Why Should College Students Avoid An Absurd Price Important?

Increased tuitions are results of a variety of factors. Shrinkage of state budget and low endowments cause by the recession forcing colleges to make up the cost somehow (Lee). The government has increased their support during the recession. For example, in the form of Pell Grants which doubled over the years. Andrew Kelly, director of the Center on Higher Education Reform at the American Enterprise Institute, writes “... the increase of federal spending has been completely eroded by the rising tuition prices”(Bidwell). Higher tuition defeats the purpose of the federal government increasing their support.

A lot of people will argue, that college is too expensive. Not everyone can go to college, for financial reasons. Also, they may get into college, but end up having to leave because they cannot afford the remaining balances; or, they received financial aid, but end up having to take out loans they are going to be paying back forever. It is like once they graduate they will be working mostly to pay off their student loan debt. This also discourages some students. In some cases, they will not even take the initiative to try because it is so costly. I do not understand why it cost so much to want to better yourself, and possibly put us in debt for the rest of our life just to receive a higher education. Not only has the cost of college risen over a period of time, but it continues to go up. Yes, they have alternatives for paying student debts, but what if you do not qualify? Lastly, you are not guaranteed a job just because you graduate and have a college degree(s).

When we think about college and a college education, it seems as though our first initial thought is the student loans and debt that can result in achieving a college degree. Looking back, student debt has risen drastically and has made it extremely stressful for students and families. Many people go through their entire life in debt, especially from being a student. Student debt has always existed; however, now, it is so extreme, almost all students who attend college find themselves deep in debt, and must continue paying off their debt many years after they graduate. For the past two decades, student debt has risen, illustrating how big this social problem has become. The reason student debt is a significant social problem is because of how much it can effect a person’s life, and their families lives, that can carry over to their future. Although there were many things that led up to and impacted the drastic student debt that is now being faced by many students around the world, the corporation Sallie Mae, was the essential factor in why student debt has skyrocketed to unreasonable proportions. Sallie Mae provided the first type of corporation that changed its focus from helping students, to helping themselves. The history and scope of the student debt can help us understand that the corporation, Sallie Mae, was the main cause of this problem.

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

“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.

Ever since it was turned into a semi-private loan service, Sallie Mae used money to lobby its way in order to become an effective profit-generating machine that fed off the student’s monthly payment while the government just watched as the well-intentioned program went down the drain. In the beginning, Federal student loan started off with the intention of providing equal opportunity in the academic world. For that reason, President Johnson (D) signed the Higher Education Act in 1965 that offered guarantees of low interest, leniency on payments, and options when the student cannot afford to pay it back. In the next presidency, President Nixon (R) expanded the educational program to make it a semi-government program

In the article “The Real Reason College Tuition Costs so Much,” author Paul F. Campos makes a deliberative argument that the cost of higher education is not caused by public funding being cut. Campos uses invention, arrangement, and style techniques in order to structure his argument and persuade his audience. His argument also contributes to the general debate in the cost of education because it is in conversation with other texts and researchers. Campos’ argument effectively contributes to the debate on the cost of higher education because he uses invention techniques, anecdotes, and counterarguments in order to prove that a lack of public funding has not caused the dramatic increase in tuition costs.

In 1976, the average cost to attend a four year public university was $2,175; today, the average cost to attend a four year public university is $25,000 (Snyder). This means it is 1150% more expensive to go to college in The United States today than it was 30 years ago. This obviously would create a problem on how we as people are going to pay for our higher education. Today college has become almost a necessity to have a satisfactory life, and with these rising prices some individuals believe student loans are the only option. There are many reasons as to why the prices have risen, but the one undeniable fact is that this has created a problem within our country. Which, is known as the student debt crisis, and it has been on the rise the past couple years. This problem is affecting people all around the United States, and is causing multitude of problems for them all because they wanted to pursue higher education. Wanting to better your opportunities by bettering yourself is not something that needs to be punished, and sadly that is what is happening. This problem is something that needs to be fixed for the sake of Americans and our economy, but will also take time and a multitude of steps to correct.

