The Landscape Of State Funded Higher Education

In 2000, the Board of Ursinus College, raised its tuition from $19,331 to $23,460. This turned out to be a 17.6% increase. Surprisingly, the tuition increase proved to be a positive change for Ursinus College. The college received more than 200 applicants than its previous year (Brickley, Smith and Zimmerman, 2009, p. 110). Other regional institutions such as University of Notre Dame, Bryn Mawr College and Rice University also experienced a similar trend once they increased their tuition rates (Brickley, Smith and Zimmerman, 2009, p. 110). The president of Ursinus College deduced that the tuition increase affected enrollment rate (increased enrollment). She simply stated that “people don’t want cheap” (Brickley, Smith and Zimmerman, 2009, p. 110).

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

The topic of this paper is the states’ decreasing financial support of higher education, the reaction and response from institutions who have lost funding, and the creative ways public institutions are locating additional streams of revenue. States have been the primary backer of public institutions, but since the recession states have shown less commitment financially while still heavily regulating higher education. As a result some institutions have had to change their practices while others have challenged their state’s regulations all together. Many have speculated that state funding may never return to its former highs. Rather than make an enemy of the state, some schools have discovered new and unconvential ways of raising funds for their institution.

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,

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

The state of California has long been reliant on the University of California system to provide its resident companies with skilled and educated business, technology, and science leaders. Highly regarded as one of the top educational systems in the world, the University of California boasts a high number of distinguished and respected faculty members in almost every field of study. However, while most private colleges and universities have learned how to streamline their processes in order to better respond to stakeholder needs, public educational institutions, such as the University of California, have not been willing to control their bureaucratic growth resulting in a rise of tuition rates and a decline in the level of student satisfaction. In her article for the TIME magazine, Kate Pickert writes that as recently as November of this year the University of California has approved a plan that could raise tuition rates by up to 28% (Pickert). Pickert also points out that the tuition rates at the University of California have more than tripled since 2001. The University of California has blamed the increased tuition on the state of California budget cuts caused by the economic downturn of recent years. However, a closer examination of the University of California faculty and administration data makes it obvious that the higher rates of tuition are cause by the inability and

Although 2010 was not by definition, a recession year, it certainly felt like one. The growth of the economy was stifled, unemployment was stagnated at a little less than ten percent and interest rates and inflation were at near depression levels by year’s end. The state of the economy unequivocally influences tax collections and budgets, which in turn determines the financial prosperity of higher education, especially in the public sector. The two main sources of revenue for public colleges and universities are state appropriations and tuition. Generally, as cuts to higher education appropriations occur, campuses respond by boosting tuitions even higher. Yet, regardless of the size of the budget cuts, college and university tuitions

College debt is becoming more of a drastic problem in the United States with the rising costs of college tuition. In “Why the Student Loan Crisis Is Even Worse Than People Think” Mark Kantrowitz expresses how the issue of student debt in America is to be blamed by the government’s lack of action. In “Is College Doomed?” Graeme Wood expresses the benefits of the new and innovative univeristy Minerva. A perk about this university is that it includes the cheaper tuition than other ivy league schools because of its lack of all the componenets of an average university. The government needs to be more involved in preventing future college students from graduating with overwhelming debt.

College, originally deemed as the pointer to guaranteed employment, financial stability, and an indicator of success, has been declared in jeopardy. Topping the credit card debt and many household debts, the student loan debt has been pronounced the next potential financial disaster in the U.S. With 2014’s numbers currently exceeding $1.2 trillion, the debt figures have reached about twice of 2007’s remaining debt (Akers, 2014). Gone are the days when a parent could send a child to the state university to study their interests and finish off with a job offer, ensuring a respectable future. The average balance for a 2014 college graduate is $32,500, which will be dragging out of not only themselves but also their families (Rajan, 2014).

The rising cost of education in Texas colleges started in 2003 when the deregulation was lifted. Then, soon after, the Texas State legislature cut the education budget because of a drop in the economy in 2008. The cut in funding and the removal of the deregulation law allowed colleges across Texas a way to recoup lost resources by raising the cost of tuition. The raising cost of tuition has limited the amount of attending students from graduating in the expected time frame, left students in debt, and has denied the chance of countless others from attending the college of their choice. This essay will reflect on supporting evidence to demonstrate how the increase of cost of college tuition over the past 10 years has affected future and current student enrollment.

So it’s not that colleges are spending more money to educate students, it’s that they have to get that money from someplace to replace their lost state funding; and that’s from tuition and fees from students and families (Sanchez 1). While most institutions tried to keep costs down, some took advantage of the public perception that a high tuition means a quality education (Sanchez 2). The problems that students face now are rising tuition, increasing loans and lacking financial aid to compensate. The fastest growing income for public colleges and universities in our country is tuition. Most students must take out loans to make it through college now.

Financial barriers for higher education has climbed over the last ten years. Today, over 40 million Americans have student loans. Of these 40 million, most individuals are struggling to maintain payments on the loans (Hillary for America, 2016). Since 2004, the tuition for in-state colleges and universities has risen by about 42 percent and with the recent Great Recession, states have continued to decrease spending on higher education at a rapid rate (Hillary for America, 2016). It is estimated that states are only contributing around $1,805 per student, which is estimated to be 20 percent less than what was contributed only seven years’ prior. The federal government in

One of the most obvious manifestations of this is the trend, now more than a decade in duration, of state disinvestment in higher education. The 12 percent decline in state funding we have absorbed in Kansas over the past 18 months was preceded by more than a decade of steady decline in the proportion of university budgets supported by state funds. We see this trend in nearly every state.

To further understand Mrs. Hansen’s analysis, we, must provide a summary of this case. It is brought to our attention that colleges that have raised its tuition and lowered their financial aid have experienced an increase in application. Moreover, some colleges have decreased its tuition and raised financial aid have had decreased applications (Brickley, 2016). Mrs. Hansen has proposed to increase tuition and lower financial aid based on the data from competing colleges, which led to an upward in the demand curve. Mrs. Hansen has a goal to enroll more students, and reduce the financial aid issue at hand with this proposal. Now, last year, the college enrolled 400 new students who paid $15,000 (after financial aid) totaling $6,000,000, and

Higher education in the U.S. has grown to become a vast enterprise comprising some 7,253 colleges and universities, 17.3 million students, 1.5 million faculty and staff members, and aggregate annual expenditures exceeding 515 million dollars (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016). According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2016), in fall of 2014, undergraduate enrollment saw an increase of 31 percent increase from 2000, when enrollment was 13.2 million students. Interestingly enough, while total undergraduate enrollment increased by 37 percent between 2000 and 2010, enrollment decreased by four percent between 2010 and 2014. Furthermore, of the total 17.3 million students, 10.6 million were enrolled in four-year institutions, with the remaining 6.7 million enrolled in two-year institutions. To accommodate student enrollment, enrollment increased by 44 percent in four-year institutions and by 29 percent in two-year institutions, majority of which occurred in for-profit institutions. Of the total number of students enrolled, 56 percent were White, 17 percent were Hispanic, 14 percent were Black, six percent were Asian, and the remaining seven percent were American Indian/Alaska Native or Pacific Islander (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016).