The Cost Of An Education

Bernie Sanders, senator of the state of Vermont said, “The cost of college education today is so high that many young people are giving up their dream of going to college, while many others are graduating deeply in debt” (“Brainy Quote”). Each year students take out loans to pay for a college education. Is it really necessary? They are just going to be a statistic. I believe everyone should not go to college. College is not for everyone.

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

Many people are confused on why to invest time and money of attending college. A reason for obtaining a higher education is that a college degree can possibly earn a much higher salary than the majority of the people who have a high school diploma. College can be expensive and time consuming for the most of the people that do not have enough money and spare time to go to college. Stephen Rose, a research professor at the Georgetown University, wrote an article on “The Value of a College Degree” to explain if a college degree can be valuable to people to have. Eleni Karageorge, an author on the United States Department of Labor, wrote an article “Is A College Degree Still Worth It?” to give some details on job occupations that compares with employees having a bachelor’s degree or a high school diploma on how much they annually make on their job. Finally, Paul E. Barton, a consultant and a writer for topics related on education, wrote an article “How Many College Graduates Does the U.S. Labor Force Really Need?” on giving details on how valuable to have a college degree in the near future are needed when certain occupations are on high demand with a requirement on having a least a bachelor’s degree. We need to know why going to college is so important for anyone who wants to have professional occupations.

College tuition is differed by the institution and type of institution that a student enrolls in. For example, tuition at a two year community college is significantly less than a four year university. In the 2012 – 2013 academic year, the average tuition at a public two year institution was about $8,928, while the tuition at a public four year university was $17,474 (“Tuition Costs of Colleges and Universities”). The tuition cost to attend a public four year university is almost twice the amount of the tuition cost at a two year university. Tuition fees do not include room and board or a meal plan, so why is it that a university’s tuition is twice as much as a college’s tuition? Two year institutions are now beginning to offer classes and courses to students to

According to MyBudget360, college tuition has skyrocketed over four hundred percent since 1984. Now, the average tuition rate for private universities in America is over $31,000 and over $9,000 for public universities. Not only that, but thirty-seven million Americans have outstanding student debt and thirty-seven percent of college students look for a job requiring no higher than a high school diploma AFTER they graduate. Tuition has tripled, graduates have outstanding student debt, and in addition to that, graduates look for menial jobs where even a high school diploma is not necessary. College expenses definitely adversely affect students and graduates in the long run.

The cost of college education in the 21st century is absolutely ridiculous. although colleges have to make money to support things like sports, it is making it so more and more kids aren't going to college, and the kids who do go are coming out with huge amounts of debt. People who go to college aren't coming out with the job that they think they deserve, which is leading to lower income, and a harder time paying off their college debt.

In the recent past, the cost of post-secondary school education has rapidly risen in America. An adjustment of the financial aid that comes from both state and federal governments indicates that the cost of university or college education has surpassed that of health care and even inflation (Casselman, 2012). Some of the facets that have led to the increasing costs are state and federal revenue shortfalls and wrong use of cost offsetting. A recent article published in the Wall Street Journal indicates that students across America are plunging into more debt due to loans taken to pay their college education. Considering that America has experienced severe shortages of employees in the science related courses, rising costs of higher education continue to create more concern. The issue of cost has also featured in the current American primaries with presidential hopefuls like Hillary Clinton discussing the possibility of cheap or even a free college education. On the same note of costs, the following paper is a review of an article by Baum, Kurose and McPherson, ‘An overview of American higher education’, published in the journal of the future of children.

The cost of education is sky-rocketing, and no one can deny that. Tuition has consistently increased at rates well above that of inflation each year. Just 50 years ago when someone went to college, it might cost them about $300.00. Now it 's costing people $40,000 to go to college, and that 's at subsidized in-state tuition rates. For more expensive programs, it 's costing upwards of $100,000! For some of

The cost of college tuition is increasing exponentially ever year. Students have to pay for a number of things besides the tuition for inference books, dorms, fees, tutor, etc on top of their everyday living expenses. At this rate college tuition will be far beyond the reach for the average person. The inflation raises numerous of questions. If the recession is not getting better why do schools continue to increase tuition? What can be done so that the college tuition won’t be so far out of reach that the average person won’t get no higher education than a high school diploma.

