Summary:
Examines the dilemma faced by college students of rising tuition costs and decreased scholarships awarded. Provides statistical data on the cost of tuition over the last 10 years. Describes how students and parents can finance the cost of education.
As time goes on, it seems the dream of going to college is becoming harder and harder to achieve. The average cost of attending a college is rising quickly. Depending on the college in particular, tuitions went up anywhere from $231 to $1,114 (MSNBC.com). Overall, tuitions have gone up a mind-blowing 85% in the last ten years. At the same time, funding for these colleges has gone down, creating a significant problem for blue collar families who have the intention on sending their kids to a four year college. What are the reasons behind this noticeable cut in financial aid? Is it fair to families to up the tuition and lower the amount of financial aid which is given"
Large Budget cuts have forced schools to take drastic measures such as firing personnel (teachers), eliminating classes and majors, but most importantly, raising tuition and other fees students need to pay. This is just the beginning of what will happen if these problems cannot be worked out. Eighty percent of U.S. students receive an education from public universities and schools, which means just about everyone is affected by these huge changes. Students who are coming from lower class families are finding it harder and harder to receive an education which isn't coming from a community college. In 1973, about forty percent of students receiving federal Pell Grants (for the lower class/needy), enrolled in four year schools (Newsweek.com). In 2001, the percentage went down to 31 percent, and it has surely gone down more since then.
More of the students who depend on financial aid are finding themselves attending community colleges. The problem with this is clear. In a future which will require students to be more educated and talented, community colleges offer a different kind of education. They offer classes which will prepare the student for the average working class job, with no foreseeable chance to move forward to a better job. For higher level jobs, "Corporate America" looks for graduates of four year schools, which makes it even harder for these community college graduates to move up in the business world. This is not a good idea to promote, seeing that these numbers will continue to creep up as time goes by, forcing more and more potential students to rely on community colleges as their first choice of school. Although some may argue that a student can receive as good of an education at a community college as a four year institution, this is totally wrong. An individual who attends a four year school receives much more knowledgeable information and learns many aspects of intercommunication skills. This is achieved through many more hours per week in the classroom than the average community college student. Teachers are not as talented and as effective in community school settings. You will find much more intelligent and student oriented teachers in a four year institution.
The reason for these slowly rising tuitions and fees is simple. For the most part, the higher majority of the states in the U.S. are cutting the amount they spend on "higher education" (programs which organize financial aid use). They cannot put as much money towards these programs anymore due to the lack of tax money they are receiving. There have been so many tax cuts that it is the student and their family who is paying for most of the tuition now instead of the public. This means less people can afford the price of a four-year school, which can reach the upper thirty thousand dollar range. In recent years, twenty- seven states have cut their financial aid spending, seventeen have raised them (although not nearly enough to balance out the amount lost), and six have stayed about even (small cuts in accurate terms).
The problems which have caused this financial aid nightmare, have been visible for many years now. Although tuitions have been going up a little every year, financial aid policies have never adapted to the change. It has always remained the same way as it began many years ago. The situation is a pot of water which has just began to boil, and we need to find a way to cool it down. States need to raise taxes to create a basis to build the financial aid system on from scratch. Many people may be against raising taxes, but if we do not find a way to get these young men and women into the classroom, we will regret it in the future when the majority of people cannot afford to go to a four year institution. These people will be poorly educated when they enter the workforce, compared to the graduates of today. We need to update our financial aid system so it will work regardless of tax cuts and other unforeseen problems. It seems that right now, who earns a college degree by the rightful age is basically determined at birth, and that shouldn't be the case.
This is the complete article, containing 822 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
