Adrianna Hodges
Professor Robert Howell
English 102
21 October 2015
The Rise and Fall of College Tuition in the United States
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
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Wiener and Field have left me inspired. It is time to end college tuition across the United States once and for all.
Jon Wiener is a journalist and historian who bases his work in Los Angeles where he is contributing editor for The Nation. Wiener has a Ph. D from Harvard, where he began writing for a school newspaper in the late 1960s called The Old Mole, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton. Wiener currently works as an United States History professor at the University of California, Irvine.
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 discusses reasonings behind the actions of implementing free college tuition across the entire United States. Wiener analyzes many different claims such as the surprising cost of college tuition and the alarming rate of which college tuition costs are rising. Wiener claims that nearly two-third of college graduates are dealing with roughly $29,000 in student-loan debt. He uses these statistics to scare the readers of his article with the underlying truth. Wiener wants to make sure that he gets the point across to his audience. Wiener also ties in the United State government’s effort into his work. He discusses the humongous amount of money that is put into college tuition already: “The US government already spends lots of money on student aid. Federal spending in 2014. the College Board reports, includes $47 billion
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
Free college tuition is crucial for the millions of students across the country that either cannot afford an education or are struggling with enormous debts. Statistics show that the amount of
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
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
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.
After reading about the historic court case of Robert Murphy, an unemployed 65-year-old man fighting to have over $200,000 in student loan debt dismissed through bankruptcy, I began to think “Have I been lied to about my investment in a college education”? Well, the answer is yes; we have all been lied to! Student loan debt is an invisible phantom that follows millions of Americans through their lives. We are told, however, that this invaluable investment is well worth the risk of living in financial destitution for the rest our lives. The truth is it creates even more hardships on Americans in the form of debt. I and millions of others are tired of the lies! If college is going to continuously be America’s golden standard for economic advancement, our next leader needs to fix the affordability of the higher education system and the debt that burdens Americans once and for all.
The hot topic amongst people entering college is student loan debt. With the average debt at tens of thousands of dollars, many people shy away from college, or at least do not get a full degree. As a result, many politicians have preached plans to make college free, and thus bring an end to student loan debt. However, those on the other end of the spectrum find themselves hindered in jumping aboard the free college mania, because, after all, nothing is free, everything comes at a price. And as they soon learned, what a price indeed. In fact, in order for the universities to pay staff and accommodate the student body without tuition being on the shoulders of the students, state taxes would have to be increased on the entire taxpaying population.
The presidential race is now consuming America. It is mentioned every morning in the news and in every “scroll” through social media. While important topics such a national security, national debt, and international affairs are brought up constantly in the debate spotlight, higher education is a topic less discussed. However, each presidential candidate has a specific, strategic plan to tackle current issues in higher education. The main issue that candidates believe should be addressed includes college costs and how they impact student debt. Each candidate has a different stance on the issue, and each have a plan to move toward solving the issue. This review will cover the current issue of student debt and how that is impacting America, each presidential candidates strategic plan to tackle this issue, a critique of each presidential candidate’s plan, and a reflection of solutions presented. Each candidate running for the 2016 presidency deserves full recognition, this review will focus on the two leading presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
For many in the middle class student debt has a strong and relentless grasp on their economic future. In their article "Why Free Higher Ed Can't Wait" Jeje Biola and Belinda Rodriguez state that, "Student debt has reached a record total of over $1.3 trillion" (6). This has left many people wondering where this is coming from and wanting change. This number is just too high in the minds of the average American. In the last few years free college tuition has been a hot topic in American politics, as recently as the 2016 presidential race. Candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton proved to be a huge push for free tuition. The raising college tuition rates effect all Americans in some form or fashion, so support is quickly rising especially
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.
Charles Schwertner is a Texas Tribune who wrote “Tuition deregulation is failing Texas students” in December, 11, 2014 and published in Star-telegram.com website. His main audience are Texas students. His argument presents the “broken system” of tuition and fees at public universities had left many students in debt. Students’ debt accumulated and surpassed credit card debt to be a second source of debt in our country. His argument does have some flaws, but overall it really convinces me that tuition and fees at college are a big problem today.
“Feel the Bern” – an inspirational slogan that resonates as the presidential race approaches its zenith, and as the rhetorical Bernie sanders, the crafty Hilary Clinton, and the booming Donald Trump lay their values, visions, and views on the table, they pray that they will win over the American people. One of those views, held prominently by Mr. Sanders, lies in the proposition of eradicating college tuition. Published in The Washington Post, “Make College Free for All” outlines the position of Sanders: “Education is essential for personal and national well-being…hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college while millions more leave school deeply in debt. It is time to build on the progressive movement of the past and make public colleges and universities tuition-free in the United States — a development that will be the driver of a new era of American prosperity…we will have a stronger economy and a stronger democracy when all young people with the ambition and the talent can reach their full potential, regardless of their circumstances at birth.” Individuals in the U.S., in light of the outrageous amount of resources available, ought to fund their own education. America would undoubtedly “feel the Bern” if Mr. Sanders’ socialistic views reach execution, given that once a government funds anything, it ultimately controls it.
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.
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 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