The Rising Cost Of The American Higher Education System

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,

The effects of the decrease in funds per students in public schools means that professors are forced to teach larger class sizes and are forced to give up their personal spaces, including offices, so that there can be more classroom space for the increasing number of college students without the need to build new academic buildings (Noren, 2016, B). Lack of funding at public schools is also hurting prospective out of state students. While state run universities have an obligation to subsidize the tuition of students from their own state, they do not have the same obligations for out of state students. To raise funds, public universities are increasing the tuition of out of state students at an alarming rate while declining to provide financial aid (Foudy, 2016). Some public universities have also began increasing the acceptance rate of out of state students in an effort to get the maximum amount of tuition money so that the schools can continue to pay their professors, fund research, and increase their prestige (Foudy,

These universities are fundamentally different from the non-profit universities because their main priority is to return a high profit to their shareholders. For this reason, for-profit universities aim to admit the highest number of students they can while cutting as much cost as possible. For-profit universities also target students who are not as well informed on the college selection process and what to expect from college. Private, for-profit colleges base their tuition on how much money the government is willing to give to students in aid (Noren, 2016, A). The students that attend these colleges are usually low-income, and are almost guaranteed to receive federal aid, which results in steady cash flow for the college, regardless of whether the students graduate the university or