Driving The Cost Of Higher Education

From inception, public institutions have been primarily funded by the state they reside in. In the last couple of decades state funding of higher education has dropped significantly, with a dramatic drop during the recession that started around 2008. The drop in funding has pushed an additional loan burden onto students, and has forced universities to re-evaluate and change how they operate. Aside from making cuts, universities have become more creative in generating different sources of revenue.

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

Tuition rates have been on the rise since the start of colleges. In 1988, the average college tuition was about $2,800 for a year of schooling. In 2008, that number had risen 130% to nearly $6,800 for one year; according to Annalyn Censky of CNN Money, if the average income had raised the same amount, median family earning would be roughly $77,000 a year, instead of the current $33,000. Americans are making $400 less on average than they did in 1988 says Censky. Over the past twenty years, college has risen 5% of the median family income from 12% to 17%; private colleges went from 27% to 47% says Economist.com. (1 SV; SV.) Tuition isn’t the only thing rising at colleges: room, meals, books, and other fees are rising as well. (4 SV: A,B,C,D.) This also takes its toll on families as well as the students themselves. Many students

Many students today look towards the future scared and frightened debating their future, all of them asking the same question. Is a college education truly worth the cost and the amount of debt that a student acquires over a four-year period? Many ask what are they doing this for, a piece of paper called a degree. That’s what the articles “Five Reasons Why College is Worth the Cost,” written by Reyna Gobel and “Is College worth the cost? Many recent graduates don’t think so,” written by Jeffrey J. Selingo both address. The articles take different standpoints and views on the topic. Gobel’s article siding with the view that college is worth the cost. While Selingo’s article argues that college is not worth the cost.

A major problem for today’s high school graduates is the rising price in college education. Attending college can add up really fast; it can cost up to tens of thousands of dollars per year (Barkan 1). No wonder, in Steven Barkan’s book of social problems, issues and problems in higher education take up a full chapter. In this chapter, Barkan states that only 44% of all students who attend a four-year institution is lucky enough to have annual tuitions and fees amount to less than $9,000 per year. The aggravating question is, “why does college cost so much?” Not only is tuition part of the cost of college but also fees housing and meals, books, school supplies, and accessories (“What’s the Price Tag” 1). All tuition covers is the money for academic instruction. Fees are charges for specific services such as, internet access, and then the cost of books and school supplies add up. Additionally, one is not paying just for textbooks but also

One of the culprits hindering higher education for Americans is the tuition rates. A report by the Delta Cost Project indicates that if tuition had grown in pace with inflation, the average tuition at in-state public colleges would only have been $2,052 in 2010. The actual price of tuition was around $7,500, and it is increasing at around 5% per year, about twice as fast as the rate of inflation. Whereas everything else in the economy doubles in cost about every 32 years, college costs have been doubling around every 15 years. In a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, titled How the Changing Market Structure of U.S. Higher Education Explains College, the author, Caroline Hoxby, states that universities have little incentive

For- profit colleges came under the spotlight during the weak job market of the last recession, education was needed in order to get a job under the weak job market which caused people to turn to for-profit colleges.

Colleges are raising tuition for a variety of reasons. Some colleges think that spending millions and millions of dollars on recreational activities to make the college more appealing to students is worth raising the tuition, while others give their administration and college presidents a big salary. Because there are so many factors that go into a college tuition and fees, many students do not actually think about where all of their money is going. If students were to look at what is taking their money, they might think twice about going to that

Inflation has been driving college prices up since high school graduates are looking to attend college. Over 50 percent more graduates are looking to enroll in college than twenty years ago even though the college-aged population has remained the same. Therefore, because there is a high demand for colleges and not enough space in high name colleges, these colleges are able to raise their tuition, and students have no option but to pay for it. This is how inflation works when “you artificially inflate the demand for something and don’t let supply adjust, prices will go up” (Gobry). Currently, the overwhelming demand for a college education has allowed colleges to drive up their prices.

Over the past decade the cost of college tuition has risen drastically, because of the recession one would assume the price for funding of public post-secondary schools would decrease, but should the cost of college tuition rise as it did. For more than a decade college tuition has been rising far beyond the rate of inflation at public colleges and universities. Many people feel that high costs of college tuition will damage the economy. In the twentieth century’s generation when graduating from a university will not contribute to the economy, they will not invest in cars or housing because of the massive college loans they are left with. This new generation will cause true problems in the United States where one third of Americans between the ages of 25 and 29 hold college degrees. This becomes a national problem that will multiply rapidly in short term. High college tuition is affecting the future of many

The average non profit four-year school in 1975 was around 10,000 in 1985 tuition had a 30% rise then from then on tuition has risen on an average of 10-15 % and its not just because of the national inflation either. College tuition prices rose higher then the national inflation. Theirs been continuous talk about how the economy isn’t doing so well jobs are harder to find the housing market isn’t doing as well as it should be doing. If you ask me I’m a firm believer that if college tuition prices weren’t so high a lot of these problems would have never occurred.

Today colleges are growing more and more necessary for attaining a solid path towards a successful career, yet the rapidly increasing cost of tuition is driving students away from their dream of attending college, due to the preposterous amount of money that is now being demanded by colleges across the nation and world as a whole. It is sad to see students being turned away from a successful future due to the money-hungry nature of the universities that dot the globe. More and more impossible it is becoming to have a “rags-to-riches” scenario that used to highlight the American Dream, as if a student doesn’t have the riches to afford a higher education and the tuition that is drug upon its coattails, then our society is doomed to be clothed in rags forever, unless major changes are brought about to restructure and end the indefatigable growth of tuition rates across the board.

Colleges and universities have absurd prices for attendance but there are many people who try to make the argument that the prices of these institutions are necessary in order to keep the colleges functioning at a proper level. This is false; colleges choose to compete with one another. Why should the student have to pay an absurd price so one school has bragging rights over another. Where the issue lies is that public universities, which are supposed to be more accessible than private institutions, are trying to compete with the private schools in rankings. “Public universities, however, appear to be every bit as committed to inching up the rankings as private schools.” (O’Shaughnessy 36) What O’Shaughnessy is trying to say is that public universities are trying to go head to head with private colleges and universities. This would

Over the past 10 years the cost of private college has increased more than 60%, almost three times as much as incomes over the same period, and will cost $42,000 a year on average. The cost at public colleges has increased even more, nearly doubling to $21,000 for in-state students. By 2020 you 're looking at a four-year bill that 's likely to top $240,000 for private schools and $155,000 at public universities. Sure there 's financial aid, but scholarships aren 't keeping up with tuition inflation (Clark, & Wang, 2011). Even the President is concerned about the escalating cost of higher education in America. In his State of the Union address last January, President Obama warned, "Let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can 't stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down." (Foster, 2013). In contrast to the president request, governors and state lawmakers across many states with limited state tax revenue are cutting funding toward higher education. Governors in nearly a half-dozen states cut state spending on colleges and universities to help with budget shortfalls, which often sparked heated opposition among state lawmakers of both parties. On the state level higher education spending usually where they cut the budget because state lawmakers believe schools can make up the difference in lost state revenue by making colleges raising tuition for students.

Based on the writings of Rebekah Nathan in My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student, “One of the most consistent strategies for making up funding short falls has been tuition increases.” Also stating that a potential determining cause for tuition increases is political forces. Many students are dropping out of four year universities to attend a cheaper community college. “There has also been and increased reliance on tuition for funding and more pragmatic appeals to state legislatures encouraging curriculum and research initicaves that contribute directly to the economic development of the state” to get more money. (My Freshman Year)