How Universities Can Make Education More Affordable

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

The higher education system needs to change.

You have probably heard or read that line one too many times before.

But how does it need to change? And to what?

• Fewer institutions? Possibly.
• New ways of teaching and learning? Often the case.
• Different courses? Probably.

Those are all great potential problems for the system to address. However, one that is only getting bigger and bigger, and even more so now with the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, is the increase in tuition fees.

In the last 20 years the average tuition fees for each year have increased significantly in the US:

Source: Ally Sorrells for U.S. News & World Report

And student loans have followed suit.

Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US)

It only takes a few clicks to learn of a new round of layoffs due to COVID-19 (the most recent being American Airlines and United Airlines announcing 32.000 lay-offs). Surely, the economy will ultimately get…