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ENC 1102 THIS PAPER SPELLED OUT THE POSITION / TUTORIALOUTLET DOT COM
- 1. ENC 1102 This paper spelled out the position FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.tutorialoutlet.com ENC 1102 Author Note This paper was prepared for English Composition 1, taught by Professor Heredia. Are the High Prices of Attending to College in The United States Worth It? PAYING FOR COLLEGE 2 Abstract This paper spelled out the position of the millions of students that nowadays are struggling because of the higher prices of attending to college in United Stated. The costs of a college education have risen much faster than average inflation for decades; indeed, college costs are soaring in The United States. For parents, paying for their childs education is one of biggest inversion they will ever made, and if they fail with this mission, students will face the need for loans. It is a fact that college education is required in any persons life, and in fact United States offers the highest top ranked universities. While some readers argue that the prices of attending to college are just fine because it guarantees a better future, I argue that colleges are taking too many roles and doing none of them and that students are just not prepared for the loans and debts that will overcome them. PAYING FOR COLLEGE 3 Why does college cost so much? is a question that seems to emerge daily in conversations between families, classmates, and friends. It is a fact that, gas, food, and life in general are expensive. But, the costs of a college education have risen much faster than average inflation for decades; indeed, college costs are soaring in The United States. Student loan debt is approximately $1.2 trillion in the U.S. and is the subject of
- 2. continued discussions among state and federal legislators, regulators such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and groups throughout the country researching the impact of debt and the cost of education on consumers. It is important to mention that when we refer to cost, we are talking about the amount of money an institution must spend to provide education and services related to a student, and when we talk about loans, we are referring to the money that the students borrow from the government, and from private sources. As Smith M of the college board presents, the average cost of tuition and fees at a private, four-year university this school year was $41,000, whereas in 1971-1972, the average total cost was just $1,832 in current dollars. At public, four-year schools, tuition and fees cost about $9,139 this year. But, in the 1971 school year it was less than $500 in current dollars. For most Americans, paying for their childrens education will be the largest financial outlay that they will ever make. And if those parents cannot afford these cost of college, young people would find themselves with huge loans and debts. On other hand, everyone knows that education is the great equalizer here in USA. Even more, no matter where you grew up or where you came from, there is always a hope for everyone. But, are the high prices of attendance to college really worth it? While some readers argue that the prices of attending to college are just fine because it guarantees a better future, I argue that colleges are taking too many roles and doing none of them and that students are just not prepared for the loans and debts that will overcome them. PAYING FOR COLLEGE 4 College should be an intellectual expedition, a voyage confronting information and new
- 3. ideas, and a cultural journey. College life itself offers more than classroom experiences. Students enjoy spending time in the company of others of their age, participating in clubs and sports that they would not easily have access to otherwise, and satisfying their intellectual curiosity. It's one of the many efforts under way nationwide to encourage more students to earn a postsecondary degree or work-related credential. President Obama's goal is for the United States to be No. 1 in the world by 2020 in the proportion of young adults who have college degrees. To get there, the nation needs an additional 8 million graduates. As the time goes, college and universities have found themselves in a constant race and battle with each other. As students have become more like costumers, in the sense that they are looking for commodities instead of education, college has become like a business trying to achieve students goals by making recreation centers, expensive dorms, and others exclusives areas that are not essential to their academic mission. Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus have written a lucid, passionate and wide-ranging book on the state of American higher education and what they perceive as its increasing betrayal of its primary mission. In view of these experts, Hacker and Dreifus (2010) mention in their book, Higher Education? How Colleges Are Wasting Our Money and Failing Our Kids- and What We Can Do About It? the following passage: Colleges are staffed by casts of thousands and dedicated to everything from esoteric research to vocational trainingand have lost track of their basic mission to challenge the minds of young people. Higher education has become a colossusa $420-billion
- 4. industryimmune from scrutiny and in need of reform. (Hacker and Dreifus p. 180) In other words, colleges, with their high prices, are not accomplishing their goals, which is mostly with all students academic affairs, and that is something wrong that needs to be fixed. To PAYING FOR COLLEGE 5 conclude, it is a must to demonstrate as well as students as their parents that universities and college prices worth it, but nowadays this must have been banished. Another important factor in determining if college is worth the high prices is that students are not prepare for the loans and debts that they will be confronting along their lives. Nowadays student loans have become a lifetime sentence for strapped by debt derived from student loans. A survey recently conducted by American Student Assistance (ASA) found that those with student debt are delaying decisions to buy a home, get married, have children, save for retirement, and enter a desired career field because of their debt. As a current college student, I constantly worry about the amount of debt Im incurring while studying for my future. For example, Laura Perna, in her article Understanding the Working College Student points out that, Students are generally reluctant to borrow, question whether the benefits of borrowing exceed the costs, and worry about the need to repay loans. Students views of loans are generally mirrored by their parents views and correlated with known examples of others experiences with loans. (Perna p. 601) Basically, loans are a lifetime sentence that the student will be paying over their life and this debt could ruin someone for life. For many recent college graduates, career choice is not an option as those with debt are looking to get any job they can to pay the bills
