The Rise Of College Tuition

Neill provides data on the increase of amount of students working full-time and part-time jobs during their education. She shows how this has been increasing since the 1970’s and more students are having to work while attending college to pay for expenses. This source also helps demonstrate how a shrinking middle class is affecting college students because low-income students need to work during college. It also provides more evidence on how increasing tuition is affecting students in general.

College tuition has been an increasingly intense topic of discussion over the years. The costs of higher education have been debated by many people, and it has been discussed as to whether costs are becoming too high for students to afford. College has become more and more popular, and now as many as 20 million students attend universities reported by The National Center for Education Statistics (1). The value of a college degree is immense, but college tuition is becoming too expensive for students to afford, and furthering the problem are students’ lack of knowledge on how to pay and earn money towards their college degree.

The ideas of equal opportunities that America was built on has been lost and replaced with a structure of education only being accessible for the wealthy. College tuition is a topic that is on every high school and college student's mind. As tuition costs are constantly rising more college students will face the sticker shock of acquiring a secondary education. Unfortunately, college costs do not just end at tuition and room and board people also have to pay for textbooks, meals, and transportation. The cost of college has become outrageous and students are leaving college with high amounts of debt.

An education is one of the most important tools a person can acquire. It gives them the skills and abilities to obtain a job, earn a wage, and then use that wage to better their lives and the lives of their loved ones. However, due to the seemingly exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being driven away entirely from earning a degree or taking out student loans which cripple their financial prospects well after graduation. Without question, the increasing national student loan debt is one of the most pressing economic issues the United States is dealing with, as students who are debt ridden are not able to consume and invest in the economy. Therefore, many politicians and students are calling

College has become a significant chapter in the lives of many Americans today. In most cases, to reach the well-paying and dreamed-of careers, students must have a bachelor's degree or higher in a certain field of expertise — typically from a university. While this is true, many students have realized that university-level education, even in-state, is not cheap. With tuition rates on the rise, college is beginning to be seen as more of a burden than an opportunity. Although scholarships and financial aid decrease the net cost of attending college, the majority middle class students are not equipped with enough aid to graduate debt free, or even close to it.

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.

The trend continues with the skyrocketing prices of college tuitions. This is not an uncommon issue the days of college tuition being affordable are slowly fading into the past. This conundrum has brought to light the idea of using tax money to help pay tuition. This idea has vast potential, but can it reach its potential.

In order to improve every aspect of life, especially financially; just having a high school diploma does not meet the requirements that society itself is looking for to accomplish one 's American Dream. Everyone desires and dream to go to college with the hope to be successful; but with the fact that the skyrocketing college tuition is increasing every year might turn those dreams into nightmares. There are many research have been proven that the main factors which cause the high cost of postsecondary education was the lack of funding from government, increase of students as well the increase of administrators. But beside those given facts, there are seems to be more deep hidden truth that most college students and their families have no ideas about it. Numerous of debates seem to argue about the reasons that cause the rise of college tuition was because the most money goes to athletics sport teams, the luxury accommodations for students as well as unnecessary programs and many seven-figure administrator.

“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 sudden rise of college tuitions began right after the recession in 2008. Many people lost their jobs, and their current jobs were not paying well enough for them to survive through this devastating time. More people turned to higher education and college tuition began to rise because obtaining college majors will guarantee a higher pay other than minimum wage. This downturn didn’t end here because over the years, tuition rose even higher. In 2014, the debt for college students reached to 1.2 trillion dollars, that is an eighty four percent major increase since the recession. It is very difficult for every individual to repay their entire college tuition on time because their job may be underpaid. If you begin to miss your monthly payments, there will be several consequences right ahead of you.

Colleges are noticing a drop in students’ interest in a higher education, because it forces them to fall into poverty. Obtaining a higher education is a dream of many working class citizens, but the price to go to a choice college is not available economically. The majority of students use some type of student loan, they have become the norm for attending college (Johnston, Roten 24). College is becoming unaffordable to many lower class students. With tuition prices this high, students are backing out of school and looking for jobs that only require a high school diploma. Student loans should help people, but it is only hurting them because they feel like they can never repay it. Especially since student debt continues to rise. “Student loan debt rose by 328 percent from $241 million in 2003 to $1.08 trillion in 2013, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York” (Johnston, Roten 25).

Families are now aiming low when it comes to college- or are simply not going at all. Money could play a huge part in this decision- after all, the cost of college has skyrocketed over the years, and so has the amount of student loan debt. This is something even Leonhardt admits, stating that, because of this, only about 33 percent of young adults get a four-year college degree today, while another 10 percent receive a two-year degree (Leonhardt). And even though many colleges offer financial aid packages, that money may soon be cut and the cost of college will continue to grow. It is true that, in my personal experience, just because a student is awarded financial aid does not mean they have a golden ticket to University. This leaves many desperate students the only option of taking out as many loans as they think they can handle- often more than they should. Debt is not a new issue for America, but it is still a problem. Although David Autor, an M.I.T. economist, laments: “not sending [young adults] to college would be a disaster”, no one can ignore the rising rates of loan defaults, and some think it

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.

Since the beginning of the 20th Century, college education has been available for everyone and anyone who is willing to develop their knowledge regarding a specific professional field. Currently in the United States, the percentage of high school graduates going to college has increased considerably: 68 percent in 2011 compared to 49 percent in 1940 (Menand, 2) and the record high set in 2009 with 70 percent of total high school graduates enrolled in college ("Bureau of Labor Statistics"). Notwithstanding, it has come to the attention of many that the college tuition and fees have been increasing at an accelerated rate. According to The New York Times, college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007 (Lewin, 1). This

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 undergraduate and advanced degrees continually rises at a greater rate than inflation. 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 lucrative post-graduate employment to repay their loans.