As I was engaging in my normal Sunday morning routine of enjoying a fresh cup of coffee and reading The New York Times, I came across an article I thought would be interesting to use in our weekly blog. All of you are in the midst of searching for your ideal college that will best fit both your personality as well as your future interests. College’s are breaking the backs of students in an age where a college education is vital to finding a job. Tuition rates are rising faster than inflation and family incomes combined. Your generation is so incredibly vital to the future of our economy and workforce. After reading the following article, I want to hear your voice: who is responsible for the unbelievable tuition rates? Can this huge problem be fixed, or is it too late? How can an average high school student find ways to pay for a college tuition? Feel free to give suggestions!
Another Debt Crisis is Brewing
14 comments:
The problem of extreme college tuition rates should probably be blamed upon many groups, not just individuals. Like the article pointed out, universities exist to enroll students, not to turn them away; in reality, a university is just another type of business. Therefore, universities are only looking out for themselves and incoming their tuition dollars. In reality, universities and admissions departments should look deeper into the loan statistics of graduates and adapt their tuitions to make it easier and more affordable.
Although I am against the federal government getting too involved, perhaps a federal law by the government is the only way to correct the rising rates now. Maybe the government could extend the amount of grants or scholarships it gives to colleges and students to help account for the rising rates. Lastly, maybe there should be a program through the federal government for students of single-parents. Because single-parents cannot afford to pay as much for college, the government could help compensate for the price of tuition. In addition, the government should try to help those who are working jobs and just can't make ends meet for their kids.
Note: There's a West Wing about fixing college tuition - we should watch it Mr. Shannon :)
I feel that the problem of such an inflation of tuitions should be blamed on the universities themselves. It has become a very competitve market for schools looking for prospective students. They are using every type of possible media and advertisement to reach out to high schoolers. Also, the majority of them are creating state of the art laborities, libraries and rec centers in order to appeal to the students. I know at my sisters college (University of Dayton) they have recently re-done every dorm except one in the past seven years, and plan to do the last one soon. Obviously, all of these things can be very pricey. They need the money to come from somewhere and because tuition has become such a large amount, they think a few more thousand dollars won't make a difference. My sister looked at many different colleges but once she realized how high her debt was going to be, even getting the largest meal plan was "just 500$ more, so why not?"
I think there needs to be some kind of limit that the federal government sets for the tuition. If the school has to keep raising their prices, something needs to be put to the stop. It's not like the professors are getting huge raises, just more changes to the campuses. I think that by the time we are out of college, the average amount of debt will be over 100 thousand for all our schooling. Something needs to change between the school and the students in order to make a more realistic tuition. I just hope I don't have debt like the girl from NYU in the article. I think we should watch the movie too :)
I think a bit of the responsibility does lie with the colleges and universities for sure. However, I don’t see that much of a problem with tuition rates. Yes, college is expensive but the money is used to make college campuses high tech and just nice, like with new dorm rooms and other facilities. The real problem lies with the students who get these loans to pay for college and don’t really know how they are going to pay them off. I think that if it’s something you can’t afford to do and have no plan of how you will pay it back, you shouldn’t get the loan. These students don’t need to go to a big university or college for all four years. There is no reason for not attending a community college which is cheaper for two years, get your core classes out of the way, and then go on to finish somewhere else that has your major. Students should be more practical about the colleges they can afford and have a plan for how to pay off the loans. There are so many grants out there and scholarships to apply for; students just don’t take enough initiative to find them. Students can also go to college closer to home and commute and save money on room and board and buy second hand books. People need to be more realistic about money.
College tuition cannot really be "blamed" on anything. As Alannah pointed out, everyone wants a nice campus, air conditioned rooms, and well-educated professors. These all cost money. As the value of the American dollar decreases, it makes sense that tuition would increase. The college tuition issue is simply a response to the national economic crisis. In an economy that is being ravaged by inflation and dominated by banks and insurance companies that take advantage of the poor, it is no wonder individuals are ending up in debt. It is not high tuition that is the problem: it is the American economic system. Until we repair the economic downturn, we cannot expect colleges to help lessen the burden of student loans. It is the individual's job to know what they can afford and how best to pay for higher education. They would face the same kinds of responsibilities when buying a house or a car. In the end, banks can only take advantage of us if we let them.
