Over the past number of years, the price of attending higher education has increased drastically. The cost of a college education in the United States has doubled from what it once cost to earn a degree in the late 80's, now averaging around a total $104,480 for four years of study. The sad fact of the matter is that wage growth over the same period (1989 - 2016) has been minimal in comparison, rising on average by only 8.3%. What these figures show us is that the price of education is accelerating at nearly eight times that of wages.
It, therefore, comes as no surprise that America is experiencing a student loan debt crisis. Put simply, students just can't afford the education often needed to secure themselves a financially lucrative career in the future. The skyrocketing fees charged by colleges and universities across the nation are making it progressively harder for able students from less privileged financial backgrounds to attend college at all. This current system is frankly unsustainable and discriminatory.
College's, like everything else in this world, capitalize by using elementary business skills: cost relates to demand, and since the demand for earning a college degree has increased, so have costs. However, unless wages follow in the same suit, a continued problem of affordability versus ability will arise. College is supposed to be about bettering oneself, securing the likelihood for more financial stability in the future or gaining a qualification required for work in a certain field. At present, thousands of individuals attend college to do just that and end up crippled by student debt. This should not be the case.
While it is all well and good to recognize that student loans are a hazardous result of rising education costs, it is also important and necessary to acknowledge that for some this choice just isn't an option and thus begs the question of how else to finance such a hefty sum. Perhaps unintentionally, or perhaps institutionally, the expense of higher education discriminates against marginalized, minority groups of society (Native Americans, youth in care, first-generation immigrants, DACA recipients, etc.) and low-income students. Unsurprisingly, these two demographics often overlap and are thus extremely under-represented on college campuses, not because they are not academically able, but rather because they, like so many others, struggle to pay for, or justify the steep cost of earning a degree.
There are of course various scholarships and grants offered both by universities and the federal government, however, whilst they may help to offset the costs for students entering college from middle income backgrounds, they may not quite provide the same help for lower-income students. It is estimated by NASFAA (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators) that 70% of colleges are unaffordable for students coming from lower-income families, even with the relevant aid and scholarships awarded.
This is not to say though that middle and high income families find college affordable by any means, rising costs and rising costs and their effects are felt everywhere. Although it may be financially less strenuous, fees are still extortionate and can strain a family's budget, especially in the case of middle-income families who frequently earns too much to receive considerable financial aid packages, yet not nearly enough to match the remaining price of college.
The central problem that is becoming strikingly evident is that virtually everyone, regardless of prior financial background, is struggling to fund and later offset the costs of their college education. In a day and age where a college education is considered critical, this is not good enough! This results in thousands of students every year going without the opportunity to earn their degree and go on to fulfill their maximum potential. America's missing out on qualified doctors, lawyers, teachers and scientists, to name but a few, merely because the college system is broken. The inability to better oneself through education is a tragedy: one responsible for continuing the poverty trap and preventing individuals from climbing the socioeconomic ladder. Students are unjustly missing out not because of academic ability but financial stability and this quite frankly is discrimination, whether higher education institutions recognize it as such or not.