In case, you are not aware, for-profit tuition is much higher than that of public institutions, and for profits receive a quarter of all federal aid while only enrolling 10 percent of all students (216). The real problem is that students of the much more expensive for-profit institutions tend to borrow a lot more money than the students of public institutions do and are often unable to repay these loans upon graduating and entering the work force. In fact, most graduates of for-profit institutions are unable to even get a job with their freshly awarded on line diplomas and therefore default on their federally subsidized student loans due to lack of income. Clifford refutes indications that the excessive amount of student debt is directly related to the cost of education, and therefore, disapproves of the Obama administration’s proposal to disallow further federal aid to any student who has exceeded a certain percentage of debt in relation to income. In spite of statistics that predict more than half of his students’ loans will enter default, he simply does not feel that it is the responsibility of

Today, the cost of attending many public colleges is so high that a lot of students simply can't afford to. As a result, far fewer students from lower-income

Furthermore, tuition annual rate has an outrageous inflation relationship with time. In Josh Mitchell and Andrea Fuller Wall Street Journal it states, “Among the four-year schools in the Journal's analysis, the average increase in tuition and fees was greater than 75% in the past decade, outpacing inflation.” (pp9). As college tuition continue to increase, the more individuals will be in debt. While the importance of a higher education increases the chances of becoming successful, more people will gravitate towards higher education knowing that loans will always be an option and having the idea that debt is normal to ensure a stable future. Not only will this start to affect individuals but the government will eventually suffer. Wight Martindale Jr states, “…too much money spent, too little achieved.” (Martindale), this explains how higher education can bring one a tremendous amount of debt with a bunch of stress. He also talks about how it is a bubble, this is a bubble that many students hate to be in. This bubble is known for being unable to burst which is a problem for multiple students because college shouldn’t be about money and stress. The more money the government give out and not receive as much in and they borrow from different countries, the country will stay in debt itself.

This high average cost often discourages students from attending college. Flannery writes, “in countries where almost all universities are public and far less expensive to attend, governments needs not underwrite the cost of tuition or the new fancy cafeteria and climbing wall.” While some may take Flannery’s talk of a new climbing wall as sarcasm, it is disturbingly true. Maybe the United States isn’t setting the proper

In 1958, the National Defense Education Act provided college students up to one thousand dollars a year in loans, but the average annual loan was actually only five hundred dollars or less because students could afford the rest of tuition on their own. Interest began at three percent a year after graduation and could usually be paid off in ten years. (Good 590-591) These statistics are a far cry from today’s, with student loan debt surpassing one trillion dollars and many graduates paying off loans well into middle age. As a result of the government shelling out billions of dollars in loans and inflation, colleges have had to increase their tuitions thus creating a college “bubble”. In the past year or so many political leaders have proposed plans to pay for two years of community college, such as President Obama, or for a full four years, such as Bernie Sanders, a frontrunner for the democratic candidacy. Even states like Tennessee,

The tuition increases have come in response to the lack of federal funding to universities, leading them to find their own way to provide for their upkeep. “Recent increases in university tuition fees are part of a new entrepreneurial trend in higher education in which institutions are expected to generate more of their own revenue” (Quirke). The universities have decided that since they can no longer look towards federal funds to fuel their costs of maintenance and revenue, they must find a new route towards attaining much needed funds, and they have chosen to

As discussed by Fryar (2014), if leaders perceive efforts to improve affordability as threats to the quality of their institution, efforts toward promoting affordability will be halted. Furthermore, prioritizing quality let college leaders seek for more stable and dependable financial sources. Tuition and fees, as one of the controllable and dependable source, will be the first choice for institution to maintain quality and avoid risk (Fryar, 2014). The dominant ideology that links price with quality in higher education institutions, or in other words, quality is maintained on the base of accumulation of tangible resources and the higher the price is, the better the education will be, is the root problem for the ineffective institutional affordability movements.