Converesly, the government does not have the resources to offer more grant money; instead, our nation needs to focus on prevention, not response. I think the government should tax banks based on how many failed loans they approve. The economic crisis stems from the top: it is easier to restrict a few C.E.Os, forcing them to be more careful about who they lend money to, then it is to educate thousands upon thousands of people on the importance of careful borrowing techniques. Though college tuition increases may cause some of the debt crisis, the real problem is people spend more than they have, and the big banks let them. The only way to stop this is to restrict the banks, otherwise they will keep taking advantage of the poor, collecting high interest amounts on late payments. By limiting the banks' ability to manipulate borrowers, the economic crisis could begin to rectify itself as more money is put back into the consumers' pocket, leading to a more healthy national cash flow.
In my opinion, the large inflation of the college and university tuitions should be blamed on the institutions themselves. All of the colleges want to be the best, or the most prestigious. They need the big dollars to improve many aspects of their campuses or educational programs to attract more students and ultimately more donors. It is all about the money with colleges. The main goal is to get the most students to aplly and attend which will increase the need for the money to handle all of the students. Then, they offer all this extra financial aid to bring in more students. Basically, the more they do to attract students, the higher tuition and pricing will be.
Okay, in my opinion college tuition prices are severely inflated. Yes, people need nice campuses, living accommodations, and the latest technology, but is all of the money we pay in tuition really going where we think it is going? Over the past decade, college tuition has skyrocketed making it nearly impossible for the average American to afford such expenses. Colleges cannot continue to raise their tuition costs. Not unless all of the money they use is tracked and that they can prove and show which areas at the universities need more financial assistance.
I can't believe I am saying this, but the government needs to get more involved with the costs of college educations these days. I think that they should pass a federal law putting a cap on college tuition. This will force universities to use their money wisely and not carelessly. Also, it will help universities organize better ways for their students to pay back college loans efficiently because the universities will actually need to utilize the money they receive from these previous students of theirs.
I find it interesting that America promotes and flaunts the fact that ANYONE can receive and education. However, underneath it all, the truth is that to receive a good education, you have to pay a descent amount of money for it. Inner city educations never reach their full potential due to lack of adequate materials, motivation from the educators, and facilities. People struggle to get into college nevertheless pay for it. College educations are so important these days, especially with the competitive work force due to hard economic times. How can a person compete though when he or she cannot pay to go to a four year college? Being in debt for a very long time afterwards through student loan payments is not acceptable either. The government needs to take initiative and fix these problems before mass chaos erupts. The tuition money that is paid is not tracked like it should be and public universities especially need to be monitored as to where all the money is going, especially if tuition is rising year by year.
I think that the government needs to offer incentives to universities that do not raise their tuition over a certain amount of money for a given amount of time. An example would be the government gifting a university grants to help the school financially because that particular university did not raise their tuition over $2000 in the past five years. This will motivate colleges to carefully spend their money so they won't have to raise tuition. This is just one example of the many opportunities that the government can take advantage of to make a college education available to all Americans.
I believe that the problem of high tuition rates and extreme debt from student loans comes from the universities. The family should not be blamed because they are just doing whatever they can in order to send their children to the best schools possible. Colleges should be able to recognize which students can’t afford to go there and help them out with more financial aid instead of making them turn towards student loans. The colleges obviously are just in it for the money in order to keep on upgrading the campus and aren’t really thinking about the students. It is becoming unfair because more and more students have to settle for other options instead of going to college due to the steep rates of tuition. Education is supposed to be equal for everyone but some many students can’t attend the college they want because of the price so I think the colleges should change since they have the most power in the situation.
If there was one institution that had to take the blame for the high tution rates, it would have to be the universities themselves. However, there are many things that make up a university, many things that need to be paid for. A lot of the things colleges offer to the students (like fitness centers, advanced programs, cafeterias, etc) are very expensive. This most likely is the main reason for high tution costs. I do agree that tutuion is way too expensive for the average to afford. Even if you were to take out loans, the interest rates on them are so high that you could find yourself paying more than you actually took out. I think this is unfair, especially for students who pay for college on there own, whiout help from their families. Entering the world has a recent college grad, the job opportunities will probably be slim, and it could be nearly impossible to pay off debts as soon as possible. When there was a tuition freeze in Ohio, I thought that was a great idea in theory. The problem is that just as the cost of other things rise, college tution costs must be raised as well in order to provide students with the essentials and also any luxury facilities they may offer. The best way for students to pay for tuition is by earning high grades in the first place, in order to recieve college money. This way, there are no interest rates, or money you have to pay back in the end. If someone is not necessarily an excellent student, this would clearly be difficult for them. There is also student aid that you can apply for, but you're lucky if you actually get it. Hopefully tuiotion will stay around the range it is now, but i fear that prices will continue to increase.
