Analysis and Description of the Current State of Higher Education in the United States - Research Paper Example

? Pros and Cons of Today's College Education al affiliation: The current of higher education in United s In therecent past, the state of higher education in the United States has been under the spotlight of deteriorating quality, high costs and turnover rates. The top and bottom divisions of United States institutions of higher learning have become so dissimilar from each other that they have stopped being the single coherent social institution. Institutions belonging to the top strata have values, missions, funding and personnel that are different from those at the bottom. Universities and colleges that are in the middle class are torn between these extremes. Universities in the top strata have become a preserve for the minority few who are affluent. Attending universities like Harvard has been left to the few who can afford to pay the exorbitant fees. The divisions arising in institutions of higher learning have come to be viewed as a show of might and class, as well as a means by which the American plutarchy duplicates itself. Donoghue (nd) notes that top strata universities’ one year tuition fee is more than the average income of American citizens. Universities in the middle and bottom classes are continually grappling with budget cuts as the government strives to sustain the budget in times of economic downturns. Budget cuttings have severe implications for public colleges and universities as universities have to raise their tuition fees, reduce spending or both, in a bid to cover the gap. Cuts on higher education funding by the government have resulted in increased tuition across public institutions of higher learning. The acute increases in tuition fees have hastened the continuous trends of reducing college affordability and transferring the costs to students. Leachman et al (2013) note that enrolling for a four year course in a public institution of higher learning has momentarily grown at a quicker pace than the increase in average earnings for the past 20 years, even after tax subsidies and government aid. Reducing spending in a bid to match the budget cuts usually results in ways that lower the quality of higher education. Some of the ways in which public colleges and universities cut spending are such as closing some campuses, doing away with some course offerings, reducing services like computer laboratories and library. For illustration, following the budget cuts on public institutions of higher learning, Arizona university strategy to cut spending included closing its eight extension campuses facilitating distance learning, as well as cutting more that 2000 positions (Donologhue, nd). Public institutions of higher learning offer education to more that seventy five percent of the country’s undergraduates. Raising tuition fees and cutting spending have had negative impacts on the quality of education. Students are leaving school with huge public debt, yet find it hard to obtain a job. In addition, the top strata in United States system of higher education is resulting in half baked graduates, thus making employers spend more money in retraining graduates to match the job skills. This paper presents the shortcomings in the United States universities, opportunities for improvement, as well as recommendations on how to eliminate the shortcomings. Shortcomings Price sensitivity The earnings and incomes of majority of citizens have remained unchanged over the years, yet tuition fee increment rises at the same rate as inflation. This makes university education expensive and unaffordable to numerous households whose incomes remains stagnant while the cost of education keeps on rising. Demographic and economic pressures, as well as, heightened government inspection of higher education cost are resulting in slow tuition growth in many universities. Ongoing national government concessions results in further pressures on universities since a large number of students are dependent of government grants and loans, both of which are curtailed to a certain degree by budget cuts. The number of students in need of government loans has rapidly increased over the past decade as compared to the 1990s. The weakened fiscal position for the majority of American households makes most high school graduate dependent on government grants. Lower strata universities are more dependent on tuition revenue and have fewer resources per student. In order to be competitive in the student market, such institutions engage in pure price reduction. This implies that they earn less revenue per learner; spend less per learner while struggling more to attract students, so as to match with the top strata universities (competitors). Therefore, price sensitivity is a key shortcoming affecting university education in United States. High student’s loans and high default rates Another shortcoming stems from the rising student loan burden and a high non-payment rate stain the perception of value of university degree. Since the year 2003, the higher education in United States has registered an increase in the number of loan recipients. This result in the increase in the quantity of debts, yet few employment opportunities exists for university graduates. In turn, default rate increases with the increase in loan recipients and high unemployment levels. The rate of loan defaulting has shifted from 4.5 percent in 2003 to 9.1 percent in 2010. The risk of heightened regulation and pressure from government on the need to moderate tuition cost persists due to credit risk resulting from increasing rates of student loan default in most universities. Traditional public and private universities that enroll a large number of students from lower income families such as Hispanic serving institutions are fairly open to access. Other students join university with high attrition, low college preparedness, resulting in university drop out and eventual low graduation rates (Leachman et al. 2013). All these result in high rates of loan default because learners fail to complete their learning, yet they have to pay loans without the benefit of a diploma or degree that can help them secure jobs and augment their earnings. Increased regulation High public inspection propels soaring risks of more regulation and certification approvals are another shortcoming in the current states of universities in United States. Rising undergraduate debt burdens and continuing concerns with regards to the affordability of a degree are already yielding greater pressure political and heightened regulation of the higher education industry. In 2012, president barracks Obama emphasized on the aspect of affordability and educational outcomes. The president warned university presidents to reduce tuition fees or risk reduced funding. He also stressed on the need for enhanced disclosure of the cost of university education Leveille, 2006). Some states in America employ the performance based funding since early 2000s, where various performance metrics measuring degree completion, retention and faculty productivity. Universities that meet the criteria get some shares of both the general and the federal budget. This is a serious shortcoming as the performance criteria may favor