preview

U.s. Department Of Education

Better Essays

If you were to poll the American public as to what the largest issue faced by the general public, you would no doubt hear a wide range of issues, such as poverty, the widening income gap, high unemployment rates, the economy, or government policy just to name a few. Another top concern within our nation is the current state of our higher education: its affordability and its overall impact on poverty levels and the unemployment rate. According to the U.S. Department of Education:
Creating a clear path to the middle class and ensuring our nation 's economic prosperity means opening the doors of higher education to more Americans. Today, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require education and training beyond a high school …show more content…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
Adults aged 18 and older holding a bachelor 's degree earned an average of $51,544 in 2004, compared with an average of $28,645 earned by those with a high school diploma—or about 73% more. Multiplied over the course of a lifetime that could translate into a difference in income of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (“Value of a College”)
This is an average of over $23,000 - which is roughly the price of a mid-size car or small truck – per year; that is a very significant difference when it comes to trying to provide a higher quality of life for you and your family. This paper will work to provide education on some of the steps that must be taken to help to lower the costs associated with attaining a higher level of education. These steps include increasing a student’s overall knowledge of the fees associated with college tuition, the different types of educational options available, the monetary assistance available, and the ways the government can assist in improving higher educational facilities.
One of the key aspects of the discussion is working to lower the overall costs of earning a degree. This does not include simply the tuition, it is all the encompassing costs associated with it. According to the Higher Education Strategy Associates,
The basic unit of analysis for measuring “affordability” of higher education is the cost of education. This cost is not simply

Get Access