High Cost Of Education In America And The Need For Changes
Education is something we should value more and not take for granted. I believe that education is the right of every individual and part of the “American Dream”. Though it has become a lot more expensive today than in previous years. In today’s time a higher education is a must to get ahead in society and obtain a well-paying job. The United States is falling short of providing this education to everyone, because it is not focused on competing with the rest of world. In other leading nations, the sciences and maths are the top priorities in education. These top priorities exist in order to keep students and their mindset in the top fields of the sciences and technology. Today education in the United States is very expensive and the quality of teaching is not equal across the nation. To ensure excellence in education, math and science has to be in the main stream of teaching and must also have the highest level of educators teaching it in order to be effective and remain relevant.
The International Institute for Management Development (IMD), has been annually ranking countries on how they compete or stand within the worldwide business platform. The United States has dropped from its number one spot in leading the world’s competitive big business. The Switzerland school’s research assembly, World Competitive Center, has ranked nations since 1989. The United States has dropped two levels, and is now at number three, though it held the number one spot since 2013. Hong Kong is leading in the economics of global business and this competition is a motivator for the country and education is a top investment. Switzerland is also ahead of the United States, previously at number four, they are now at number two due to the export of geographical products and capital.
The United States has been known for its innovative learning in new technology, while China has directed their focus to math and science. These subjects are the most studied and important to this country because it is needed to be competitive in new technologies to support the economics. In 2008, the economy was in a great decline. China’s president, Hu Jintao (2011) stressed the importance of delivering a higher quality education in a speech at Tsinghua University’s centennial ceremony. His efforts were to ensure that the new thinkers of today, would have the tools to compete and enhance the changes and advances in society. Modernization can be successfully resulted from the assets that positioned into learning institutions and universities.
The United States has to invest in higher education in order to compete with other excelling nations. For starters, the government has to invest in early learning, from preschool to secondary schools. These are the future leaders of the country and they need to be innovative to adhere to the changes in global economics. The United States invest much more in education and health care than China and India, but in the latter two, they are focused on education as the top priority (Cooper, Herse & O’Leary, 2012). Math and science are essential in building economics and in China and India, they are leading the world with high scores in these areas, because their concerns are what is happening in the world.
Quality education should be available to everyone, but with the high cost of tuition and the amount of debt left after school, a degree is out of reach. It starts as soon as elementary, where in most suburban schools, the curriculum is of a better quality than that of inner-city schools. New and innovative ways of learning have to be involved to keep up with new technology, this includes the instructors as well. Changes that must take place to improve on higher education has to start by controlling the cost of education. The government has to have more input on the education reform plan, as well as, the administers and executors of the learning institutions.
Annotated Bibliography
- Cooper, D, Herse, A & O’Leary, A (2012). The competition that really matters. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/report/2012/08/21/11983/the-competition-that-really-matters/
- Neal, A & Gonch, W (2013). Four ways to improve higher education. ACTA. Retrieved from https://www.goacta.org/news/four_ways_to_improve_higher_education
- Stauss, K (2016). The world’s most competitive countries 2016: U.S. no longer No.1. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2016/05/30/the-worlds-most-competitive-countries-2016-u-s-no-longer-no-1/#71697f6e3fea
- Zwart, J (2016). Economy, education, and research: China leads the way with G20. China.org.cn. Retrieved from http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2016-08/24/content_39154524.html
