School Tuition : Government 's Perspective

Perhaps one of the greatest concerns that torments America’s new generation is pursuing higher education in order to make more money and while avoiding being in debt, decades after graduation. This topic has become even more as tuition continues to rise and politicians are left to ponder the best course of action to insure that the next generation of Americans is more educated than the last. One particular solution was posed by former president, Barack Obama, who promoted the idea of free community college. Although, it may not be the most direct or most elegant solution, it would certainly be a push in the right direction. By making community college tuition free nationwide, states would become more invested in accommodating the influx of students, lead different school systems to compete by lowering tuition prices, and finally address America’s shortcoming in adults who possess more than just high school diploma.

Should college be free? A current universal problem poses this question. In today’s world, full of public education standards that hold students maybe too high and in a generation bogged down by student debt, this issue qualifies as a problem more than many are maybe even willing to admit. While the prospect of free college proposes excellent ideals such as a stronger and smarter generation, no student loan problems, and a higher educated society, the truth may actually lie in the reality that making college free would do more hindrance than good and is not the answer to these problems. Free college would increase economic problems, according to Andrew P. Kelly, who says it would only shifts the cost to someone else. As well, it would also hinder our education system. Michael J. Petrilli writes that making college free would “probably shift billions of dollars a year from programs that help talented poor kids access higher education and improve our schools”. Although the concept of free higher education is becoming appealing to the general population, it ultimately would create more problems than it solved and do virtually nothing of huge significance to increase the level of intelligence in modern society.

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.

Universities used to be a privilege for most academic students to attend and it was very affordable, but currently the price per year to attend college has drastically increased. For instance, in the “1970’s the average cost was 10,000 dollars a year and today the average cost is 30,000 dollars a year” (CQ Researcher). This is a triple increase in the price per year to attend college. Allowing this increase on college tuition has impacted the student’s attendance rate. This is a significant financial burden for college students and their family. Some believe that college shouldn’t be free because we are risking the value of college education, while others think it should be free because we are trying to avoid having our upcoming generation

Since 1974, tuition has been on the rise and has reached new heights. One reason why tuition is increasing is because of “the state governments’ unwillingness or inability to raise per-student financing” (Davidson). The government is spending less on college and moving those funds into other categories, such as the military. Furthermore, colleges are spending less on each student than they did during pre-recession (Fox). Even after the recession, the government is continuously cutting more and more from education funds. As the government cuts more from education funds, tuition cost will steadily increase to compensate the loss. Tuition increased from 1994 to 2015 is depicted in the graph on the next page. Drawing a conclusion from the graph, it is possible that if this trend continues, public colleges will approximately reach the same price as private colleges one day. The amount of financial aid given is unable to meet the needs of lower income students,

“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.

As a recent analysis, America’s colleges and universities are quietly shifting the burden of their big tuition increases onto low-income students, while many higher-income families are seeing their college costs rise more slowly, or even fall” (Eskow). Though education is the basic human right, most of the people in the U.S. are not being able to gain it as because of its rising cost. Since the 1970s, tuition and fees at public institutions have increased by more than 350 percent, while pay for working- and middle-class households has stagnated. As a result, the cost of a public-college education now accounts for almost 15 percent of the average family's annual income; 40 years ago it was about 4 percent (Kenneth W. Warren and Samir Sonti). The tuition and fees are increasing in such a way that the young Americans aren’t as educated as the young citizens of many other developed countries. The U.S. ranks 14th in the world in the percentage of 25-34 year-olds with higher education (42%).” When all adults of working age are considered, the US is still one of the highest-educated countries in the world. But when this age group is considered, we are falling behind (Richard Eskow). That’s the personal loss for the young people of the U.S. Education is not a privilege of the rich and well-to-do; it is the inalienable right of every people. It is a powerful tool by which people can lift

