In John Schoen’s “Why does College cost so much?”, he unpacks many ideas on the topic of tuition. In the reading, he uses Harvard, the school that raised tuition a substantial amount in 1971, as an example. The university justified the increase in tuition on rising inflation, which the article continued to state that tuition and inflation were not synonymous. Presently, Harvard charges roughly $45,000 a semester. If inflation were the reason for raising tuition cost, then students would only be paying an estimated amount of $15,000 a semester according to research and inflation models.
Deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life is an extremely tough choice. It is not made easier by the fact that you have to think about what you want to major in, what school you want to go to, where you will work when you are done with school, and how you will pay off your student loans. As children we are told that we can do whatever we want, but the tough reality is, we can do whatever we will get paid to do. Ben Casselman makes this point very clear in his article, “The Economic Guide to Picking a College Major” by reiterating that getting a college degree does not mean you are promised a job in that field. When choosing a major, you have to take data on how well that field is doing into account.
What if you were told college was cheap? Well we all know that's not the case. Over two thirds of college students graduate with unexpected debt. Yet, the already high tuition rates in America are still on the rise. The perks of attending college do not come without a hefty price and unfortunately students have to deal with crippling inescapable debt.
Understanding college costs will give us a reason as to why the price is so high as well as how they got to that point. In order to know how and why college costs are so high, we have to know what the rates of colleges are. Four year colleges and universities are $23,066 (Understanding) a nearly $20,000 increase in a thirty year period and two year colleges are now $9,308 (Understanding) an almost 2,000 increase in the same thirty year period. Student debt as the NPR says “has now surpassed a trillion dollars, higher than America’s collective credit card debt” (How).
Research Question: Should College Tuition cost as much as it does? Thesis Statement: The College tuition has gone as far as having many college students being buried in debt for all their early life, lowering the tuition tremendously would unshackle the chains of debt that has affected over 71% of the college students that attend today. Introduction One of the hottest topics of this generation is whether college is too expensive for most students/goers. Over $70 billion is spent on college tuition annually, that’s crazy considering more than half of the people that go are in student debt. Many institutions are now charging 20k to 40k a year for tuition and fees, that doesn’t even include living expenses…
The price of college has been rising in an expedite rate for a multitude of reasons. Three foremost being the explosion in demand to go to college, the rising cost of new professors and amenities, and government subsidies/ student loans. Back in the 1980’s the price of tuition adjusted for inflation was around $10,200. Currently, the average cost of tuition is hovering approximately $32,000. Due to the demand of enrolling in college and the consequence of tenures and subsides in universities.
With college tuition costs exploding, and job placement rates lowering, modern college students are being set up for failure. Many people are blaming the government for this problem, but the fault is at the ignorance and stupidity of these college students themselves. Looking into colleges myself, I am realizing how expensive things really are. Tuitions at both private and public schools are extremely high, and living costs have to be taken into consideration too. People around me are planning on going to schools that frankly, they just shouldn’t be going to.
The tuition and cost of college is detrimental to thousands of families across the country and brings student debt to future graduates. Some students have seen their debt climb over $30,000. Friedman writes, “The average student in the Class of 2016 has $37,172 in student loan debt…” (Friedman). With the debts being over the average income for single people households, college has transformed from a benefit to a burden. Young adults not only have to worry about their education but also paying for the next semester or years of college ahead of them.
This essay will give a clear explanation about this growing problem and some other solutions students are turning too. When parents and students look into applying to college often the first thing they look at is the price of tuition. Usually on the website there is a flat number of cost for the year. However, once you start applying and get accepted the price often changes quite a bit. They factor in classes you are enrolled in, whether they are online or physical courses, any extra curricular activities you embark in, and even extra “student fees” they may find they need to charge you.
College is not cheap, a hefty fee is often payed by those who want to attend, often out of their own wallets. It is no secret that funding a college education is getting harder and harder. Thus begs the question, is the charge of Universities becoming too high? Yes, college costs have skyrocketed over the past decade (citation). Being capable of going off to a university to acquire an education is slipping for countless people due to the rising costs.
Travis Fisher Instructor Steven Freeman English 102 December 1, 2016 Is Higher Education Worth the Cost? In modern day America, college students are in thousands upon thousands of dollars in debt. In 2015, there were approximately 20.2 million college students whose debt averaged out to $28,950 (college-education.procon.org, par 1). Many people today argue whether or not college education is worth it.
College isn’t cheap. In fact, it’s one of the biggest investments that most people will make for their futures. Most colleges charge tuition that ranges from $20,000 to $75,000 a year. For out-of-state students (like myself), the price tends to skew towards the upper half. While it’s easy to agree that college is a worthwhile endeavor, it’s just as easy to be scared off by the sticker price that comes along with it.
The major problem facing the American higher education system is the shortage of funding for students which is leading to higher tuition costs. Compared to 1985, the cost of attendance of four year public institutions has increased by over 500 percent and much faster than what was expected (Jamrisko and Kolet, 2013). Today, the average cost of all institutions is above 19,000 dollars compared to 3,489 dollars in 1981 (Understanding the Rising Costs of Higher Education, n.d.). For 4-year institutions, the increase over the same time-frame extended from $3,951 to $23,066 (Understanding the Rising Costs of Higher Education, n.d.). Meanwhile 2-year institutions increased in price from $2,476 to $9,308 (Understanding the Rising Costs of Higher Education,
As Bo Jackson said, “If they have four years of a college education, do it.” As most know, college can be hard to achieve. Whether that is because of cost, or finding the best that fits for a person for their quality of living, there is no wrong with not going to college, but people need to understand that college is valuable to every person. That being said, college is a valuable thing to have because it gives a higher paying job and teach traits employers search for. First off, unless there is large money in their bank account that can pay for everything, there will be loans and bills to pay.
I find that college should be made affordable for each and everyone. Not what your college bored thinks they can get away with! College tuition can affect some person’s ability to go to a desired collage, put families in a financial crisis, and affect future careers. Student loans fallow college students for years even after completing college.
