Ghandi once said “Be the change you want to see in the world.” This change can include furthering a person’s education to help in fields of medicine, engineering, or politics; and in many different other fields. This change may not be able to be reached if people can not further their education due to price of college. Going to college has become more and more popular throughout the years ever since the 1960s. Ever since then, the price of college has just increased drastically. According to U.S. News in an article by Travis Mitchell, “The average tuition and fees at private National Universities jumped 179 percent. Out-of-state tuition and fees at public universities rose 226 percent since 1995. In-state tuition and fees at public National Universities grew the most, increasing a staggering 296 percent” (Mitchell 2).

With these statistics, it is just proof that the price of college has just gotten bigger since 1995 and will continue to rise if it is up to the colleges. The only people who set the prices are the colleges and the people attending. This rise in college tuition can be attributed to the rapid popularity of going to college, the increased financial aid students receive, and the decrease of government aid for the high demand of college-goers.

One of the many reasons the price of tuition has increased is because of the popular demand for high school students to go to college. Ever since the baby boomers started attending college, the price has been driven up due to the number of people going. According to the article titled “The Tuition is Too Damn High, Part III — The three reasons tuition is rising” by Dylan Matthews, between 2000 and 2010, the cost of tuition for community colleges has risen 40.7% in that time (Matthews 7). This is due to a higher population of students continuing their higher education. According to the article “ The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much” by Paul F. Campos, “Enrollment in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs has increased by almost 50 percent since 1995” (Campos 6). That is twenty-two years later and there was a 50% increase; this includes higher costs for people just out of high school and even adults going back to school. Also said in that article, “the astonishing rise in college tuition correlates closely with a huge increase in public subsidies for higher education” (Campos 5). Even though today there are jobs that do not require higher education, people are still going to further their education, which increases the number of people going (the demand), thus increasing the tuition. This can mainly be because of the pressure society puts on people to go to college or the sudden increase to want a career in a field that involves higher education.

When my uncle, Paul Gartland, went to college at Xavier University, a private school, he graduated in 1986 and, in an interview, he stated “It was about $13,000 a year to attend Xavier when I went there” (Gartland). If someone wanted to attend Xavier University in 2017, the tuition would be around $52,000 a year according to admission counselor, Chris Jordan. When asked in an interview why the tuition was so much, Chris Jordan said, “Over the years the price has increased, but, being a private school, Xavier thinks it is a pretty fair price” (Jordan). A fair price to who? The wealthy who can afford to go to a private school like Xavier? Well this increase of price is also due to the popular demand of going to a school like Xavier. Gartland also went to say, “ It’s a great school. I loved going there, but I think it’s outrageous the amount of money they are charging people for tuition just to attend a school they want to go to” (Gartland). The price of tuition when Gartland went there compared to today has quadrupled. This is all due to the fact that the demand of getting a higher education and going to a private university has increased. Now to attend Tri-C Community College it would be $2,635.40 for 20 credit hours (Tri-c.edu) and at Cleveland State University, tuition is $9,848 a year (csuohio.edu). The cost increase shown at Xavier University is something that is happening to schools all around the country. According to the article titled, “How The Cost Of College Went From Affordable To Sky-High” by Claudio Sanchez, it said “...listen to parents from states where tuition and fees have skyrocketed in the last five years. In Arizona, for example, parents have seen a 77 percent increase in costs. In Georgia, it's 75 percent, and in Washington state, 70 percent,” (Sanchez 1). The population increase in students attending colleges is one of the reasons tuition keeps rising each year or five years. Certainly, though, this is not the only reason the cost of college has increased over the years.

Another reason college tuition has increased significantly throughout the years is because of the amount of financial aid each student receives. In the article by Ellen Wexler called “Why Is Tuition So High?” she writes, “Student aid accounts for most of the tuition increases between 1987 and 2010, according to a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research. The more money students can borrow, the idea goes, the more colleges can charge” (Wexler 3). Colleges think that the financial aid can compensate for the tuition to go to school, which in reality that is not true. I was seriously considering going to Xavier University and with their high tuition (roughly $52,000 a year) with my $5,000 in financial aid, this would not compensate for the tuition like the colleges would think it would. Colleges are increasing their prices without thinking about people’s different financial situations. Now there are people who would get more financial aid than I would, but there are also people who would get less than me. For those people that maybe want to go to a private college or even to a school like Ohio university, getting little to nothing in financial aid will not compensate for the high tuition. This can also be a reason why there is such a high increase in people enrolling in community college.

Also said in the article by Ellen Wexler, “Instead, colleges increase tuition even more, because they know financial aid can cover the difference” (Wexler 5). In reality, financial aid does not cover the difference for all people, if any. David Feldman, economics professor at the College of William & Mary, was quoted in the article saying, “Increasing federal aid will rarely change how high a college sets its tuition. A college’s sticker price is set by its wealthiest students’ ability to pay -- and the wealthiest students never take out loans” (Wexler 9). Colleges set the standards of tuition based on the students who have the most money and can afford college (Wexler 9). Colleges need to stop looking at the wealthiest of their students because they only represent those with the top of their financial abilities. Instead, they should look at who need the extra help, no matter if they are going to a community college, a public school that is not a community college, or private school. “Over the last few decades, the amount of aid available to students has increased dramatically...” (Wexler 4). The more financial aid students can receive, the more colleges are going to charge students to attend there. Financial aid is supposed to be something to help students so they are not in debt for the rest of their lives, not make their tuition more. This may have been a shocking fact for most people, but it is not the only reason colleges have increased their prices.

