What do you
think is causing the rising costs of higher education in the US: more student
loans, more administration, higher expectations, a greater understanding of
brain underdevelopment in the teenage and young adult years, or the school
stepping in to take care of things no longer ensured by the state? Is this
mainly an American problem or is it spreading elsewhere? How can the status of
professors be protected from further decline (if it needs to be)? How can you be sure that you will get what
you pay for?
This is the
last entry you can comment on for the month of January.
The cost of college education in the USA has indeed been increasing rapidly in recent years. Why? The article suggests that one of the main reasons is the increasing number of responsibilities schools are taking over from the government. However the article also states that “more parents and regulators expect a parallel society from universities, and fulfilling that expectation is an expensive proposition”. So if all schools had trouble financing these facilities then there wouldn’t be a problem as no school has them, right? Well, no. In the USA it is effortless to get a student loan, referred to as the Bennett Hypothesis by the article, and therefore these universities are able to ask for more money, without reducing demand for their diplomas too much. Although the author of the article does have a point that US universities use a substantial amount of their finances on services otherwise provided by the government, I believe that this situation wouldn’t be possible without the principle of student loans so prevalent in the US.
ReplyDeleteUniversity costs in Europe, on the other hand, are much more accessible without the need to take student loans. So what separates European and American universities? Well as European countries are more socialist in these aspects than the USA, their governments subsidize universities much more than their American counterparts. These aren’t blind subsidy checks either and there are certain limits as to how the money received from the government can be used. Because of these restrictions European universities don’t usually have that “luxurious and brand new feeling” US universities would have. Certainly at some, if not most, schools, foreign students outside of Europe have to pay extravagant amount just like in the US, this is due to the government not supporting outside students as much as they do their own. Naturally it’s in a government’s best interest to educate their population as well as possible. The US doesn’t seem to care as much about education of their population, and yet they’re one of the world’s leaders in technological advances.
- Maxim
Dear Maxim, I agree with you in that universities in the US are insanely priced. However, I certainly don't believe that the US government doesn't care about educating its people. In fact, American universities offer scholarships or some form of financial aid to around 60% of their students. These tend to bring down the costs considerably. They seem to be doing something right, though, as American universities are dominating the world rankings. Perhaps the prices are meant to dissuade mediocre students from enrolling? This way only brilliant students would be accepted and their costs would be close to none, as they would get grants and financial aid(?). What do you think of this theory?
DeleteCollege tuition in the US has been a problem for a long time. What I find to be even more alarming is the rate at which the costs are increasing. There certainly are many different factors that affect this. In my opinion, loans are the primary constituent. As former Secretary of Education William Bennett argued, "The more you subsidize something, the more you get of it." This often leads to schools spending the money they receive on new programs and research, which in turn can result in an increased tuition. To me, this seems rather counterproductive, as subsidies are granted in order to make education more affordable, but I digress. Moreover, the second greatest factor that contributes to the rising costs, is a greater understanding of brain underdevelopment in the teenage and young adult years. What I mean by this is that schools recognize that entering college is a big step and it can be an especially difficult period of time in one’s life. Therefore, many colleges nowadays have “miniature armies of staff members that advise students about which classes to take”. I think that this change, although it increases tuition fees, is objectively good, as it can point students in the right direction and provide them with some much-needed stability.
ReplyDeleteIt never really occurred to me to worry about tuition, because I always thought that Europe had fairly tolerable university prices. However, we can observe a similar phenomenon happening in the UK right now. Tuition has gone up from around £10,000 to around £30,000 for foreigners. In my mind, this begs the question, whether tuition should be so expensive in the first place, since the school can clearly operate just by charging £10,000. It doesn’t sit right with me that these schools are taking massive profits, yet receiving subsidies from the government, in order to become more affordable, but I digress.
As having a university degree has become nothing short of a necessity to acquire a job, the demand for higher education continues to rise, the fees even reaching almost 50 000$. I think the rising costs for university tuition are the result of several factors, which when combined explain the reason behind the doubling of the tuition fees in the United States ever since 1985. Because competitiveness to get into universities increases simultaneously with demand, the educational facilities have become to behave like businesses. And businesses need a lot of managers to keep them running. This observation corresponds to the doubling of the administrative positions each university has filled in the last five decades. These people are responsible for hiring processes and scouting prospective students, as it is essential for universities to attract the most prospective students which would contribute the most to their name.
ReplyDeleteAlso, nowadays the brains of young adults undergo different maturation processes. The recognition of this problem has again induced a necessary expansion in student advisors, raising the tuition fees.
In addition, while these universities are being subsidized, the funding they receive has been slowly decreasing. Take for example the decrease in funding by 30% in Alabama and Pennsylvania since 2008. And up the costs go again.
In my opinion, one of the biggest problems of today that universities take advantage of is the assumption of some people that more expensive education automatically equals quality, making students pay for prestige. Take for example the enormous fame and competitiveness to get into the Ivy League schools. While these schools may offer very good opportunities, it is important to distinguish in which cases this scenario applies. In other words, all of the qualities they offer are relative, depending on your degree, the amount of money it costs and whether your future job can return you the money you invested in your education. In addition, is the education of some of these schools really worth hundreds of thousands of dollars? Young students should be asking themselves, whether the expensive tuition in the US is that much better than the one offered in other countries.