The Problem of High Cost of College
Our world is always changing. Clothes come in and out of style, views change and develop, technology improves, and prices increase and fluctuate. Some things change for the better, while others seem to change problematically. If you were to ask your parents what life was like when they were your age, that would be one long discussion. I have sat down countless times with my parents and talked about what life was like for them as a kid. One thing they would say for sure is that the price of college is more than it ever has been before. In “is the cost of college too high argumentative essay” this matter is addressed and rethought.
Tuition prices have risen dramatically in the past few decades. Students at public four-year institutions paid about $3,190 on average for tuition for the 1987-1988 school year. In the 2017-2018 school year, students paid an average of $9,970 for the school year’s tuition. After thirty years, the prices have risen by 213 percent. These numbers seem crazy and scary to a college student who is just starting and have few savings intact. Having such high education prices makes college even more stressful than it already is with rigorous workloads and being submerged into a completely new environment.
18 years old is the year for numerous exciting experiences and freedoms. In my opinion, 18 is too young to be in extreme debt though. Students who are paying for their education, without the help of parents or guardians, are forced to take out loans and start increasing their debt right from the get-go. I am a college student paying for my education. I am an undecided major and I am currently taking general education classes. I am heavily in debt already and I am in my first semester of college. That rising number adds stress to my daily routine. Looking at a huge amount of debt lingering in my account makes me lose motivation with my education, especially since I do not know what I am doing with my life. Grand Valley State University charges $11,520 for one year of tuition. I worked 40 hours a week in the summer and made about $5,000. A good chunk of this money went towards food and necessities to live. I am currently using this money for day to day expenses here at Grand Valley. All of my tuition expenses are loans. This is just one example of why college tuition prices need to stop rising. It is too much money to expect from 18-year-olds who are still trying to figure out their lives.
Let’s say your father graduated from Harvard in 1988. He would have spent $17,000 on tuition in his last year there. If you, in 2018, were to attend Harvard, you would end up paying close to $45,000 on tuition in your senior year. This increase seems large, but before 1988, the price of college tuition was even less. Now, as we enter 2020 prices are going through the roof. How much more will we allow these prices to increase before people start to realize that it is an insane amount of money to be paying?
When a high schooler is beginning to make their plans for after they graduate, a lot of different emotions and ideas are going through their heads. At least I know this is what was happening for me and my friends. I thought about staying home and going to community college. This option saves kids a lot of money because you do not have to pay for all the extra stuff, including a meal plan and housing. When a student chooses to stay home, they are missing out on a huge experience. Going to college is terrifying and exciting and definitely a learning experience. I chose not to stay home so that I could experience this life-changing event of moving out and living in a dorm with a roommate and having a bathroom down the hall. Although I am glad that I chose to attend a university, I am constantly reminded of my rising debt and thinking about ways that it could have been avoided.
During your senior year of high school you get asked the same question over and over again; “Where are you going to school next year”, and “Do you know what you want to study?”. Our society believes that after high school, you go to college. This is great, and kids should be encouraged to go to school, but it should not be assumed that college is always the next step. College is not for everyone and I have started to see that now that I am attending a university. Going to college should not be assumed or expected. If fewer people followed this expectation, then maybe I would have chosen not to attend a four-year university. Learning does not come easily to many people, and I believe I am one of those people. It is hard enough for me to find motivation with school, and then add the debt in there and there is almost none.
For education to be effective and logical, the reward must be equal to what you put in. After talking to people that have already graduated from a four-year university, or even attended grad school after that, they said if they could do it all again they would have done it differently. I interviewed a relative of mine who attended Central Michigan University for undergrad and Bowling Green State University for grad school. She is now a speech and language pathologist. I talked to her about her college decisions and her debt. “I would do it all differently if I had a do-over,'' Maria said. She explained how she spent so much money on getting her degree and now she is not making as much money as she thought she would. Talking to Maria was helpful but also stressful. I will think harder about my major and what I want to do with my life, based on the money that will come out of it.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, a four-year institution cost $5,504 for a year in 1985. This $5,504 included tuition, fees, and room and board rates. In 2003, the cost was $15,505. As of 2017, students are expected to pay $25,593. These numbers may not mean much to you, but they sure do mean a lot to me, as a freshman at a four-year university. By the time I am done with my four years, I will be in extreme amounts of debt. My rising debt adds huge amounts of stress to my time at Grand Valley State University. My university is not one of the most expensive ones either.
Colleges compete with one another to get their students. They try to improve their technology, their buildings, their professors, and just about everything else that comes with a university. President Obama invested $60 billion to provide free community college to about 9 million students a year. I am from Fenton Michigan, which is about 15 miles south of Flint Michigan. Mott Community College offers free tuition to students who are residents of Flint. This program is called The Flint Promise. This is an awesome step for Flint and all the students and families that this effects. Sadly, I did not live in Flint so this would not apply to me. I think this opportunity is reaching and helping many people, but I believe it should be more evenly distributed to more people in more places. I am paying about $9,000 of tuition, after scholarships here at Grand Valley State University. That is a huge money gap from The Flint Promise participants.
One step that I believe needs to be taken in fixing our rising tuition problem is looking back at how it was and then seeing what truly needs the money and what parts of the university need improvements. If we can get college tuition prices closer to the price they were for our parents then we are taking a step in the right direction. Things are meant to change with time, but we need to make sure they are changing for the better.
