The Increasing College Tuition - Essay Example

A discussion on the increasing college tuition; specifically fees at WVU Introduction A keen focus to the issues experienced in Minnesota State University is undertaken. The school swore to its faculty and its student body that they will focus on limiting the number of the students admitted into the campus and thus their focus is to the end and limit the increase of the students into the university. Eventually, research shows that this particular institution has been on a spending thrift that it had spent so much of its resources over the last few years. These resources provide very eligible information valid for my discussion in this paper. It gives specific details and enough statistics based for my study. According to Carey, the National Public Radio, states that college students borrow very huge loans to supplement their stay in college. However, the government is also working very hard to ensure that the rates of borrowing loans for college students are low and the government does not care whether the students have borrowed loans surpassing the one trillion dollars. The government is also intending to double these rates since rumor has it, in order to enable the stay of the students comfortable in college. Eventually, this means that not only will the cost of college fees increases at the WVU university increase but also the amount the students will have to pay back in payment for loans are doubling. This arguments and matters may actually discourage other students anticipating on joining college when especially they think about the increasing cost of Fees and increasing money to pay back as loans after college. Although it is a pleasure that the government gives enough loans to the students, it is an advantage to wise students since they can decide to invest. In this case, the loans will help them positively in a better way. On the other hand, it is a disadvantage for the students will incur many debts with the government and thus it may become a great burden to the students who just do not utilize these loans and thus unless they find jobs on time, it may become very hard to repay the loans. Consequently, several changes have occurred in college tuitions over the last several decades. Tuition at colleges in the current generations cannot have any comparison to the college tuitions in the olden days. Following Feldman’s, Myths and Realities about Rising College Tuition, discusses the changes statistically, historically, and in a way that is not biased. In the past days, college tuition fee used to be very affordable and most people could afford it comfortably as compared to the current days where the college tuition fee is very high for the peasants to afford. This increasing of the cost of the college tuition is due to many factors, which include, one, the rising economy. The increasing cost of life has greatly affected the college tuition fee; this is because of the high prices for food and other household equipments and the increasing needs of the people. This in turn causes the lot of straining to the parents or guardians providing and catering for the college students. On the other hand, in the olden days, very few students qualified to join colleges, and thus this became very convenient for the institutions to provide very affordable accommodation, food and quality tuition at an affordable tuition fee. In addition, the cost of living had not yet risen to greater levels thus parents were very comfortable to pay the tuition fee. On the other hand, the government provided little loans to the students since the government also understood that the cost of life was affordable in comparison to the current cost of life in the colleges. Life has generally become very demanding and expensive and thus the college students require more money. In the current days also, many students got admissions into colleges hence causing lot congestion into the institutions. The institutions require setting up more structures to accommodate the rising population of the institution and the government needs to ensure disbursement of enough resource personnel like the lecturers to sustain the growing population of the students. Nevertheless, the institution has to come up strategies to ensure that the institution owns enough valid equipment for example, enough laboratories, enough computers, and many other types of equipment that the institution may require. These of course demands for financial stability and thus the students should cater for these expenses. This in turn raises the college tuition fee. Fethke argues in his article, Chronicle of Higher Education, that the reason why the tuition college fee is increasing is the diminishing public aid and the reduction of support of the taxpayers. However, the president of the United States, president Barrack Obama says that the government should not continue to fix up the financial gaps of college students yet the students themselves are capable to pay them. This means that the students should be responsible for the payment of their tuition fee. The argument behind this is that since the public universities receive enough support from the federal government in terms of loans and grants, the president Barrack Obama therefore assumes that the college students get enough support and thus it is not very necessary to increase their support. Because of withdrawal of support by the public aid and the taxpayers, the tuition fee of the college students increasing greatly. The effect of the approved tuition increases begins its implementation from this year. Increasing of the tuition fee will greatly depend on factors such as whether the student resides in the institution or is a non- resident, whether the student is a postgraduate student or undergraduate. Participation in sport activities also causes the variations of the increase. To compensate the increase of the tuition fee, WVU has reduced the wages and salaries of the university employees a great deal and will not approve any raises or increase of salaries any time soon. The salaries of the employees of WVU University will experience a reduction in their salaries for some time. This will make the whole situation to appear as if not only the students of the institution are involved in the high payment of the tuition fee but also the entire community and staff of WVU University. The New York Times 3 by Lewin outlines that it has been a foreshadow of what would happen in this institution in the past years. In this article, the tuition fee is compared between in then 1980s and in 2008, citing the ages of the students and the general; income they possessed. In the 1980s, students used to posses a lot of money compared to the income the students in 2008 posses. This is due to the support the students got from the public aid and the support from the taxpayers. During 1980s, the public used to give grants to the students and to offer loans at very low rates. Taxpayers on the other hand used to offer grants and loans to the students and the institutions. This helped both ne the students and the institution. Students have many debts to pay after their college. The Wall Street Journal of Mitchell says that these debts result from the increasing college fee. Actually, the students have to pay a lot more money in the repayment of their loans, which is associated to the increase of the college tuition fee. The two are directly proportional since With the increase for financial help of the students, they borrow more money to sustain their financial requirements. This makes it very difficult for them to cater for the loan repayments. Conclusion The people responsible for the increase in the tuition fee stated by Nazum in Charleston Gazette 6 June 2013, he explains that the institution has to find a way to compensate for the losses incurred in the institution. The reduction of the salaries of the employees and the increasing of the tuition fee and at the same time they are still planning to increase the extra fee on the student credit cards. The Charleston Gazette 6 June 2013 expresses that this difference and the gaps will definitely be filled from the pockets of the students and parents. Remedies for reducing then college tuition fee have to be put in place to help the students to settle on their studies without experiencing any financial disruption. Work Cited Carey, Kevin. "What's Driving College Costs Higher?." National Public Radio. National Public Radio, 26 Jun 2012. Web. 24 Sep 2013. Feldman, David H.. "Student Aid Perspectives." Myths and Realities about Rising College Tuition. National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, 23 Mar 2012. Web. 24 Sep 2013. Fethke, Gary. "Why Does Tuition Go Up? Because Taxpayer Support Goes Down." Chronicle of Higher Education. 1 Apr 2012: n. page. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. Lewin, Tamar. "College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.." New York Times 3 December 2008, 1. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. Mitchell, Josh. "New Course in College Costs." Wall Street Journal. (2012): n. page. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. Nuzum, Lydia. "WVU looks to save in face of state cuts." Charleston Gazette 6 June 2013, 1. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. Read More