College tuition is an important discussion in higher education as nowadays a college degree is needed to get higher paying jobs. According to the article, over the last 20 years, the average published price for a year of tuition and fees at a private four-year college has increase 166%. This is a staggering amount. Adjusting for inflation the article found that tuition has rose by 67% at four year private colleges and by 60% at two year public colleges. Meanwhile the median family income in the U.S has decreased more than 7% since 1999. The conclusions from this article are clear, more and more families are finding it hard to pay for a college education for their children. The article found that 63% of prospective students eliminate colleges solely on the basis of price. All is not lost though, as of the last decade 40 college schools have lowered their tuition in response to this alarming evidence. Unfortunately, the article only list the percent of the decrease but does not list the original price of tuition at the schools. While some of the reductions are fairly high, some took place during the beginning of the decade while others are more recent. Inflation rates have changed so the actual reduction in price may be vastly different from what's stated in the article. In the future hopefully the schools will invest in more long term cuts in tuition and that more schools will follow in the future.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lucielapovsky/2016/01/25/the-lunacy-of-tuition-inflation-must-end-39-brave-colleges-buck-the-trend/#3b6800d5343e
It is shocking to see how much tuition has gone up in percentages. It would be helpful to see what is causing such hikes in tuition prices. It could possibly be due to a cycle in which students don't go to college (due to the high price), which leads to lower enrollment rates, ultimately, leading to higher tuition prices (to make up for the lack of funds coming in). It will be interesting to see how colleges react in the future to this kind of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteAn important point that this article brings up is the fact that the published price of tuition often greatly differs from the amount students pay after considering scholarships, financial aid, etc. I think that this is something that OWU should keep in mind with their pricing strategy. A very small percentage actually pays the tuition list price of OWU, but not everyone knows this (especially prospective students). I'm sure that the mere sight of such a high number for tuition deters people away from even applying. OWU should take this into consideration in the future when they are marketing themselves, and possibly take actions such as many of these school have taken so that their tuition price more effectively matches the "net price" that an actual student pays.
ReplyDeletePaying for college tuition is something that a lot of middle and lower class families really struggle with. I think it is great news that colleges are beginning to see this increase in tuition over the years and are trying to find ways to decrease the costs of gaining a degree. As mentioned above, I think OWU needs to begin to look into this research with the recent struggle to get students to attend. While this cannot be the only change and investigation that needs to be done, I think it would help to begin seeing these admission rates increase.
ReplyDeleteIt is very surprising and alarming to see such rapid increase in tuition in a relativly short period of time. With the growing needs of everyday life,I agree education has become an important aspect in getting a well paid job. But by raising tuition so rapidly we in a way are depriving the people of something that has broadly become a basic need. This although may benefit the people in the short run but can have detrimental consequences for the future with a relativly less skilled work force leading to lower marginal product of Labor as well as lower productivity.
ReplyDeleteOWU offers many students scholarships to help pay for the cost of education, and probably with this rise in tuition fees more and more private four year universities will offer more scholarships to attract more students. The downside to this method is that you can only offer a certain amount of scholarship aid, so not everyone will obviously benefit. So it'll be interesting to see how colleges adjust their prices to ensure they still can attract students despite high tuition fees.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see how the cost of attending college has increased significantly in inflation adjusted dollars, yet it seems that people more and more need advance degrees to get quality jobs in the workforce. It seems that because tuition is high, it should make an undergraduate more valuable for getting a job but that doesn't appear to be happening. I am not sure why an undergraduate education isn't getting people where it used to, but it's something I'd like to know more about.
ReplyDeleteWhen talking about the rising costs in college and grad school education, many factors and outcomes of this come into play. It takes money to make money and if one doesn't have enough to pay for their college education up front, or at least some of it, they end up in a pool of debt. Also, since so many people are seeking higher education, going into the trades isn't a bad alternative right now, its actually very smart and there is a lot of money to be made there.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary to think about the increasing cost of college tuition. Especially due to the fact that a college education is becoming more and more necessary in order for someone to secure a well paying job. If the price of college tuition keeps increasing like it has been, it will eventually become impossible for many people from the middle class to afford, leading to a less skilled workforce and many jobs not being filled. It is obvious that something such as government intervention needs to be done about the rising cost of college tuition.
ReplyDeleteObviously with being in college I think we are paying an absurd amount of tuition to be educated. I think that it would be interesting to see what all of our money goes toward, to see if such the high amount is needed to sustain the university or if they save a lot for future use or for unusual circumstances. Sure, inflation has made it seem like tuition has increased greatly, but with the increase of around 60% adjusting for inflation over the last twenty years is crazy! Makes me think about the future, if my kid goes to college and tuition is an additional 60% from now. It's scary how expensive education is and could be.
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