The cost of attendance at public universities in Texas has increased by 90% since the 2003 deregulation of tuition by Texas Legislature. According to SavingForCollege.com, a student attending a public university for 4 years is projected to spend $38,300 in tuition and fees and the national student debt is in the trillions. Pell grants for low-income families will only cover up to $6,000 each year for tuition costs making only a dent in overall cost of attendance. The tuition increase is getting out of hand and students in Texas are not able to afford the education they need and deserve in order to reach their career goals.
According to Forbes, the average salary for a person just out of college with a bachelors degree is $45,000. However, this number fluctuates drastically depending on which bachelors degree. For a person attending private school, averaging at about $129,700 in debt after four years according to SavingForCollege.com, having this salary will take years upon years to pay off student loans. However, that's even if you can find a job after graduating. Since 2007, the unemployment rate for college graduates has increased from 5.7% to 8.8% and the underemployment rate has increased from 9.9% to 18.3%, according to the Economic Policy Institution. It is becoming more and more difficult to even find a job after receiving a bachelors degree leaving people wondering if paying all that money for college is even worth it.
One reason for the tuition increase is due to the increased number of hired faculty and staff and universities. Also, class sizes are increasing drastically. However, state and national government should provide more funding to universities and provide more scholarships and grants to perspective students in order to give everyone a chance to get the education they deserve. Lowering the cost of tuition in Texas will benefit the population as a whole and will allow for more opportunities for students coming from low-income families.
On Friday July 25, 2014, Blogger Aaron Taylor Bonnette posted an article, Tuition Costs, on his blog called You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas. In his article, Aaron argues that the cost of attendance at public universities in Texas is spinning out of control. Aaron gives his reader some credible information from SavingForCollege.com which states that students who go to college for 4 years will have a tuition of approximately $38,000, and that the national student debt is in trillions and continuously increasing. The government does provide Pell Grants for low income families. These Pell Grants do help families, but these families are also still left in debt because Pell Grants do not fully cover the cost of tuition. I've realized that loans will forever haunt your life if you do not pay it back as soon as possible. Aaron states some interesting information from Forbes. He explains that the unemployment and underemployment rates have significantly increased for students who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. He also explains that even with a degree, it is still hard to payback student loans which leaves people contemplating if all the money spent on education is really worth it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Aaron; how are students supposed to gain a good education if they cannot afford it? It seems like the government is setting up the middle and lower class for failure and trying to take all our money through student loans. Aaron’s arguments are very logical and precise. The state and national government should definitely provide more scholarships and grants for students. Texas should take the first initiative and lower the cost of tuition; it will benefit both the students and government by allowing more opportunities for students to get an education and also building a society of intelligent and educated people.
In his blog post Tuition Costs, Aaron Taylor Bonnette claims State and National government should do more in the way of helping students pay for college expenses through direct subsidy methods rather than the increasingly destructive effects of student loans.
ReplyDeleteThis problem of student debt and rising tuition costs are much more of a cultural issue than a policy issue. So many people are told at a very young age that college is for everyone. In reality it's not. Studies have shown that in this day and age you are not as likely as your parents to have a well paid job after graduating with your bachelors degree. As well, because of this "even you!" attitude, many people who cannot afford college nor need it are unthinkingly pushed into the higher education system that requires a lot of money and time and does not guarantee a profit after all that investment. Alternative options are getting low cost associate's degrees and working on your own to teach yourself valuable skills, like say electrical engineering or even physical therapy training. Heck, even my hairstylist makes 50K+ a year and she has a rather inexpensive beauty school degree.
Actually, the government currently provides an amazing amount of student loan debt relief and Obama wants to continue to grow this forgiveness more so in the future. Currently, as explained in this article by Economics Professor Jefferey Dorfman, those with student loan debt not only pay very little interest compared to private loans, the government will forgive your debt after 20 years if you make a certain amount of money and partake in a "pay as you earn" program, 10 years if you work in a public service job. Again these things exacerbate the problem of encouraging people to go to college when it is not economically viable causing in increase in the need for more faculty and staff, therefore increasing prices.
Speaking from experience, I was offered an opportunity to attend the University of California at Berkeley, a rather prestigious school in my mind. I decided against it when I saw the 45,000 dollar price tag on the tuition. This caused me to seriously consider whether 45,000 dollars a year would be a valuable investment for a degree in something that may or may not pay off in the long run. I decided against it and instead chose UT where it was much cheaper and I can pay my way through college without any debt, working around 25-30 hours a week (Something I think anyone can do). Students get so wrapped up their senior year in getting into the best schools, especially private ones that cost exorbitant amounts of money when other, much cheaper options are definitely viable.