“The only way to be successful and make a good living you must go to college,” I’ve heard that millions time’s during High School. Thousands of students graduate each year and apply to Universities. Waiting to see if they are accepted or not to the school. Some attend For-Profit Vocational college’s and other’s go to Non-profit Universities. But, with admission is tuition, that is a required to be paid each semester for a student. The price of tuition has skyrocketed excessively throughout history. What happened to the cost of education? Why is tuition rising, have schools become a business rather than an institution? What is more significant money or graduation rates for the schools?

There is no better way to explain the increase in the cost of tuition other than raw numbers and data. According to the College Board, “The average published tuition and fee price for students enrolled full time at public nonprofit four-year colleges and universities increased by $1,100 (3.7%) between 2013-14 and 2014-15.” This source also states that the average cost of tuition across the country was 8,893 dollars last year. This does not include room and board. A decent place to stay, food and books also add on quickly to the expenses. All and all, according to the College Board, “The total price of college rose 6% just last year.” Although six percent does not seem like a lot at first glance, over the time of a 4-year degree this could equate to over 10,000 dollars. This is the most common reason that high school students don’t attend a higher education, according to a study by Hartwick College.

As the cost of college education continues to rise exponentially year-by-year, politicians are talking about either or not to make it free. Presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders raise the point of making all public colleges free, and others like Hillary just want to end student debt. Making college a free and accessible to anyone sounds like a great idea, in theory, but in the United States it is not so feasible. At least; not the way some politicians plan on making it free. Reasons for which making it free would not work is that in the end, it will be damaging to the U.S. economy. Bernie Sanders wants to raise tax on the rich, the primary source of money in the U.S., but also get most of the money for this program through a tax called “Financial Transactions Tax” or FTT. To put it simply, for every transaction made in the financial markets, the tax will be of one basis point (.01 percent). Doesn’t sound terrible, right? Well not for household traders, but in companies that trade billions each day, that number is drastically larger. Another reason for which this will be damaging is that since all the money funded through this project is from Wall Street, some years could see a drastic shrink in money earned. That ties into the last point that short-term gains are very visible, but in the long run less money will be funneled to this program. So although free college may seem like a worthwhile plan for the United States, the possibility of this plan going into fruition

Why does college cost so much? This is a very simple question which yields an extremely long and drawn out answer. This is because of the amount of theories and variables that go into the cost of college, and the amount of different types of higher educational institutes (e.g. public and private institutions). For example, one could point to the government or the recession(s) for the increased price tag on higher education. However, from my own deduction and analysis I have found (through various sources) that collegiate spending, price matching and State budget cuts on funding for higher education seem to be the primary reason for this sudden influx in the cost of higher education. From community colleges to the Ivy League, each is susceptible and responsible in their own way for the modern economic catastrophe that is the American higher education framework.

The tuition pays for the teachers, buildings and the school administration. Since college is more in demand it requires more teachers and buildings therefore college prices have increased 7% a year for decades. Tuition does not pay for dorm rooms, cafeteria meal plans and the cost of books which are very pricey and sometime double the cost of going to college. Many students try to find smart ways to avoid meal plans to save money. “In both good and bad economic times, institutions of higher education have continued to disproportionately increase prices for students and families. When times are tough, institutions increase tuition; and when times are good, institutions increase tuition as well.” (McKeon, Howard. “The college cost crisis.” Sov.vt.edu ) A college education has long been viewed as a ticket to prosperity, the gateway to the “American dream”. Today, higher education is playing a more vital role than ever in shaping our nation's

Great point, I agree that Cost of education is an ethical issue because majority of the free scholarship are offer to students with a high SAT score which that test is biased and it doesn’t provide in relevant proof on who will do well in college. However, if the government do make college education free as our Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has been suggesting on his campaign trail how will employees be able to determine who is most qualified for the position. For the most part, I believe this would put hiring managers in tough position to determine who to hire and then the hiring process would become flawed because there is no separation amongst people interviewing for the position. Even though, you were able to find this statement.