The Effects of Rising Cost of Higher Education to Students
The Increasing Gap between the Poor and the Rich*
INTRODUCTION
The aspect of increasing tuition fees in American universities leaves many students struggling with insurmountable levels of debt. The “Ivory Tower” puts this in perspective as it delves in an analytical view of growing worries and critique revolving around rising university costs and student debt. The author of the film, Andrew Rossi, leaves nothing at chance as he strives to trace the origins of rising costs amidst the backdrop of raising financial competition in institutions. He goes further to put forth ideas that will help to turn around the situation. The statistics are stunning and they leave nothing to admire as the film points out how there has been an unprecedented rise of tuition fees year in year out. A 1100 percent tuition rise since 1978 comes to play amidst a 40 percent decline in state funding. The paper explores the corporate model used by the institution where they treat students as customers, and in the event, highlighting the concept of widening gap between the poor and rich on American society.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mulhern, C. Christine, Richard Spies, Matthew Staiger, and Derek Wu. 2015. “The Effects of Rising Student Costs in Higher Education: Evidence from Public Institutions in Virginia.” Retrieved 2018 (http://www.sr.ithaka.org/wp content/uploads/2015/08/SR_Report_Effects_of_Rising_Student_Costs_in_Higher_Education_Virginia_030415.pdf).
Richard Spies and his colleagues are keen to point out how the raising tuition in universities is risk to the nations development in the sense that only few families will manage to take their children in this colleges. Education is of paramount importance since it allows an individual to gain the necessary skills they need out there while seeking for employment. Therefore, it follows that education is a prerequisite of success in American societies. The middle class will find it next to impossible to afford the fees for their children. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
Greenstone, Michael, Adam Looney, Jeremy Patashnlk, and Mudin Yu. n.d. “Thirteen Economic Facts about Social Mobility and the Role of Education.” Retrieved 2018 (https://www.brookings.edu/research/thirteen-economic-facts-about-social-mobility-and-the-role-of-education/).
The authors of the article offer an overview of economic factors that contribute to growing income inequality and how the same affects social mobility in United States. The approach posits that there is a rising gap in educational opportunities between low- and high -income students. The report points out that education is a key determinant in the ability of students from poor background to move the income ladder. The high-income families find it easy to invest in education of their children as opposed to low income families. Since wealthy parents can invest in education of their children, this aspect widens the inequality gap going forward as children from low income families will have limited access to education and in the event, lack the skills they need in job market. The scenario is evident in the widening gap between graduating students from rich and poor families. Federal aid programs are not doing enough to address the issue. In any case, achieving social mobility will not take place in vacuum and more has to be done to ensure increasing college attendance of American children from low income families. The authors engage the US Census Bureau data which reveal that children from well to do families have been experiencing notable gains in family income among other resources.
Quinton, Sophie. 2016. “The High Cost of Higher Education.” The PEW Charitable Trust. Retrieved 2018 (http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2016/01/25/the-high-cost-of-higher-education).
The article does not fall short of putting forth the effect of rising college costs to students across all the States. Middle class families are struggling to pay for their children university fees. The struggle has left students from the cited families with huge debts. It has even become a political issue as the Democrats have made it a campaign agenda by promising voters they will shift the goal posts and make college more affordable. The Democrats seem to emphasize the fact that students do not have to borrow to pay for their university education. The aspect of States anticipating to increase the number of students with higher education by making university affordable notwithstanding, the pressure that comes with high education budgets makes it difficult for them to navigate. There are suggestions to impose tuition freezes, more investment on scholarship programs and further push to have universities work with the existing funding. The authors suggest the need for States to increase their spending on tuition. The approach comes after the observation that States have substantially reduced per-student university spending.
CRITICAL EVALUATION
Education is key to the development of the nation as it facilitates the growth of skilled labor force that takes part in industrial growth, America is no exception. Financing higher education has not been a mean feat for parents from middle-class families. Therefore, students from such backgrounds find themselves looking for support from alternatives ranging from loans, fee waivers and where possible strive to access bursaries, grants, and scholarships. However, it is worth noting how there are limited opportunities for the students to access grants and scholarships owing to factors like the number of students in need among other requirements. This leaves the students with no option but to seek for loans to fund higher education. Students from poor backgrounds are forced to seek admission in institutions of higher learning that offer higher bursary levels to avoid the heavy burden that comes with education loans. No single student can ascertain having wished to use a loan to fund their education but circumstances force them.
