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David Labaree On The Value Of Education

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As much as we would like to believe that education is not political, we cannot deny that there are absolutely no political motivations behind the purpose of education or certain educational rulings. Across the country we are seeing differential pricing regarding college majors, like in Florida where it costs more to pursue a humanities major. As for closer to home, the University of Maryland adopted a similar policy. Undergraduates in The Smith School of Business and Management, The Clark School of Engineering, and the Department of Computer Science are being charged a higher tuition than the rest. Why did the University of Maryland enact this policy in the 2015-2916 school year? Officials explained that it was because it costs the university …show more content…

I believe that this policy is linked to the democratic equality purpose of education. Published in the American Educational Research Journal is an article called “Public Goods, Private Goods: The American Struggle over Educational Goals” by David Labaree. In his article Labaree states that the democratic equality approach to schooling believes that education is seen as a public good and that “it prepares all of its young with equal care to take on the full responsibilities of citizenship in a competent manner” (Labaree, pg. 5). I translate this by first tackling the fact that education is a public good, or a commodity that is provided without profit to all members of society. The university is not collecting the extra tuition money for their own financial benefit, but because more of the public’s money goes to educating these students. This is when I consider the “full responsibilities of citizenship” to come into play. Essentially, you get what you pay for, and as a citizen it is the undergraduates duty to pay a little more for their expensive lab spaces, textbooks, and other materials. It is more justifiable to charge these undergraduates more because the connotation of being selfish or greedy is not placed upon the school. These students are essentially …show more content…

According to Theodore Schultz in his article “Investment in Human Capital”, human capital is the investment in a person’s knowledge, skills, and experiences (Schultz, pg. 3). The University is investing in these business and computer science majors by putting a higher value on their degree. This can be explained by Schultz through his statement that “the simple truth is that people invest in themselves and these investments are very large” (Schultz, pg. 2). Schultz is saying that the University is investing in their own future by producing more of what they think is necessary for society, computer science and business employees. The human capital factor can also explain the differential tuition for some of the science and engineering majors. The University is investing in these students by putting more money in their education, however their investment in turn becomes an investment in themselves since these students pay back the difference. Nevertheless, Schultz even states that there are reasons to be wary about investing in human capital. He explains that there are deep-seated philosophical and moral issues that intertwine with human capital and that “the mere thought of investment in human capital is offensive… Our values and beliefs inhibit us from looking upon human beings as capital goods” (Schultz,

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The reasons for this inflation in student loans, Oliver explains, are due to several factors. First, states have dramatically cut funding for education which has led to the rise of tuition at colleges. Since college has become more expensive, students are forced to take out more loans, which results in more bills (3). Second, Oliver states that many for-profit colleges charge their students five to six times the cost of community college and twice the cost of a four year state university. He further states that the reason why these colleges charge so much more has nothing to do with the quality of their education, instead the money is being spent on unimportant things like advertising.

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Making money has been what drives students to go to college rather than education, and the authors made a very strong point. They present a graph about how the return of investment intertwines with the type of schooling the student gets. The result was that the most competitive schools have the best return of investment at “11% for public school, and 13% for private schooling.” (Sawhill & Owen, 2015). This is important data as they allow students to see if what college they should go to.

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The goal of the tuition cap is to streamline the education financial process, rather than taking it away. Tuition caps should not create artificially low prices in the education market, but there needs to be extra pressure on colleges to contain costs; which there’s not right now. Requiring colleges to stay under the cap can help control the increasing prices of education, as the continual receival of federal funding and tax exemptions can be used as an incentive for those colleges who comply. Furthermore, tuition and fees have grown more than twice the rate of inflation each year (Wolfram, 2005). If colleges and universities choose to increase tuition cost more than the CPI, not only should they lose federal funding and tax exemptions, but also it should be mandatory for them to use money from their endowments to fully fund grants for students on financial aid; instead of the federal government increasing the Pell grant each award year to make up that extra

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You have the right to charge whatever price you want for your goods, but not every price is a fair one. As for parking fees and fines, there are many students that have very little

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However, the increasing cost of college education has become a significant burden on the families of students and the students themselves. The factors contributing to the rising cost of college education include increasing tuition prices, room and board expenses, unnecessary fees, higher salaries for university staff, and the demand for higher education. Despite these challenges, states have yet to contribute more funds to help lower-income individuals achieve their higher education goals. The rising cost of college education is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted solution. It is essential to address factors such as administrative spending and the need for better policy in college administrations.

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Government cuts in education funding have driven tuition prices up and these government funding decisions have made college less affordable and less accessible for students. Jonathan Glater, a professor at Berkeley Law, claims, “Direct appropriations and state support of public colleges have failed to keep pace with rising institutional costs. This is due at least in part to difficult economic times that have forced state governments to make hard fiscal choices” (Glater 1573). Rising education costs have made college less affordable and has shifted education costs from the government to students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “the average tuition and fees for first-time full-time undergraduate students in academic year 2021–22 was $9,700 for public institutions, which is 6 percent higher than $9,100 in 2010– 11” (“COE”).

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In the last fifty years the world has gone under many changes but one that is really shocking is the escalating prices of colleges. Since 1985, the price tag in American colleges and universities has

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Moreover, I strongly agree that college tuition should be free for students because education is very important for student all over the world. When one government allows students to attend at the college for free, the benefit is good for both of them because when they are educated in their community that will get a lot of business minded students, such as doctors and teachers. However, when students cannot go to college because of the high tuition, they will engage in crimes, drugs, and many young teenage girls will get pregnant because they are not smart enough to handle their lives. In contrast, when a student goes to college they will know what diseases are and they will know how to protect themselves from diseases and unwanted pregnancy.

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In recent years, the number of people who have been attending university greatly increased, consequently, arguments have continued as to whether students should pay for this prerogative or not. With no doubts, everything has its two sides and the problem of whether the university fees should be paid by taxpayers or not is not an exception. Still, there are people who believe that authorities should take the responsibility for funding the university fees. However, others disagree and opine that it is solely the responsibility of students to pay for their higher education that is in a direct connection to their prospering future career and life in general. In this way, it is important to review both sides of this controversial question.

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