Jeremy Richhart-Kind
English 121-005
Mrs. Kugler
3 October 2016
College Prices Escalating Out of Reach (Rough Draft)
College prices have been increasing dramatically in the last twenty years. Many people are now required to take out student loans in order to pay the bare minimum of college. With student loans accompanied with the high interest rates, students seeking loans will inevitably be stuck with repayments for close to a lifetime. The price of college has drastically increased because of the expansion of universities across the nation along with growth in the student population and is becoming a serious problem in America today.
Author, Paul F. Campos wrote the article called: The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much. In the article, Campos talks about how college students were able to pay for their college tuition with their summer jobs. Common speculation concurs that the decrease of public funding made an immense impact on the education system. This sounds accurate but when the situation is looked at more in depth, as stated by Mr. Compos, “In fact, public investment in higher education in America is vastly larger today, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than it was during the supposed golden age of public funding in the 1960s.” It is significant information to know that the funding is higher than what it was in the 1960s. That leaves the question: So why does college cost more now than it did back in the sixties even though schools are receiving more funding? This is because there are currently more colleges and students enrolling in college in the United States than there were in the past. Compo states on the second page, “While the college-age population has not increased since the tail end of the baby boom, the percentage of the population enrolled in college has risen significantly, especially in the last 20 years.” College tuition is even tough for kids at a supposedly more affordable community college level. Take Northeastern Junior College (NJC) for example, although it is cheaper than other universities around Colorado, it is still tough to pay for schooling. The Colorado Division of Vocation Rehabilitation (D.V.R.) is a source of funding that aid in college prices but only to an extent as it helps only a select few of students enrolled in NJC. D.V.R helps out kids in need that do not have parents with sufficient jobs to pay for college or if the student has a mental or physical disability. That is a good source of financial aid, but unfortunately not everyone has a disability or has access to this type of funding. Finding ways to help pay for college is tough and working a summer job will not completely pay all of the college expenses.
Paying for college can simply not be done solely with a summer job, especially with the rise in tuition. In February 1970 Harvard University came out to new and returning students that tuition rates would increase. The reluctant consensus increased the annual cost of attending school in the fall of 1971 by $200 to $2,600. 40 years later colleges and universities continue to increase a lot faster than what Dunlop cited. This fall Harvard’s annual tuition will cost you $45,278, that is 17 times the cost in 1970 and 1971. The cost of and fees at a private 4-year university this year is $31,231, greatly increased from $1,832 in 1970. At a public 4-year school tuition costs $9,139 this year. In 1971 school only costed about $500 dollars according to the College Board. The 2013 Census said that since 1971 the annual college enrollment has doubled in the United States to 19.5 million. In 2013, there were 5.3 million in a 2 year colleges, 10.5 million in four year colleges and 3.7 million in graduate school. Ray Franke a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston said “If you look at the long term trend, college tuition has been rising almost 6 percent above the rate of inflation” it had a lot of people and the media wondering if college is even worth it. With all the negatives things said about college, most people still think it is worth it. Recent studies have proven that college graduates still make more money than just a high school graduate. College enrollment has more than double since 1971 to 19.5 million in the U.S. Around $100 billion a year is borrowed through private or publicly funded loans. The ongoing increase of college tuition has put students and families into debt.
Although the financial aspect of college seems to be infamously known as “too expensive” but in reality if the aspiring student will follow Bernard Roth’s advice and “Change your point of view” (Roth 75) college can be managed very efficiently. Roth, the author of The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life, follows an effective optimistic attitude towards life. He does not accept excuses, gets things done, and most importantly is open-minded and looks at things at a different point of view. Well known economists, Sandy Baum and Saul Schwartz brought a valid change in point of view by discussing questions such as “what colleges are actually charging” in contrast to just accepting the what seems to be high costs. They state, “The perception of college affordability is often worse than the reality.” The reason this concept is so exaggerated is because people do not realize that the labeled price is not exactly what is required to be paid. After aid such as FASFA, scholarships, and grants individuals pay less. Even without any external or third party monetary aid, “what students actually pay is lower than the published price” say the economists. This is because generally colleges overestimate their prices to be on the safe side of total costs to actually aid students in the long run so they can be over prepared. Another way students can change their point of view, is by looking at college similar to a long-term investment in contrast to “a short term good they consume.” College is essentially an investment as it is a year to year cost that force you to reap the benefits in the long run, which will pave a way of success. This pathway to success is much more difficult to achieve if college is viewed as “too expensive” and ignored as an investment.
Although college needs to be looked at in a different perspective and the points provided are all valid, the net costs of college has increased dramatically in contrast to the income of families as a whole. The ratio of college prices to family income used to be more realistically in the past, but in today’s day and age the ratio has begun to drift apart. College prices has increased drastically while family income has subtly increased throughout time. With that being said, college prices are getting almost out of hand and are becoming a burden in attempt to complete college with the absence of student debt.
Works Cited
Lederman, Doug. “College Isn’t So Unaffordable.” Insider Higher Ed, N/A, 12 July 2012, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/07/12/report-college-isnt-really-so-unaffordable.
Paul F. Compos, “The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much.” April 4, 2016,
Roth, Bernard “Nothing Is What You Think It Is.” The Achievement Habit: Stop Wishing, Start Doing, and Take Command of Your Life. Kindle Edition, HarperCollins, 2015
Schoen, John W. “The Real Reasons a College Degree Costs So Much.” CNBC, Getty Images, 16 June 2015, http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/16/why-college-costs-are-so-high-and-rising.html.