us think about twice. Sometimes, some of these students have to leave with their education partially finished, leaving them with crushing debts. It is important to find the means to prevent these
Each year, millions of students face the hardest question of their lives, college or not. Unfortunately, due to the cost of overall cost, many students and their families struggle with this decision. In the United States, college tuition and fees have raised considerable over the last decade and show no sign of stopping. Taking out loans larger than most will every pay for a car, students are accumulating sizeable amounts of debt. Predicated that in coming years companies will demand higher qualified workers is placing a lot of pressure on students; leaving them without many options. With limited aid available, countless are wondering if it is enough to make college worth the debt. Finding a way to insure
College has become a significant chapter in the lives of many Americans today. In most cases, to reach the well-paying and dreamed-of careers, students must have a bachelor's degree or higher in a certain field of expertise — typically from a university. While this is true, many students have realized that university-level education, even in-state, is not cheap. With tuition rates on the rise, college is beginning to be seen as more of a burden than an opportunity. Although scholarships and financial aid decrease the net cost of attending college, the majority middle class students are not equipped with enough aid to graduate debt free, or even close to it.
Families are now aiming low when it comes to college- or are simply not going at all. Money could play a huge part in this decision- after all, the cost of college has skyrocketed over the years, and so has the amount of student loan debt. This is something even Leonhardt admits, stating that, because of this, only about 33 percent of young adults get a four-year college degree today, while another 10 percent receive a two-year degree (Leonhardt). And even though many colleges offer financial aid packages, that money may soon be cut and the cost of college will continue to grow. It is true that, in my personal experience, just because a student is awarded financial aid does not mean they have a golden ticket to University. This leaves many desperate students the only option of taking out as many loans as they think they can handle- often more than they should. Debt is not a new issue for America, but it is still a problem. Although David Autor, an M.I.T. economist, laments: “not sending [young adults] to college would be a disaster”, no one can ignore the rising rates of loan defaults, and some think it
The cost of tuition for higher education is quickly rising. Over half of college freshmen show some concern with how to pay for college. This is the highest this number has been since 1971 (Marill and O’Leary 64-66, 93). The amount of college graduate debt has been rapidly increasing also. With limited jobs available because of the high unemployment rate, college graduates find themselves staying in debt even longer. Although grants and financial aid are available to students, students still struggle to pay for their college tuition. Higher education costs are prohibitively expensive because the state’s revenue is low, the unemployment rate is high, and graduates cannot pay off their student loans.
College tuition has been an increasingly intense topic of discussion over the years. The costs of higher education have been debated by many people, and it has been discussed as to whether costs are becoming too high for students to afford. College has become more and more popular, and now as many as 20 million students attend universities reported by The National Center for Education Statistics (1). The value of a college degree is immense, but college tuition is becoming too expensive for students to afford, and furthering the problem are students’ lack of knowledge on how to pay and earn money towards their college degree.
The ideas of equal opportunities that America was built on has been lost and replaced with a structure of education only being accessible for the wealthy. College tuition is a topic that is on every high school and college student's mind. As tuition costs are constantly rising more college students will face the sticker shock of acquiring a secondary education. Unfortunately, college costs do not just end at tuition and room and board people also have to pay for textbooks, meals, and transportation. The cost of college has become outrageous and students are leaving college with high amounts of debt.