Lastly, colleges have increased their tuition due to the decrease of government funding for schools. Over the years, the government funding for colleges has increased due to making budget changes. In a book by Ronald Ehrenberg, a Cornell University professor of industrial and labor relations and economics and an expert on higher education governance, titled Tuition Rising: Why College Costs so Much, he said,

“If the president tells them that they need to spend money to maintain the strength of the university in a particular field, or that they need funds to enhance the living and learning environment to attract students, they are likely to agree. At public institutions, trustees often do not have control over tuition levels and state appropriations—the political process often makes such decisions. Administrators at the public institutions often can make hard decisions to balance budgets because they can always blame the cuts on state government. In contrast, administrators at private institutions often find that all blame for cutbacks is assigned to them. Rather than risk the goodwill of the faculty, whose support they need to effectively govern, they are more likely to agree to raise tuition than take other actions to provide budget relief” (Ehrenberg 29).

Government funding for schools is something that was helping the cost of college to make it more affordable for others. Without this funding from the government, which can be taken away if the president finds it necessary, it can cause the rise in college tuition. According to the website “Best Value Schools” it says:

“1970, however, was a turning point in government higher education aid. As the economy and double-digit inflation took hold, college tuition and fees climbed rapidly to match or exceed inflation. Government programs weren’t prepared for the rise in education costs, and the federal grant programs began to shift to subsidized loan programs. With less subsidization from government sources, colleges turned elsewhere to pay for educations: tuition and fees owed by families” (Best Value Schools 7).

Due to the high demand to go to college that the government was not prepared for the government had to cut back on funding for schools, which meant the universities had to charge more. This caused one of the reasons universities had to increase their tuitions.

Ronald Ehrenberg was also quoted in the article “Why Is Tuition So High?” saying, “Virtually everyone who has looked at public higher education and modeled it concludes that the major thing driving up tuition in public higher education is the withdrawal of state support” (Wexler 14). With no government funding, even at the state level, costs can increase and the price of tuition for students looking into public higher education. This does not include the funding for private schools and community colleges. The government may think they are not in control of college tuition, but, really, for public education, they are some of their main funders. Who does the funding for public school lunches or for school supplies? Even at the district level, this funding is what makes schools run. This is one of the sad truths as to why college tuition has increased over the years.

Personally I think how much college has increased in 2017, let alone how much it has increased since, let's say, the 1980s is ridiculous. Teens coming out of high school are encouraged to further their education and go to college, but people do not tell them the sad truth of how much that further education will cost them. If I did not apply or get into Bowling Green State University, I was going to go to Kent State University because of how cheap it was. My number one option for school was Xavier University until I realized how much it actually was to go to school there. Now, I got a $13,000 scholarship there and $5,000 in financial aid; even then my tuition for the year would be about $35,000. Now, it is a private school and those are always more expensive, but I do not understand how students are expected to go to a school they might really like when with a scholarship and financial aid it can still be $35,000 a year. Yes, a student can go to school at a community college or even a public school that is not a community college but there is a chance they may not like that school. Being in a situation like that, let me say, is awful, knowing I was going to go to a school because of its price and not because I liked it. Even a school like Ohio University is not as cheap as a state school. Bowling Green State University and Kent State University are both around $10,000 a year while Ohio University is around $20,000. The price of college can really be discouraging to some people and make them not want to attend at all, because of price.

Former United States First Lady Michelle Obama once said, “With an education, you have everything you need to rise above all the noise and fulfill every last one of your dreams.” Education is the way of the world and it can be the happiness to people and that happiness does not have a price. Education is the one thing that help connect people to other in different countries, who speak different languages and have different cultures. If people are deprived of that right because of the cost of college, that is the real problem. College tuition is rising more and more each year and this is a serious problem this country and many other countries are facing. The price of college has increased over the years since the baby boomers were attending school; because of the popularity of going to college, the more financial aid a student may receive, and the amount of government funding given to the all the universities. Hopefully, in the future, there is a way the people of America and other nations can fix this problem without having any offsets, or maybe we can all even come together as one to help fix this problem.

Sources:

Campos, Paul F. "Opinion | The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much." The New York Times. The New York Times, 04 Apr. 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

"Cleveland State University." Cleveland State University | Engaged Learning. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

Ehrenberg, Ronald G. Tuition Rising: Why College Costs So Much. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 2009. Print.

Gartland, Paul. Personal interview. 16 Apr. 2017.

Jordan, Chris. Personal interview. 18 Apr. 2017.

Matthews, Dylan. "The Tuition Is Too Damn High, Part III - The Three Reasons Tuition Is Rising." The Washington Post. WP Company, 28 Aug. 2013. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

Mitchell, Travis. "See 20 Years of Tuition Growth at National Universities." U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report, 29 July 2015. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

Sanchez, Claudio. "How The Cost Of College Went From Affordable To Sky-High." NPR. NPR, 18 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

"Tri-C Home." Cuyahoga Community College, Tri-C: Cleveland Ohio. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.

"Understanding the Rising Costs of Higher Education." Best Value Schools.Web. 30 Apr. 2017.