High Cost Of Higher Education

Introduction				plan well for their children's education. Repeatedly,
Parents in the US have been pushed to the corner;				parents assert that they have had to add about two
they know and appreciate the importance of a college				thousand dollars more each year their children attend
education but affordability hinders most of them from				college. This makes it very difficult to budget as one
meeting their children's needs. In today's competitive				cannot anticipate what their child's college will demand
world, even simple jobs require bachelor's degrees.				from them in the next year. (Martin, 2008)
Consequently, students end up attending colleges far				The state funding system was set up in order to
from their hometowns, apply for scholarships or drop				accommodate and fund students from poor
out altogether. Despite numerous scholarship offers,				backgrounds. However, this has not been achieved
some students still miss quality education because they				effectively because the students who end up getting
may not qualify for college education. Additionally,				state funds are those ones who understand the
those students who attend colleges end up struggling				application process and not the ones who need it the
to meet their daily expenses since their parents spend				most. It is very difficult for parents to secure
a substantial portion for their incomes on tuition alone.				scholarship for their students given the fact that most
The research aims at looking at the causes and				acceptance lists come out in student's final high school
consequences of rising educational costs. Additionally, it				years. Consequently, those who decide on the
seeks to offer a solution to this reeling problem.				colleges they would like to attend have to do so
(Benassi, 2005)				hurriedly. Most of them end up choosing the wrong
Causes of rising higher education costs				institution or missing out on a scholarship altogether. It
Many politicians, District Education Boards and school				should be noted that most of the students who qualify
administrators agree on the fact that declining state				for scholarships are those ones who come from
support is the main reason behind plummeting college				relatively stable backgrounds. In order to be well
costs. The state is responsible for covering tuition cots.				informed, their parents have to be at a good financial
However, tuition costs only take up thirty three percent				position. Parents hailing from humble backgrounds may
of total educational costs in these institutions. Colleges				not know about the intricacies of application. These
and universities have to take care of these anomalies				same poor families have to deal with the rising
on their own. Most of them end up increasing tuition				education costs. Consequently, such groups have to
costs or reducing the number of programs on offer.				squeeze their budgets even more.
This is eventually translated to the students who has				Possible solutions
to attend college regardless of their financial positions.				Congress has attempted to curb these soaring prices.
The situation is further aggravated by competition				For instance in 2007, they made a proposal to reduce
among different sectors of the economy. The health				interest rates on student loans. However, such an
sector has taken up a lot of government funding				approach may not necessarily be the way forward.
leaving little for education. Additionally, the state has to				Reducing interest rates cannot ensure controlled
spend on lower income earners or on retirees leaving				college costs. Legislations must take the problem head
the public sector.				on. Policies need to curb the inflated prices and not just
Another major reason for these rising cost is				interests on student loans.
increasing competition among universities and colleges.				The state could increase the amounts they offer in
Reports such as ‘US News and World Report'				grant systems. This means that there will be more
usually rank universities and colleges in terms of the				funds available for students both in public and private
nature and availability of resources. Consequently,				schools. Additionally, the state could improve their loan
many institutions want to show that they are a				repayment options. The field of education is crucial to
force-to-reckon-with. Most of them employ very				the US economy and should be given some special
expensive and famous professors, build state of the				privileges over and above what other sectors receive.
art dormitories and expand their sporting facilities.				Besides these, the state could assess the system
Eventually, the student body has to meet these				they use for selecting students who qualify for
expenditures. It should be noted that an arms race				sponsorship. The government should aim at regulating
among universities is common in the private rather than				fees from rich schools into poor schools. In this case,
in public schools. However, the same behavior trickles				poor schools refer to those universities or colleges
down to public schools given the fact that they also				with high numbers of low income students. The
want to secure good students or produce good				government should avoid making legislations that
results. (Lang, 2006)				increase the burden of payment on parents. Such
Rising costs occur because universities and colleges				legislations include scraping student loan consolidation. In
feel that they have the mandate to do so. The				2004, Congress had proposed such a measure
demand for college or university education is				claiming that these allocations were costing the
constantly on the increasing estimates have shown				government huge sums. Such policies could spell doom
that the graduating class this year will be the highest				for parents and should be discouraged at all costs.
ever recorded. However, seating space and				(Strauss and Wagner, 2008)
classrooms have remained as they were. This implies				The federal government needs to step up their actions
that universities and colleges are in charge; they know				against universities or colleges that take advantage of
