Mark Engler Analysis

Research indicates a steep upward trend in the cost of higher education throughout the 20th century. In recent decades, America has witnessed a widening gap between inflation and tuition. An incoming freshman at a typical college incurs charges for tuition, university fees, books, room and board,

“College Prices Soar Again!” “Budget Cuts Cause Even Higher Tuition!” “Higher Education Now Even Less Affordable” These are all statements that have been seen all over the media: newspapers, magazines, television, and radio. (3 SV: SV) Rising college tuition in America has been a problem for years. Many students drop out after a single year due to the pricey costs of tuition. The rapid rise can be attributed to many aspects of the economy, not just a single source. There have also been some propositions of how costs could be lowered, but these have yet to be seen. The United States has gone into a tuition crisis.

The cost of attending college has risen drastically over the years. Statistics show that there has been a 260% increase in tuition costs since 1980. The increase in tuition cost equates to an increase in money borrowed to fund higher education. An increase in money borrowed results in an increase in debt accumulated over time. As a result of the rising figures, the economy as a whole has also suffered because of the restricted financial space many graduates find themselves in upon completion of their degree. In this paper, we will discuss college costs, reasons why they have risen, and the best way for students to pay for it.

The increasing cost of higher education in the United States has been a continuing topic for debate in recent decades. American society emphasizes the importance of education after high school, yet the cost of undergraduate and advanced degrees continually rises at a greater rate than inflation. According to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, cost factors prevent 48% of college-qualified high school graduates from pursuing further education (McKeon, 2004, p. 45). The current system requires the majority of students to accumulate extensive debt with the expectation that they gain lucrative post-graduate employment to repay their loans.

In light of the vast and increasing amount of complaints that the cost of college is too “expensive”, although true since the cost of college has increased by an exponential amount since the days such were established, the monetary value of any college in general is built upon various necessities to which these college shall offer (i.e. room and board, books, meal, etc.) (Issue & Controversies). Not only do these main components contribute to the growth of student debt but the tuition of the school plays a part as well. Schools install tuitions within their teaching programs in order to fund for a variety of resources. The teachers for one are the fundamental part of this payment process since most universities attempt to hire and rehire the best staff available to them in order to provide a healthy

In her essay, Chen states a few problems that can hardly be argued with: college is far too expensive and professors are paid much too little. She focuses mostly on adjuncts, or part-time professors, as it is in this area that many of the problems reside. She writes, “With student debt and tuitions both ballooning across the country, a college degree is in many ways more expensive - or overvalued - today than ever.” Unfortunately, she fails to provide in-depth analysis on why college is so costly to begin with. It is because of this shortcoming that Chen’s work is much weaker as a whole. Firstly, her title becomes misleading, and makes her a possibly untrustworthy source. Secondly, her failure to acknowledge the reasons why college is so expensive cuts off an entire possibility of solutions. Addressing where all this money is being spent could provide an easier and stronger solution than the one Chen provides.

Attending college has been part of American lives since the 1500s. When we look at the affordability of college, the costs have only increased from the 1970’s to present day. According to recent statistics from bloomberg, college tuition has increased “1,120 percent since records began in 1978.”In the same time period, medical expenses have climbed 601 percent, while the price of food has increased 244 percent” (Bloomberg).

Half to ⅔ of a typical colleges budget goes to paying instructional salaries(Weston 1). This is an astronomical amount. “The median salary for a full time college educator is about 43,300 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(Weston 2). This might seem low for a college educator but this is only the average. “Tenured professors make an average of 76,000 according to the American Association of University Professors(Weston 2). A tenured professor is a professor that has a locked in contract with that university that cannot be broken until the contract has expired. This means a professor can be doing a terrible job, yet the university is required to pay him or her. This is a problem. Older professors are notorious for doing this. They know if the school wants to fire them, they can call upon the union to fight for their job. This leads to huge lawsuits and large amounts of money being spent at the university's expense. For this reason, universities opt to just wait until the professor's contract is up. Until then though, the student is paying for these bloated salaries in the form if tuition cost and

The tuition increases have come in response to the lack of federal funding to universities, leading them to find their own way to provide for their upkeep. “Recent increases in university tuition fees are part of a new entrepreneurial trend in higher education in which institutions are expected to generate more of their own revenue” (Quirke). The universities have decided that since they can no longer look towards federal funds to fuel their costs of maintenance and revenue, they must find a new route towards attaining much needed funds, and they have chosen to

This surge of tuition prices has left most prospective American students at risk of failing to secure a chance in one of the institutions of higher education. However, in the attempts of providing solutions, the government introduced educational loans that were repayable after completion of their respective course. This was where the challenge began since most of the students who received such loans faced challenges of repaying the loans they were given by the government. There arose the burden of debt since the loans students were given very expensive because institutions were charging high prices in the first place. In result, after students complete their course in this institution, the amount they have to repay for their loans becomes much to bear.

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

In the article, “The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much”, Paul F. Campos of

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

The price of college admission has more than doubled but the value has not. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus start off with money grabbing statistics of tuition rates. Following that, they question the reader on whether or not college is a good investment and what the students are gaining from higher education. Hacker and dreifus went out to seek the answers and they concluded that colleges “are taking on too many roles and doing none of them well.”(180).

With beginning teachers usually earning entirely less than other college graduates, the profession is at loss of top-notch, quality people who tend to find jobs seeking more money. Almost 50 percent leave the profession within 5 years, lured by higher pay and prestige elsewhere in the booming U.S. economy (World, 1999, par. 7). Starting teachers average a $25,735 salary in the United States compared to an engineer earning $56,820 or a physical therapist earning $56,600 (Engineer, 2000, par.1). And what signal does it send out about the value of good teachers and a good education when a 45-year-old teacher with a master’s degree earns $45,000 a year and a 25-year-old out of law school often starts at $80,000, considering a six year education for a master’s degree and a seven year education for a law degree (Greenhouse, 2002, par. 4)? A teacher is also given no compensation for the long hours spent basically in overtime work. The teacher’s day does not end when they leave school because if lesson plans, grading, or planning is not completed, it will have to be finished on their own time. Accountants, paralegals, and engineers all are compensated and get paid overtime for work that does not get completed in a regular day or if they want to stay and