The soaring cost of attending college has brought college affordability to the forefront of national education policy. College costs have far outpaced salaries earned by graduates needing to pay for their education. The federal government can change this trend for the better.
The importance of higher education is obvious. People with college degrees have increased carreer opportunities and improved overall quality of life. A majority of Americans believe that a higher education is important to get ahead in life due to the positive impacts on individuals and society as a whole. A college education increases the likelihood of stable employment and civic involvement. It also leads to personal development, a sense of accomplishment, more discipline, better communication, and in many ways discovery and realization of passions. All of this also generally results in a happier and healthier member of society.
The ability to get a higher education, however, has become more and more dificult as tuition costs have shot up. Tuition is higher than an average American can afford. Between 1989 and 2019, the cost of a four-year degree more than doubled. Student loans make up the largest part of non-housing debt in the United States, which is more than both auto loans and credit cards. The demand for higher education has a direct impact on the higher cost of education. Other factors increasing tuition costs include: the inability of state funding to match enrollment, the high number of employed professors, and the need for increased student services (such as counseling and healthcare).
Education policies often focus on state-level government action. The state-focused policies usually include providing additional state funding to colleges, which then allows the institutions to lower their tuition rates. Another state policy could increase state grant aid awards to students in order to lower the amount paid by students. We know, however, that states cannot afford either of these two solutions. Instead, the federal government could work with states to enforce tuition price controls by creating limits on yearly increases of tuition and fees. More importantly the federal government needs to begin to restrict students' access to federal student loans, as they appear to enable colleges to increase tuition faster than the rate of inflation. Also, the federal government should require colleges to limit annual tuition price increases under threat of having benefits of tax-exempt status reduced or removed.
The lowered access to higher education due to skyrocketing costs is a national crisis. The federal government is in the position to remedy this through tough policies that tackle the problem with real and achievable policies. Young Americans deserve to have access to a higher education without living a life of debt.
Explanation:
sources
- mhec dot org ... mhec_affordability_series3_20170824.pdf
- ed dot gov ... college
- www2 dot ed dot gov ... affordability
- vistacollege dot edu ... blog/resources/higher-education-in-the-21st-century
- forbes dot com ... sites/camilomaldonado/2018/07/24/price-of-college-increasing-almost-8-times-faster-than-wages/#7bbc429666c1
- businessinsider dot com ... why-is-college-so-expensive-2018-4
- forbes dot com ... sites/rogerma/2018/05/29/how-the-federal-government-could-control-college-costs/#3bee0c141dcc