- 5. and pay off their college debt. This need to get a job rather than to start a career can have devastating effects on both the person and the population at large. For those who can find a job in this recovering economy, many find that they cannot afford to be too selective when it comes to finding employment. The current unemployment rate for recent college graduates with a bachelors degree is 8.9%11 and approximately 41% say they have had to take a job that doesnt require their college degree just to pay the bills. A 2002 study found that 17% of student loan borrowers reported their loans had a significant impact on their career plans. Today, after the economic downturn, ASAs survey PAYING FOR COLLEGE 6 suggests that number has nearly doubled, as 30% of respondents said their student loan debt was a deciding factor or had considerable impact on their choice of career. In addition, 52% said they either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement that their need to pay student loan debt is hampering my ability to further my career. One ASA survey respondent commented, I need to have two jobs because of my student debt, and I cannot take employment opportunities that will not make enough money, regardless of the potential that they may have in the future. While I am convinced that the high prices of college are risking students life, others argue that the prices of attendance to college in United Stated worth it, because it guarantees a better future and an excellent employment rate. After completing college, students may be able to anticipate other nonpecuniary benefits both inside and outside of the labor market. For example, recent evidence shows that even after controlling for different measures of family
- 6. background and income, workers with more schooling hold jobs that offer a greater sense of accomplishment, more independence and opportunities for creativity, and more social interactions than jobs available to non-college graduates. Several studies have also shown that college graduates tend to enjoy better health outcomes on average. For example, Philip Oreopoulos and Uros Petronijevic in their article Making College Worth It mention that According to a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, in 1999 an adult with a bachelors degree earned 75 percent more over a lifetime than a high school graduate; by 2009 the premium had grown to 84 percent. (Oreopoulos and Petronijevic p 45). In other words, a college education is associated with higher labor market earnings across all major occupation sectors. Over and above the number of years one attends college, possessing a college degree provides an additional boost to ones earnings. There is some guarantee that if you graduate from college or university the path of your future will be bright and your earning would PAYING FOR COLLEGE 7 be probably higher. While college and universities can provide a better future for students, there is not one reason about why the cost of attendance of it is so high. And although college graduates generally earn more than those who have only high school degrees, their earnings vary across occupations. In addition, student concerns about student- loan debt is not that the college doesnt worth borrowing for, is about that over the past decade the number of students that are borrowing has increased compare with the decade ago. And another important fact, is that nowadays is more difficult afford the amount because is almost
- 7. impossible pay for it just working while you are in the university. For example, Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst (2010) cited in their book the reporter Robin Wilson (2009) who also cited the professor Lauren J. Asher (2008) who said: It used to be that, 10 to 20 years ago, if you went to a four-year public institution, had a low to moderate income, and worked a reasonable amount part time in school, there was enough aid. And public institutions were better financed, so you could come out with no debt. That same student now has to borrow to get their education, a college degree is still a good investment but the financial risk for the student has increased. (Graff, Birkenstein, Durst p 261) Provided that, the last research shows that the prices are almost impossible to afford and by taking the advantage of loans could risk any person economic stability. Debt costs you time in savings, pushes back when and whether you can buy a home, start a family, open a small business or access capital. Where once college graduates would leave school, and start their own company, today they must take a job to pay off loans or they simply cannot get the capital needed for a business because of outstanding student debt. In fact, of those interested in starting a small business, 47% of borrowers in ASAs survey responded that their student loan debt affected their PAYING FOR COLLEGE decision or ability to do so. Student debt burdens require these individuals to divert cash away from their businesses so they can make monthly payments. To conclude, the lifetime debt is not likely to any student, and the high prices of the attendance should be reasonable instead of
- 8. soaring. To summarize, high prices of attending to college, by making students have debt the rest of their life, are just prejudicing students and making their lives more complicated that they already can be. Of course, university degrees provide better future and more opportunities for people. But, none of those advantages can overcome the very basic disadvantage that is the lifetime sentence of students loans and debts. Student loans can be the key to a college education and a life of expanded career and earning prospects. But it is worth boning up on the potential effects of student debt to make sure you do not hamstring your finances in the process. If colleges and universities were just another consumer good, like cars or clothes, we wouldnt worry as much about their cost. The rich pay more for the best stuff; the poor pay less for the worst. Thats the market at work. But higher education is both an individual and a public concern.