College Riches
As the years progress, so does our expenses for college; but how much is too much? This map shows a percentage of increase in tuition fees and expenses for college over a 10 year span. States that are blue have almost, if not more, doubled the amount that college originally costed.
What is interesting is how many states increased by more than 50%. Hawaii increased by 138%, originally costing $4,267 in 2004, and in 2015 costing $10,175. What is interesting and developing into a real problem is the change from 2015–2020. College has become a landmark and goal in young adults and children’s future plans. The biggest question with these stats is: if college tuition is already too expensive, how much more are we going to raise prices until only select few can actually attend?
The Case of Michigan
With the current rise in tuition, MASU discovered Michigan schools suffered from decline in enrollment. The biggest outlier of the group of schools is Central Michigan University. CMU has lost over 10% in the past year, leaving the question, how do they increase enrollment, and where are the students going?
There are many different factors that effect the decline in enrollment. CMU has been referred to as “a party school” for over 40 years; however, in recent times CMU has put a lock down on partying and Shenanigans. This shouldn’t change people’s decisions too much, but for some that only want to party in college, it does make a difference.
Other reasons include specialization in specific departments. CMU is known for their education, BCA, and communications departments and with the current switch in job markets in coding, tech, and health, CMU could lose potential students.
The last significant reason in change to CMU’s enrollment, is the location. Winters have been harsh recently in Michigan and with the lack of interest in Mt. Pleasant we see a lack of desire or reason to stay. With big populated cities being the spotlight, it’s hard to convince students to come to a state with no physical landmarks or uniqueness.