I think the blame for the unneccesarily inflated college tuiton prices should be placed on the universities themselves. Like Grace said, we don't know that all the money we pay for education is going towards giving us that education. Yes, it is crucial that the college we choose makes us comfortable. Therefore, if we're looking for the best professors, the newest technology, and the most convenient dorms, then we don't have the right to complain about paying for them. However, we need to make sure that the money we pay is going to those things and that the university doesn't charge any more than is neccesary. That's where the government needs to step in with more control over the tuition and more oversight of the use of tuition. A freeze on university tuitons would be ideal but is unlikely because it's such a competitve field. More likely is the option of a maximum tuition cost set by the government. This would by greatly helpful toward students because they wouldn't need to take out such large loans. Hopefully, smaller loans will be easier for them to pay back and this would help the economy as a whole.
In all honesty the government is probably behind all these tuition scams and bank loans just they can keep people three steps behind and have them focused on their own problems and not so much on those of the government. They also probably rake in a big sum of the interest bills. I could see them using the extra money to waste on things we don’t even need instead of helping better the nation, but that’s just my opinion.
In reality I would guess that the colleges are at fault. It’s impossible to believe that every student enrolled can actually afford a $50,000+ education. I don’t even believe that they need it to be that expensive. I’m sure that every college could educate its students just as well on a lower budget. It’s all a scam and they know it.
I don’t think this problem will ever be fixed. Its obviously up to the individual to make the smartest decision on where to attend, and, as Alana pointed out, there is nothing wrong with community college; a degree is a degree. If more and more people stop applying to these money-craving schools, then maybe they’ll start lowering the tuition, but it won’t be enough to fix the problem.
I think the best bet for any high school student would be to go to community college for the first couple years until they know what they want to major in and are ready to settle down and get to work and then go to whatever university they want, based on academics.
While I understand that college is a competitive business and therefore need as much funding as possible to stay ahead of the competition, I believe the blame lies with the colleges and universities when it comes to the unbelievable tuition rates. Colleges take advantage of those attending or think about attending with the ridiculous costs and fees needed to improve every aspect of the campus to please both their students, faculty, alumni, and donors. Those are costing an average student very dearly. This problem can be fixed, but not immediately. I agree with all of those who said that the federal government should work together with the universities to set a cap on the tuition as well as regulate where the money is going. The federal government should look into extending the amount of grants, loans, etc., given to students to aid in their college payments as well as make stricter regulations for qualifications if a bank is handing them out to young adults. Young students should not be in so much debt at such a young age due to banks like the case of Cortney Munna and Citibank. Something needs to be done about these insane tuition rates and loan problems because a majority of the student body relies on such things. Personally, I know that I will be using such aids such as grants, scholarships, and loans to help pay for my college career, and I do not want to be put in the same unfortunate situations as those named in the article. Something needs to happen to stop and fix these problems before going to college is not an option for some.
Ever since I took the PSAT last year, I have been getting college mail about how every single college is the best and how every one is important. However, it makes me wonder how much colleges are spending on advertisements and publicity, when in reality maybe they should be concentrating on using tuition money towards the education part.
Also, students shouldn’t be going places they cannot afford. By refusing to go to over-priced colleges without financial aid and scholarship, then colleges would be forced to lower their prices. I cannot help but think that it’s ridiculous for people to turn away a full ride to one college just to go to their “dream college” where they’ll need loans of $30,000 every year! Its easy to blame the colleges, but we are the ones enabling them since we don’t argue with the fees they give. In my opinion, if the richest can afford those tuitions, that’s great. But the rest of us shouldn’t support a college that will leave us in debt for the next 20 years.
College is supposed to be a positive thing for your future, but with all the loans, sometimes I feel it’d be easier to just skip it all together. As others have said, I concur that the federal government should work together with the colleges to set a cap on the tuition as well as oversee where the money is going. I believe a lot more people need to refuse to pay such high tuitions and that with some help from the federal government, a lot could be accomplished to help college students emerge with a more positive less debt-filled future!
I think that it is the individual university's fault for tuition. I have 2 schools that are currently my favorites, with a $19,000 tuition difference. It is stressful enough to get into the college of your choice, we shouldn't have to worry about tuition as much as we do right now. I know that in my family, we are relying on scholarships to help pay for my college education. Yes, scholarships at some schools are handed out like free candy, but we should not have to worry about how to get an education. I do not think it's right that some people, although willing to go to college, cannot afford it. A college education is beyond vital and should be available for everyone who is willing. It would be nice for the government to try and enforce a tuition freeze for public universities of something of that sort. Overall, I think it is a combination of the university and the government to work together and form a more reasonable approach on college tuition
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