Você está na página 1de 4

Tad Song

Prof. Turner

ENG 114B

3 April 2017

College Tuition Just Got Worse

When students first start to apply to colleges, they mostly ask themselves, Should I

choose this college because of the tuition or should I not? College tuition is one of the most

consistently discussed topic when talking about colleges because they have such a significant

impact on people, more specifically the students. Education institutions, such as colleges, have

many injustices, but one injustice seems to stand out more than the others. Colleges are

increasing tuition and the increase is economically affecting students in a negative way. There

are reasons as to why colleges are increasing tuition and who benefit from this increase and who

dont benefit from it.

The one social class that seems to be the most affected by this increase in tuition would

be the middle-class students. According to TakePart, there was a study done by Vanderbilt

University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Institute for Research in Higher Education

which shows that since 2008, college affordability has dropped in 45 states in the US. It also says

that 76% of the annual income of a middle-class family must go towards the students tuition and

expenses at a four-year public university. Sometimes it can get bad to the point where even

community college tuitions are just too high for middle-class students to afford. This situation

prompts students to rely on loans which will inevitably hurt them in the future. Student loans will

bring heavy student debt and the only reason for students choosing this road is because they want
Song 2

to get a higher education. Will Doyle, an education policy researcher at Vanderbilt says that

states are spending less on education, and the government hasnt done enough to keep tuition

affordable. Doyle is worried that the door for college is open for now, but not for future

generations if the economy keeps going in the direction that it is going in right now.

In the fall of 1971, Harvard University increased college tuition from $200 to $2,600.

According to a news article by John W. Schoen from CNBC news, since the 1971 Harvard

University tuition increase, 40 years later the tuition now stands at $45,278, without including

room and board. This enormous increase in tuition seems unbelievable but it is the reality that we

are living in today. Colleges spend more money on improving facilities, faculty, students,

research and instructional technology rather than improving efficiency, reducing costs, or

reallocating funds. Many colleges increase tuition so that they can compete better than other

colleges by using the money for the schools improvement.

According to the New York Times, about two-thirds of bachelors degree recipients

borrow money to attend college, either from the government or private lenders, according to a

Department of Education survey of 2007-8 graduates. Compared to the past, families are

becoming more disagreeing with the new tuition average. On average since 1980, college tuition

prices rise 7% a year. Comparing it to this year, the inflation rate is just 3.2%. As long as the

demand for the good (higher education) continues to rise, the price will also rise. The argument

of education being worth it no matter the cost, has had students as well as their families thinking

about it, leading to student taking money from the government which on average would be $1

billion every year, and in total, more than $1 trillion. While most loans dont have to be paid off

until after graduation, many students arent able to find jobs to subsidize the loan payments.
Song 3

Because of the schools expanding educational cost, more students are less ready to go to

school, particularly students of lower wage. The expansion in educational cost is additionally

diminishing the quantity of students ready to go to their dream school. As indicated by The Fiscal

Times, a current review by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA finds that the rate

of approaching students going to their top-choice school or college declined in 2011 to 57.9

percent, down from 60.5 percent in 2010. For the dominant part of students, they picked not to

go to their dream school because of budgetary reasons. Numerous students are deserting the 4

year university course all together by going to 2 year university to get into the work compel

sooner.

More established generations stick to the possibility that college education is the way to

an impeccable life. Be that as it may, this thought is ending up plainly progressively old.

Overviews demonstrate that individuals are ending up plainly more incredulous of the real

estimation of a school training in this economy. Four years prior, 81% of individuals trusted that

a school instruction is a decent venture. That number has fallen strongly to 57% because of a mix

of absence of accessible employments and the expanding cost of universities. This makes an

oddity that puts students in a difficult situation. Keeping in mind the end goal to locate a great

job, one must have an advanced education, however, the job is not always going to be secured.

The people who benefit from college tuition increases are people who are controlling

everything in the college. The staff such as the president of the college, the financial facilitators

of the college and even also the professors of the college. The president of the college gets more

money from college tuitions because of the increase and so do the other departments that work in

the college. The professors get their pay from 50% of the college tuitions and with an increase,

they can see a slight change in their paycheck.


Song 4

Works Cited Page

"Study: Fewer Students Can Afford Their Dream College." The Fiscal Times. N.p., n.d. Web.

04 Apr. 2017. <http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/01/27/Study-Fewer-Students-Can-Afford-

Their-Dream-College>.

Martin, Andrew, and Andrew W. Lehren. "A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of

College." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 May 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/business/student-loans-weighing-down-a-generation-with-

heavy-debt.html?pagewanted=all>.

Atherton, Graeme, and Head Of AccessHE. "Higher Tuition Fees Are Distorting the Choices

Poorer Students Make." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 May 2015. Web. 04 Apr.

2017. <https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/may/01/higher-tuition-fees-are-

distorting-the-choices-poorer-students-make-lower-tuition-fees-could-see-poorer-students-applying-

for-different-courses>.

Williams, Joseph. "When It Comes to College Costs, Middle-Class Kids Are Still

Screwed."TakePart. N.p., 29 Apr. 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/04/29/when-it-comes-college-costs-middle-class-kids-are-still-

screwed/>.

Você também pode gostar