Month: February 2021

Families all across the country are working as hard as they can to send their children to college… and sometimes it’s still not enough. College tuition forces people to take out student loans and significantly reduce their spending on other things. You could get a pretty nice house for the amount that you spend on higher education. What I am trying to say is, many people will agree that college is a significant financial investment. Why is this?

Since the 1980s, the cost of attending college has more than doubled (Hoffower). This is a really incredible statistic, because absolutely nothing about what we are receiving has changed. It is the same buildings with the same classes and same connections for the most part. Still the prices have sky-rocketed. To explain why this has happened we need to think about the golden relationship of economics: supply and demand. The supply for higher education has pretty much stayed the same, however the demand for this education has grown tremendously. Since the year 2000, there are 5.1 million more people who want to go to college (Hoffower). Think about that, the amount of schools have remained pretty much constant, but now there are 5.1 million more people trying to get spots. So the demand has clearly grown. Now colleges have all these people trying to get spots and they have the same amount of competition. Why wouldn’t they boost their prices?

The next question is why is there such a high demand for a college education? There are defiantly other paths that people can take to find success and happiness, but none are as surefire as getting a college degree.  On average every year, someone with a bachelor’s degree earns 32,000$ more than someone who only graduated high school (APLU). Additionally, someone with an associate’s degree earns 400,000$ more in their lifetime than someone someone with only degree from high school (UHCC.edu). The only thing that differentiates these people is a few years of education, but yet for the rest of their lives people with college degrees will be making more. So if you know this, why would you not be one of those people making more? Why wouldn’t you go to college?

It is such a clear advantage to get a degree from a school, it can set you up for the rest of your life. Schools know this and they really make you earn it; both academically, and also with a check. With this being said I 100% believe that education is worth the money. You are building yourself into the most disciplined, smartest, and most motivated version of yourself and we should all Struve for this. This is why despite the tremendous amount of money my family and I will be paying the next four years, I believe that it is worth it.

 

 

Picture Sources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2017/06/09/private-college-tuition-is-rising-faster-than-inflation-again/37432483/

https://hellogiggles.com/teen/stressing-money-affecting-students/

 

Work Cited:

https://www.aplu.org/projects-and-initiatives/college-costs-tuition-and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/employment-earnings.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-college-so-expensive-2018-4

http://uhcc.hawaii.edu/degree_value/valueOfDegree.php

We’ve heard this over and over again right? “Get good grades in high school, so you can go to the best college possible, then you can get a job and live happily every after.” Sounds easy enough… if only this was an accurate depiction of real life. Higher education is an incredible time in one’s life when they advance their education n an incredible way, find their identity in this world, and overall just enjoy some of the best four years of their life. Additionally, the advantages of going to college verse not going to college are profound. There are so many statistics proving how much better off someone with a college degree is than someone without one. For example, an average college graduate is 24% more likely to be employed than someone with only a high school degree, and their earnings are on average 32,000$ more (APLU). Someone who holds a bachelor’s degree  makes about 25,000 more a year than someone with only a high school degree (Joubert). These are undeniably  gigantic advantages and really prove how important it is in our society to get a college degree. However, with all the advantages it brings, there is one factor which makes it a sacrifice not worth making for many families.

College is EXPENSIVE. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend all four years in many cases. The price of college hasn’t always been so ridiculous, over the past 20 or so years it has doubled in price. What is so devastating about this increase in price is that the average household income has remained constant. So families are making the same amount of money, but now having to pay incredible amounts for school. This has caused many students to take out student loans. These are loans taken out by families to afford the initial cost of college, which they pay back later with interest added on.  My father is still paying back his student loans 30 years later, and now lucky for me, it is my turn to take out loans.

The tremendous cost of college tuition is a very relevant problem in many people’s lives an now it has become part of mine. I want to learn why college prices are rising at the rate they are, and in turn things that I can do to make this incredible burden a little less impactful on my family’s and my own life.   If you are reading this as a fellow college student, then I am guessing you too may be struggling with this, so stick with me and together we can learn more about the problem, and find out how to make the cost of our future a little more manageable.

 

Picture Sources:

Why is College So Expensive in the United States?

https://www.cabrini.edu/blog/2017-18/benefits-of-going-to-college

 

Work Cited:

10 Benefits of Having a College Degree

societal-benefits.html