certain universities depending on their strengths in the type of performance criteria used (Moody’s Investor Service, 2013). Thus, this is a biased mode of funding that hinders equal allocation of funds to institutions of higher learning. High scrutiny of the higher education industry is propelling noteworthy increase in sanctions by the country’s certification bodies. There has been a substantial increase in the negative certification in reaction to rising government criticism on poor quality, pricing and outcomes disclosure. From the above shortcomings, it is clear that financing, soaring student’s loan and scrutiny are among the shortcomings affecting university education in United States. The issue of cost is the prominent feature that hinders affordability of education among thousands of high school graduates. Some of the improvements that can be made to reduce the burden on university education acquisition are to embrace the use of various technological tools in acquiring higher education. Key suggestions for improving higher education, and their pros and cons One of the ways in which institutions can make education affordable is to embrace the use of online education, which is also referred to as distance education. Internet education offers a dynamic and interactive space for learning. This is a suitable way of cutting on costs since students learn in virtual classrooms. Costs of physical buildings and their subsidiary costs such as lighting and insurance for such buildings. Proponents for online education assert that professors spend less time preparing for materials and in turn use more time teaching (Taylor, 2009). Offering online education is a relatively cheaper option for a university to capture more students. Online education is beneficial to both the university and students in terms of costs savings (Alberts & Hazen, 2013). Use of digital information to cut on cost is an essential suggestion where universities can cut on library expenses. Library fees accounts for a substantial portion of tuition fees as world class library are a competitive advantage to most universities. Universities set their tuition fees depending on the nature of the university stocking. In a bid to reduce tuition fees, universities can exploit the digital information where information is stored in digital content rather than in physical form. Utilization of digital technology by universities can help reduce tuition fees since storing books in digital content is a relatively cheaper option, as opposed to purchasing books (Betz, 2011). However, digitizing information may be a challenge as setting up a digital library requires an enormous amount of capital. In addition, accessing information from the digital library may be a problem, as the system may collapse due to many users if not well researched and tested. Universities can also embrace cloud computing to save on date storage and servers costs. Cloud computing is beneficial in that it allows colleges and universities to choose enterprise activities to move off campus for faster and safer accessibility (Thornton, 2012). Cloud computing also offers simplicity of offloading management obligation. The government and higher education stakeholders must also come together to plan for the country’s future in education. Federal government’s actions of budget cuts have a direct upshot on university education due to tuition fees and university spending. Budget cuts mostly result in increased tuition fees, which in turn results in increased student’s loan, and default rates. This is a severe problem as the money defaulted could be used to finance other students joining university (Yanushevsky, 2011). As such, the government should meet all stakeholders ranging from students, parents, university presidents and policy makers to formulate and strategize on long term plans to eliminate the inadequacies affecting higher education institutions. This suggestion is beneficial in that the voice of every stakeholder in the education sector is heard. All suggestions from stakeholders will ensure the plans and strategies devised are all inclusive. However, one shortcoming of this approach is that the government and the relevant stakeholders may rarely meet. In addition, incorporating the views of every stakeholder is intricate (Nata, 2007). Moreover, meeting with all stakeholders and taking all their views is time consuming and intricate. Recommendations One of the solutions to end the crisis facing United States universities is to explore ways of reducing dependency on federal budgets. This suggestion is beneficial in that it will help to reduce the aspect of price sensitivity to tuition fees. In addition, reducing dependency on the budget will help in reducing the high rates of student’s debts in the country. The government in collaboration with universities can plan on ways of reducing tuition fees while ensuring efficiency in order to enhance affordability. A reduction in university and college fees makes it affordable, such that the majority of learners from middle income households access education. When education becomes affordable, learners will not be burdened by students loan offered to students to enable them cater for tuition fees. Other technical and entrepreneurial courses should be given more attention to ensure that learners are able to initiate their businesses and reduce their dependency on being employed. This is beneficial as it will result in a reduction in the level of unemployment, as well as, reduce loan default resulting from high unemployment loans. Following examination of shortcomings and suggested solutions, it is also wise for universities to employ the use of hybrid environments for learning. This entails a mixture of online and classroom learning. This ensures a balanced and efficient use of resources, as well as taking advantage of technological development. In hybrid learning, learners come to the campus for few days for face to face interaction, where the remainder of the coursework is addressed through online facility. Hybrid learning helps in reducing facility expenses while lessening disruption to learners who have to balance work and school. References Thornton, G. (2012). The State Of Higher Education In 2012. Retrieved on 22 May 2013 from < http://www.grantthornton.com/staticfiles/GTCom/Not-for- profit%20organizations/NotForProfit%20files/state_of_higher_education_2012_whitepap er_final.pdf> Moody’s Investor Service. (2013). US higher education outlook negative in 2013. Retrieved on 22 May 2013< http://www.marquette.edu/budget/documents/USHigherEducationOutlookNegativein201 3.pdf> Leveille, D.E. (2006). Accountability in higher education: a public agenda for trust and cultural change. Retrieved on 22 May 2013 from< http://www.cpec.ca.gov/CompleteReports/ExternalDocuments/Leveille_Accountability.2 0.06.p df> Leachman, M. et al. (2013). Recent deep state higher education cuts may harm students and the economy for years to come. Retrieved on 22 May 2013 from. Donologhue, F. (nd). The current state of U.S. higher education, top to bottom. Retrieved on 22 May 2013 from Yanushevsky, R. (2011). Improving Education in the US: A Political Paradox. NY: Algora Publishing Press. Taylor, C. (2009). 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