College Tuition Costs in America
CNN Money
December 13, 2017
The American Dream is the idea of “rags to riches.”. An American citizen can grow up without a lot of money, but through hard-work, can become wealthy or successful. This hard-work is commonly achieved through a college education.
In America today, receiving a college education is seen as the minimum level of education for success. Depending on the community, it is expected of students to further their education. With this seemingly unquestionable need to attend college in order to get a decent career, why is college so expensive?
Looking at the importance of college, Forbes states the average salary of one without post-secondary education is $23,452, while the average salary of one with a bachelor’s degree is $55,000 and those with graduate degrees average salary is $65,000.
With this, the affordability of college in America is low, as CNN Money explains even families earning over $100,000 say they cannot afford over 60% of U.S. colleges without student loans, scholarships or other forms of financial aid.
Forbes states that the inflation rate of household salaries in the United States is 147%, while the inflation rate for the overall consumer price index is 115% and the cost of college has reached a rate of 500% inflation. It is clear that most families cannot afford the cost of college because the price of college has risen dramatically in recent decades.
The reason for the great raise in college tuition is not due to less funding, but due to more spending on education and facilities. This is partially due to the greater amount of people who now attend college. The New York Times informs that since 1995 there has been a 50% increase in enrollment of upper level education. Additionally, The New York Times claims that the growth rate of administration positions has increased 60% between 1993 and 2009.
Anna Dixon, Pentucket Junior, explains “The cost of college seems to have increased exponentially in a short amount of time. My mom paid for her bachelor’s degree at Boston College and law school by waitressing at Legal Seafoods. There is no way I would be able to pay my way through college with a waitressing job today.”
Gabriel Mailhot • Dec 13, 2017 at 3:12 pm
As someone who is going through the college process, I have come to accept that I will have debt to pay coming out of a bachelors degree. I am also planning on attending graduate school but find it hard to understand how to do that with debt I already have from just my bachelors degree. You stated that many families cannot afford over 60% of the colleges, which makes me ask the same question as you which is why wouldn’t they lower their cost. You would think that by lowering their cost more people would attend and they would make more money and the country would be more successful in the long run. Why does a college tuition cost more than the average money made out of graduate school? I liked the points you made and found them relatable for many students who are looking for colleges.