College tuition is an essential portion of higher education. It’s a burden every student has to deal with when they enroll to a university. Over time, it’s become an epidemic that has grown to become more problematic today than ever before.
Tuition has been on a constant incline over the past decade. According to San Francisco education startup Educents, tuition and fees at public colleges across the nation have increased on average more than 40 percent in the past 10 years.
Educents is an online marketplace comprised of a multitude of organizations and companies that advocate for making learning more enjoyable for children. Educents helps fund books, kits, games and other educational supplements to help children become more engaged in learning. Since launching in April 2013, Educents saved instructors over $25 million and helped more than 500,000 educators gain access to educational materials in one place, according to its website.
“These numbers confirm what many students and families already know — that getting a good education can be more expensive than ever,” said Educents CEO and co-founder Kate Whitling.
LSU’s tuition cost has changed dramatically within recent years. Since 2001, tuition and fees for in-state students have increased from approximately $3,468 annually to $10,814, according to data from the Office Budget and Planning. In the same time span, tuition and fees for out-of-state students ballooned to $27,491 from $8,768 — an increase of 32 percent.
By graduation, many students are typically in a deep financial hole. Soon after graduating, students are faced with the dilemma of paying off student loans, opposed to putting forth the effort to find a job to establish themselves in their respective fields.
State funding to public universities has seen a decline since the 2008 recession, according to Claire Diver, Educents marketing associate.
Another factor of students’ empty bank accounts is the competitive nature of universities. Universities compete with one another for higher enrollment rates at the expense of students, enhancing campus facilities to make them more appealing for recruiting efforts. As a result of this, increased tuition is one of the ways to make up for the excessive spending.
Eventually, higher tuition will cause the college enrollment rate to plummet exponentially with students unable to afford it. TOPS will not be around forever and it is possible that many students will choose to forego college or begin their collegiate careers at two-year community colleges.
“Fewer students may be able to attend college if they feel their families would be put under financial stress,” said Diver. “Public universities are, traditionally, a more affordable option for low-income students, who are most likely to be hit the hardest by tuition increases.”
It can be difficult for recent college graduates to start their adult lives due to the financial struggle most will have to face. Debt can affect their ability to afford essential needs such as a home or food. With not purchasing anything, it could impact the overall economy if business are see a decline in their income.
How could we resolve this issue? There are several approaches that could help diffuse the problem. However, the best one could be a federal-state partnership. A federal-state partnership would ultimately provide states a way to maintain some sort of funding for their public universities and would help students avoid facing a cost crisis.
LSU President F. King Alexander touched on the idea and its effectiveness in a August 2016 column published in The Washington Post.
“The Morrill Act of 1862, which created land-grant universities, is perhaps the greatest example of how federal incentives can encourage progressive state policies,” Alexander said. “Territorial lands and other federal assets were offered to states in exchange for the creation of new public colleges and universities. The outcomes of this partnership still benefits us today — increases in college graduates, scientific breakthroughs, improvements in disease prevention and treatment, and technological discoveries, all of which move our society and economy forward.”
However, with no signs of trends changing, college tuition should unfortunately continue to grow over time.
