Rising College Cost

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 higher education and advanced degrees continually rises at a greater rate than inflation in the 1970’s. 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 rewarding post-graduate employment to repay their loans.

“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 getting a college education has risen over the past three decades. Comparing it to the housing and medical care markets, it has risen considerably more than them. The current student loan debt, has risen to an astonishing $1.2 trillion dollars, the largest ever recorded. Student loans are just now a burden on our society, yet no one is surprised about the amount of debt the students are in. Yet is is extremely

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.

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.

Today college tuition prices are rising. Paying for college can often be a stressful responsibility. A college education is very important for many students, but when stressing on how to pay for college gets in the way, it becomes more of a burden. Kim Clark effectively states the rising prices of college tuition in her article, “The Surprising Causes of Those College Tuition Hikes.” Clark states that the cost of attending a public university, even after subtracting out aid and inflation, rose more than fifteen percent in the last

The United States needs to look to other nations that have figured out the necessity of higher education to be at an affordable cost if not free. In 2015, college graduates are facing on average just north of $35,000 in student debt (Berman). In part, the government has reduced the federal funding that each college receives each year. Therefore, colleges have constantly raised the

As a high school senior, I have recently been exposed to the ultimate evil that is the cost of college. The price for attending a public university for 4 years totals well over $100,000, and I, as well as other members of the Class of 2017, are petrified at the thought of student loans and debt. But this problem hasn’t been around for too long, nor does it look like it’ll be getting better anytime soon.

Today, more jobs require more than a high school diploma. In order to get a good paying job, a college degree is required. More people are attending college in order to get better paying jobs, but is going to college worth a good job with rising tuitions across the nation? According to College Board, from 2002-2003 to 2012-2013, the average tuition and fees for a private institution rose about an average of 2.4% every year. As tuition prices increases every year, it affects millions of college students. It affects college students who have to use government aid to assist paying for college.

Prospective students tend not to attend college because of the rising cost of college tuition, most of those students are intelligent but the obstacle that is in their way is the cost of tuition. College tuition has increased tremendously from past cost of attendance and now the question is why tuition is so expensive and could college ever be reasonable again? Current students are concerned about the increasing college tuition and it is becoming an additional burden which could hinder them from counting their education. According to NPR, an article called how the cost of college went from affordable to sky-high, “The high cost of college tuition for students and in specific states that have been affected tremendously by the rising cost of

Tuition rates have been rising exponentially since “World War II and the GI Bill…” which allowed for, “…an explosive increase in the number and proportion of Americans who go to college” (Nathan 148). This change, though largely due to inflation, has been rising past what families can afford to pay, and has led to difficulties for students exiting high school. These difficulties have been seen by campuses, and many already have a plan to help these students pay for the rocketing tuition prices.

Higher education costs have been increasing at a rapid pace, faster than inflation for the economy as a whole, for the past fifty years. It started in the 1960’s when the federal government passed the Higher Education Act to increase the amount of people able to afford and attend college. Regardless of the Unites States Government efforts to increase the affordability of college, federal aid programs have not risen to expectations due to the ever-increasing college prices. To lower the price of college, the government needs to cut back on student financial spending to go only to the lowest income families and create tax incentives for families to start saving up on their own.

As more and more high school students realize this, the increased demand and need for college is going to go up. According to the Lumina Foundation for Education, colleges are realizing students and families are willing to go into debt as to increase their post-secondary education income (Dickeson). What about the others who cannot afford to go this route? Individual states play a major roll in the cost of higher education. If anyone has been watching the news lately, they most likely have seen states facing budget problems and shortfalls. With this being said, it now means most of the problem has been shifted onto the shoulders of the parents and aspiring students. Justification for these outrageous costs is being demanded not only by parents, but also by state and federal officials. According to the College Board, “In the past five years, the average cost of in-state tuition and fees at public colleges has jumped 35% -- after adjustment for inflation. . . . In the past 25 years, the average cost of tuition and fees has risen faster than personal income, consumer prices and even health insurance” (Block 1). Tuition prices pose a serious problem, especially for families whose income cannot keep up.

The cost of tuition at colleges and universities in the United States has seen a steady increase over last several decades. Since the 1980s, the list price for tuition has risen by roughly 7% per year, while the inflation rate has averaged 3.2% per year. The effect of this mismatch in the rise of the cost of tuition versus the average inflation rate has had monumental effects on the ability of students to afford a higher education. This, in turn, has forced more students to take out increasingly large amounts of loans, causing for the national student loan debt to grow to over $1 trillion dollars, more than total credit card

To begin, the endeavors of paying high college costs is arduous. According to Kevin Carey in “A Quiet Revolution in helping lift the Burden of Student Debt,” student loan debt has surmounted trillions of dollars. Many students on average graduate with a debt of more or close to $30,000 in which 20% have defaulted (Carey). Who’s the culprit of these massive debts? Four-year universities and private schools. Research has shown that the “average cost of room and board at a four-year public college for in-state students for the 2015-’16 school year was $10,138, while tuition and fees costs are slightly lower at $9,410” (Grant). To prevent