In the end, with all things political, there is an ethical base where one can look to make policy decisions. Bonnette claims "...state and national government should provide more funding to universities and provide more scholarships and grants to perspective students in order to give everyone a chance to get the education they deserve." Someone has to pay for this and that means that the State should take on either more debt or increase taxation, therefore making those who are not in college pay for those who are because they "deserve" it. We need to seriously question this idea of a right to an education and maybe then we can see that it is not in Texas' interest to increase student subsidies just as much as it's not in my interest to pay for someone else's education while I'm also paying for mine.
(Lack of links due to posting this as a comment, see actual post for links)
Aaron Taylor Bonnette posted an article, Tuition Costs, on Friday July 25, 2014, on his blog called You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas. He states that tuition is too high for kids from low income families and they need more aid to pay for the increasing cost of college. After reading I agree with him that tuition is very expensive. It is also extremely hard to pay for college for students that come from low income families. But instead of looking at education from an angle of paying it for it in full now and only getting 45,000 in your first job (if you find a job), I think education should, instead, be treated as an investment.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the return on investment of education, then it is clear to see that paying even the full price (without aid or scholarships) is definitely worth the investment. New York Times says that getting a bachelor’s degree rather than just a high school degree will on average give you a profit of $500,000 over your working life. The gap has been getting bigger over the past few decades and will even get bigger for people with a degree compared to those without. So the $38,000 of debt will easily be paid off plus you will have $460,000 extra to spend. Even if you go to a private school, there is a huge return on investment. But I would not economically encourage people to go to private schools in general because studies show that there is no significant difference between the return on investment between state and private schools. So I say that people should get a degree at all costs. Yes, it is initially expensive. Yes, you might be unemployed or underemployed for a while. Yes, you will need to take out loans with interest. But in the end, all of that is worthy it.
But I do think that more financial aid is great. It would be great to give more money to kids that need it, but where does that money come from? That money would come from budget cuts in other areas of the total government budget (or the education budget), or the money would come from increased taxes. It is extremely hard to raise taxes because nobody wants an income tax or raised taxes in other areas. It is also hard to cut spending from anywhere in government because every sector has lobbyists keeping the money in their sector. And there has already been budget cuts in elementary and high schools, so there shouldn’t be even more cuts there. So I don’t think it is possible to give more money out in loans, even though it would be a great thing to do. Instead the student can somehow pay for it him/herself and get their money back later in life. It is completely possible to pay for a bachelor’s degree through current amounts of scholarships, financial aid, military funding, loans (some with higher interest than others), and many other payment options. So yes, everyone that does well enough in high school to get excepted into college deserves a college education, and it is possible to get for everyone even though it might seem like a financial burden at first.
I read an article about Tuition Costs critique by Aaron Taylor Bonnette. This article describes how tuition has increased over the years. While there is an increase in tuition and fees, there is a decline in college enrollment. According to recent studies, most people out of college with a bachelor’s degree only make about $45,000 a year. Due to low paying careers and student debts most students feel overwhelmed upon graduation. Some cannot even find a job upon completing their degree. Thus, some people wonder whether pursuing a degree is even worthy all the hassle. All they are left with in the end is a low paying job and a high student debt.
ReplyDeleteThe article argues that one reason for the increase in tuition is due to an increase in hired faculty and staff at the universities. With an increase in faculty size, the universities must increase tuition in order to compensate their faculty. Bonnette recommends that the state and national government provide more funding to universities and provide more scholarships and grants for perspective students in order to give everyone a chance to get the education they deserve.
While Bonnette’s argument is good, I think that there are other reasons for the decline in enrollment. Jennifer Ma, a policy research scientist for the College Board stated that lower enrollments mostly reflect a better economy, which lured students into the workforce and away from colleges and universities.
It must be stated that a large majority of students in college are not those in the traditional age group of 18 to 24. In fact, a large majority of learners are made of older people. An article by the American council on education indicated that traditional age students are now the minority and older people are no the majority. Thus, it is not surprising that these older people are choosing to go back to the work force instead of school since the economy is getting better again.
In addition, a study done in 2008 by academic treatises analyzed the relationship between tuition and enrollment. They concluded that tuition increases had little impact on enrollment. They noted that there was a connection between enrollment and unemployment rates. In fact, credit hour enrollment grew slightly as the unemployment rate increased; it looks like students seek education when jobs are scarce.
The national student clearinghouse research center agrees that it is a natural trend for college enrollment to increase when the economy is not doing well. In other words being unemployed pushed people to return to school, but now that the economy is showing encouraging signs, enrollment is decreasing as people return to the job market.
http://college.lovetoknow.com/High_Cost_of_Tuition_Causing_Decreased_College_Enrollment