Most students from the poor backgrounds may find it unappealing to take up higher education loans for the fear of being implicated in heavy financial burden and as such, they may opt not to attend higher -education. They consider such large debts as unmanageable amidst growing unemployment levels in America. It is instructing to note that those who take up the loans have to take years whenever they land employment in repaying these loans. This means that they will not benefit from their income and they would not be in a position to support their families. Therefore, the students will remain low in economic ladder compared to their peers in well to do families. In any case, children from rich families who are not burned with debts will enter into gainful employment and advance economically faster than their counterparts from the other side of the divide. They will use their income to engage in other income-generating activities as opposed to students from poor backgrounds who have to give a large chunk of their salaries to debt repayment. This means if the two categories of people are exposed to the employment levels the students from poor backgrounds would still lag behind economically. The situation becomes worse when students from poor backgrounds cannot access employment immediately. Such circumstances will make them push the debt repayment in future debt. It is imperative to acknowledge the fact that the loans come at an interest further worsening the situation.
The big picture here is that the aspect of ever-rising tuition in the institutions of higher learning does more harm than good. Students from poor background will continue being exposed to high debts and in the event, making them struggle in repaying the same in a future date. This increases the widening gap between the poor and the rich.
Inequality American society has been marked by a rising trajectory and this is not going to be any better going forward. Students from poor backgrounds are disadvantaged by the current system where universities keep on increasing tuition fees to advance facilities and other resources that make them competitive in the market. The model only works in favor of students from rich backgrounds. An increase in tuition fees amounts to an increase in the level of debts to students from poor backgrounds.
The three articles emphasize the above observation in the sense that the authors delve into understanding how high tuition in universities has led to high inequalities in American society. Mulhern, et al in his case is quick to highlight how raising tuition fees disadvantage students from middle-class families. They have to struggle to make it happen and the students have to accumulate debts to clear with higher education. Greenstone, et al captures access to higher education as one of the factors that have contributed immensely to economic disparities in America. Poor families are cited to struggle with the whole idea of tuition keeps on rising. Quinton emphasizes the same point as he observes how raising tuition has stood on the way of middle-class families in their endeavor to offer their children quality education. Therefore, the three articles agree that the aspect of increasing tuition is an impediment to economic equality in America.
CONNECTION TO COURSE CONTENT
The “Ivory Tower” analysis of rising tuition places forth the aspect of conflict theory as advanced by Karl Marx. There seems to be existence of conflict of interest between the poor and the rich in the sense that the rich have taken control of the available resources at the expense of the poor. The scenario has created conflict between the two groups and in the event, induced social change. There seem to exist an ideological coercion geared towards creating consensus. The approach takes shape through the rich coming up with the idea of availing education loans to students from poor families. The loans have done more harm than good as they tend to make students from poor families go back to the poverty cycles. The colleges increase tuition year in, year out and avail loans for the poor to fund the same. Education help people to rise the social ladder and when the poor reacted to have the same opportunity to access higher education, loans were availed to them. This was meant to bring the implication that the poor have been brought at per with the rich. However, such a move serves to maintain capitalism system and as such the conflict keeps on repeating itself since students from poor backgrounds remain highly indebted.
CONCLUSION
The writing is on the wall and “Ivory Tower” leaves nothing at the chance as it explores this hotly contested issue. The issue of raising tuition has been here with us since time immemorial. America prides itself on having a common dream. However, this sounds far from reality as it is evident how some groups are at disadvantage and yet they are living in the same nation. Addressing inequality calls for a multifaceted and collaborative approach and as such, stakeholder has come out strongly to address the impending issues. Education is one such approach that will help close the gap, but the way things are currently is something to worry. The Federal and State governments have to come up with a better approach to ensuring equal opportunity for children from both poor and rich families if at all, attaining equality is anything to go by. It is imperative to acknowledge the fact that this cannot happen in a single day, but rather a continues reevaluation of the existing gaps will get us there.
References
Greenstone, Michael, Adam Looney, Jeremy Patashnlk, and Mudin Yu. 2013. “Thirteen Economic Facts about Social Mobility and the Role of Education.” Retrieved 2018 (https://www.brookings.edu/research/thirteen-economic-facts-about-social-mobility-and-the-role-of-education/).
Mulhern, C. Christine, Richard Spies, Matthew Staiger, and Derek Wu. 2015. “The Effects of Rising Student Costs in Higher Education: Evidence from Public Institutions in Virginia.” Retrieved 2018 (http://www.sr.ithaka.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/SR_Report_Effects_of_Rising_Student_Costs_in_Higher_Education_Virginia_030415.pdf).
Quinton, Sophie. 2016. “The High Cost of Higher Education.” The PEW Charitable Trust. Retrieved 2018 (http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2016/01/25/the-high-cost-of-higher-education).