Hello everyone, today we are going to explore the topic of why in recent years the college has become as expensive as it is.
Just how expensive is college?
The website Collegedata.com states that one year at a public university will cost on average roughly $25,000 while at a private university, it will cost $50,000. This hasn’t always been the case. From 1984 to 2014 tuition for public universities multiplied by 225% and to make circumstances more daunting, only 19% of pupils graduate at a “4” year university within 4 years-making the bulk graduating within 5 or 6 years. With the increasing tuition fees and the number of years spent in college, the harder it takes for college grads to earn back what they have spent. The average age at which the student ends finishing their student loans is 36. Moreover, college grads have been earning less and less over the past 10 years, whilst at the same time, the costs of college have skyrocketed. But why? Higher Education is just like a business. Some say that the U.S Department of Education makes $15 billion in profit from student loans only! Let’s say that if students stop taking these loans, world economies can collapse. Universities want to attract students, just like businesses want to attract customers. To do this, universities need to hire the most qualified educators, who can research in the most up-to-date and technologically advanced labs. Remember, THIS is NOT Affordable. The common remuneration for a professor is $100,000. A lab? Probably a lot more expensive than that. Also, beautiful campuses are not built for free. They have humongous amounts of costs attached to developing and maintaining them. Universities also need to have winning amenities like career services, health services and even psychiatric availability. ALL OF THIS IS, AGAIN, NOT CHEAP. This relentless strive for more students leads to an unprecedented contest between universities. To pay for such expenses, universities create extraordinary tuition and use financial aid to help those who can’t afford it on their own and take as much as possible from those who can afford it. This is called the BENNET HYPOTHESIS. The government provides loans and financial aid to students, and colleges get their money whether it’s from the students, who take out loans, get financial aid, or can pay it from their own pockets. If schools know that their students have more money to spend, they raise tuition and make their campuses even more attractive to potential students, which leads to more competition between schools. So, when the government is providing subsidies for its citizens to go to college, there is much more demand for education, now that more people can afford it. This, in turn, encourages the colleges to charge more for education and they can increase their marketability by spending that money on professors, campus beautification or improved amenities.
The real question- is college worth it?
That I cannot answer. But I will say that going to college helps a person widen their perspective and allows that person to pursue ideas that they probably wouldn’t have gotten. College is about education. It is an investment that will last your lifetime. The only answer I can give you is to think about what you are passionate about and pursue that. If you don’t need a degree for that, don’t go. But, if you think that college will enrich your life and help you obtain mastery in your passion, then go!