that Americans desperately need college education.				their students. For instance, the state could set a price
One of the reasons for this high demand is that				cap for increasing tuition fees for public universities and
income gaps between degree and diploma holders				private institutions too. They could pass a law that
keeps rinsing. Employers have reinforced this				penalizes universities that exceed this amount. The
perception since they give priority to				most appropriate penalty in this case is eliminating
university-educated individuals. Universities keep				federal state funds for such universities or colleges.
increasing their prices because they are aware that				These price caps could be revised annually to make
this will not reduce their intake levels at all.				them in tune with economic conditions.
Extent and consequences of the problem				Additionally, the state could offer some special financial
Between the years 2002 and 2007, higher education				packages for students who perform well in school.
costs have increased by a whooping thirty percent.				The packages could be made automatic and could be
This was a report made by the College Board after				tailored to needy students. Federal governments are
making a number of adjustments. Statistics further				already doing this in certain states and more states
indicate that tuition costs have risen faster than health				can adopt these measures too. Georgia already has a
insurance, consumer prices and even personal income.				program known as Hope scholarship that operates on
Between the years 2006 and 2007 public universities				such a principle. New Jersey also has a similar
charge a 12, 796 dollars for tuition and boarding fees.				program for residents who attend colleges within the
Private universities are even more notorious; they				state. Others should adopt similar measures. (Martin,
charge a whooping 30, 367 dollars for the same. The				2008)
following figures on tuition costs in public colleges				The government need not be the only party that can
indicate just how serious these rising costs are;				cause changes in the higher education sector.
� Change from 2005-2006				Universities and colleges themselves can do the same.
Alabama				They can make individual arrangements to reduce
$4,915				these rising costs. A case in point is the University of
� 5%				Virginia. The institution decided to introduce scholarships
�				amounting to 16million dollars. These scholarships were
1%				meant for poor students and replaced student loans.
District of Columbia $3,210				Another notable university is Princeton; they created a
� 27%				different loan system based on needs rather than
Hawaii				grants. The rest of the student population was given a
$4,257				total of 14, 520 dollar cap on tuition. All these changes
� 22%				occurred in the year 2001. Other universities that
Illinois				followed suit include;
				- Harvard
$8,133				- University of North Carolina
� 2%				Harvard decided to reduce the amount of contributions
North Carolina $4,063				coming from parents who earn less than forty
� 10%				thousand dollars annually. Additionally, they also
Florida				reduced contributions to be made by parents who
$3,336				earn less than sixty thousand dollars annually.
� 4%				(Lederman, 2008)
National avg.				The University of North Carolina opted to increase the
$5,836				number of full time grants to students who work for
� 6%				the university at between ten to twelve hours. Such an
Source: College Board (2008): Report on university				initiative goes a long way in cushioning students against
tuition costs, retrieved from				rising tuition costs.
As if rising tuition costs are not problematic enough,				Conclusion
even federal aid has reduced over the past five years.				Rising higher education costs squeeze family budgets
Consequently, there are increasing numbers of college				and may hinder promising students from joining the
students who have to live on students loans. This				good colleges or universities. The government can do
means that they leave college with huge debts.				a lot to curb this problem; they could introduce price
Actually, reports indicate that students debts have				caps for private and public institutions in order to
doubled over the past decade. In the year 1993,				minimize these fluctuations. Additionally, they could
students with debts had to repay only $9,250 yet				introduce direct sponsorship program for needy yet
debts stand at 19,200 dollars in the year 2007. These				promising students. The government should avoid
numbers have changed by fifty eight percent after				legislations that reduce state funding. Universities can
including an adjustment for inflation over these years.				also do their part by reducing contributions made by
Some stakeholders assert that increasing the amount				low income parents and by increasing full time grants.
of federal aid will only inflate tuition prices further				Reference:
because schools will always count on state backup.				Lang, S. (2006): How competition for the best students,
Scholarships offered to most students only manage to				faculties and facilities sends tuition soaring, retrieved
cover about twenty percent of educational expenses.				from accessed on 11th July
This means that students themselves have to cover				Benassi, F. (2005): Growing Over Rising Cost of Higher
the rest. Parents have been forced to use up their				Education, retrieved from accessed on 11th July
emergency savings accounts. Those who happen to				Valerie Strauss and John Wagner (2008): Md. Keeps a
have college savings funds are compelled to use up all				Lid on Tuition, retrieved from accessed on 11th July
of it. Despite collecting funds from all sources, students				Lederman, D. (2008): A College-Friendly Take on Rising
will still graduate from college with debts to the tune of				Prices, retrieved from accessed on 11th July
fifty thousand dollars or more.				Martin, T.
The rising costs make it very difficult for parents to

Lautc Net

High Cost Of Higher Education