Kris, a wife and a mother, worries about the increasing cost of higher education. She and her husband have a two year old daughter whom they are determined to send to college. They want their daughter to succeed in life, but they have to weigh the complications of going to college as well. “I have always thought about college as a “catch 22”...You’re taught from a young age that in order to achieve the “American Dream” you must graduate high school and go to college,” Kris contemplates (Kris 5).Throughout Kris’s ten years of experience with college, she has seen the tuition increase to shocking heights. In fact, she claims that community colleges cost as much as state colleges did when she first started her college hunt. Back then, she

Since Obama’s announcement of his idea to provide free community college an uproar of an argument has arose with two distinct sides: community college should be free and community college should not be free. The idea behind free community college is to help individuals reach towards a college degree just as people are easily set forth to reach for a high school degree. The hope is that by deleting the financial barrier that comes with community college more people are willing to aim for an associates degree and possibly higher. There are states that have decided to take the matter into their own hands and are planning to implement this idea. However, the idea of having free community college implemented throughout all states is still questionable

In the recent debate regarding the implementation of free college tuition across the United States, Jon Wiener, a Los Angeles journalist for The Nation, and Kelly Field, chief Washington reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education who covers different federal education policies, discuss why college tuition should be abolished in the United States of America and the role of both Democratic and Republican parties on the debate. In the article, “It’s Time to End Tuition at Public Universities - and Abolish Student Debt,” published by the Nation in March 2015, Jon Wiener annotates the crippling debt that college

Dreams are not cheap. I have dreamed of having a college degree for twenty years, one of the hurdles that I struggled with overcoming was the shear rising cost of higher education. In the articles, The Problem with Obama’s “Free Community College” Proposal and Obama’s Dream of Free Community College is Headed to Congress, high dropout rates and low percentages of students earning a bachelor’s degree are touched upon. While reducing the cost of college or providing free community college may not be enough to raise the dropout rate, we need to look at the other non-quantifiable costs of getting an education. If we want to enable American’s to earn that dream, we need to address the whole needs of the student and not just throw money at them.

In 1958, the National Defense Education Act provided college students up to one thousand dollars a year in loans, but the average annual loan was actually only five hundred dollars or less because students could afford the rest of tuition on their own. Interest began at three percent a year after graduation and could usually be paid off in ten years. (Good 590-591) These statistics are a far cry from today’s, with student loan debt surpassing one trillion dollars and many graduates paying off loans well into middle age. As a result of the government shelling out billions of dollars in loans and inflation, colleges have had to increase their tuitions thus creating a college “bubble”. In the past year or so many political leaders have proposed plans to pay for two years of community college, such as President Obama, or for a full four years, such as Bernie Sanders, a frontrunner for the democratic candidacy. Even states like Tennessee,

The words “free college tuition” spark interest in any college student with accumulating debt. In fact, this topic is so incredibly supported that Bernie Sanders implemented it as a core interest in his 2016 campaign. Once Hillary Clinton became the Democratic nominee, she decided to take it on herself with an extensive plan that guaranteed students free tuition. Unsurprisingly, free tuition resonates extremely well within the student demographic. To forty million Americans, free tuition eliminates the largest problem for students: debt (Hess, 2017). However, free college tuition generates the inverse of what these low-income and middle-income students believe. In fact, free college cripples them from multiple perspectives; students will end up spending more financially, will be less likely to graduate with a degree, and will be subjected to more inequality and less exposure.

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.

My community will mostly be identify by low and middle class future and current students from all universities and colleges across North Carolina. The reason why I selected these people are, first, even though current students from low social class get pell grant, they still have to take loans from school to allow them afford for other school expenses. The same scenario also applies with middle class students. Then, the third people that will be included in my community will also be upper class student who had finished college because I figure out that they would not want to spend all of their money paying for loans with a high interest rate. Since I found out that most of my friends and other organizers are afraid of the decision that BOG is about to make, I will first get them interested. I will take a stand to discuss what is going on, and ask them to join me with any ideas that they may have to reach out to other students on and off campus that we know. In order to meet our goal, me and other members in Student Power Union need to work hand to hand.