College Tuition
Sydney Loveless
Imagine a college where you paid nothing to get a degree. Well unfortunately, to experience this, you would have to travel back to the 1100s. In 1870, Harvard tuition only cost $150 per year. In 1973, the average cost per year was $2,175. Since then the average cost to go to college is 15 times higher than what it was. Now, the average cost for a student to go to a public college is $33,300. Private colleges? That costs about $119,400 on average. The question is, why does college cost so much?
Some of the biggest reasons why college costs so much is because of the dorms, dining halls, classrooms, and professional-grade athletic facilities. In years where college was less expensive, dorms contained a desk, a closet and a bed. All one room. In current times, many dorms have a living room, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. On top of that, almost all colleges invest in their technological structures which include computer-aided drafting software, substantial workstations that run advanced calculations and wifi for the students to use for their studies. They will also hire staff to install and maintain these technological upgrades. In addition to these costs, food contributes to the expense of tuition. Many colleges now offer fresh produce and vegetarian or vegan options for students which cost a lot more than the pizza or burgers that was served in years before 2000. Tuition money is also used to update things like classrooms and athletic facilities. All of these improvements cost large amounts of money, therefore tuition must cost a large amount too.
Every college has to pay the staff and workers fair wages. Staff members can include professors, counselors, campus security, marketing staff, deans, and career service workers, who all get paid different amounts. While some colleges have switched to part time professors, which cost less and don’t require health care coverage or most benefits, students worry about the effect this may have on the quality of their education. And since they are paying so much, students will expect quality experiences, services, and education Another big issue that influences tuition is state funding or how much the state gives to a college to keep it running, which quite honestly, is not enough. Since late 2007 to 2008, public funding is $10 billion below what it was in previous years. To cover these cuts, colleges either cut the faculty or raise the tuition.
While technology has been said to help education, many are pointing out that its not improving anything. It is just more expensive to teach the same amount of people. This has led to the recommendation of low-cost online education. One program that offers this is the Massive Open Online Courses. These courses run about 4–12 weeks and again, these courses cost a lot less than college and some are free. In addition, the following timeline proves that as colleges technologically advance, tuition raises.
College Tuition Timeline:
1100–1200: In Medieval Europe, the first universities are established and they were free to attend. They were mainly supported by the government and the church but since they were free of tuition, there were limitations to the fields of study. These studies include law, medicine, theology, and arts. A bachelors degree took about 6 years to complete but any higher degree than that would be 12 years of study.
1796: Thomas Jefferson suggested an education assisted by taxes. Jefferson wanted a working society a believed the only way to achieve that was to educate people. This led to the government letting Jefferson start the University of Virginia with a $15,000 grant.
1810: Most colleges have very low or free tuition but only wealthy people could afford the living expenses such as room, books, and clothing. To keep the tuition low, colleges only provided the bare minimum for student like cheap flavorless food and bunk beds.
1870: Harvard’s tuition is only $150 however, in today’s money, that is about 3,000 dollars so lower class families would not be able to afford this without a scholarship.
1920: College admissions rise significantly between 1920–1930 and tuition was still pretty low. Students could go to Wharton Business School for only $250 a year.
1944: The G.I. Bill is passes by the government. This helps veterans go to college for free or a low cost. A total of 7.8 million veterans used this to get an education or complete a training program.
1965: The Higher Education act provided some financial assistance for those who couldn’t afford all of the college expenses. This led to many financial aid programs that are still being used today.
1973: In today’s dollars, the average cost of tuition at an in state public school costs only $2,175. Still, only 49% of high school graduates go to college and even then grants cover 80% of associated costs. Now, 67% of high school graduates move on to college so there is less money to be given out. That is why only 39% is cover nowadays.
1975: Inflation begins and college tuition increases faster that it. Since the 1970s, tuition has risen 5–6% above inflation per year.
1987: Public school tuition costs around $2,700. In the last 5 years, tuition had a 44% rate change.
1997: College debt starts to influence many adults who are wanting to get married or have children. They delay big life decisions so they have enough money to support them.
2005: Many students start to rely on students loans and when they get out of college most of them can’t find a stable job to pay them off.
2007: George Washington University becomes the first college to raise tuition to over $50,000 a year.
2008: Since 1982, tuition fees have risen 439% and income has only risen a mere 147%. It is also known that student borrowing has doubled since 1998.
2011: For the very first time, colleges took in more money from tuition then from state funding. Since budget cuts have left many colleges out to dry, they have compensated by raising tuition.
2012: The average cost for a student to attend an in state college is $33,300. Even scarier, if tuition continues to rise the way it is right now, students by 2028 can expect to pay $95,000.
So will colleges keep increasing their tuition? What happens when only wealthy people will be able to attend college? Only time will tell.
http://dormstormer.com/average-dorm-room-size/
https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/funding-down-tuition-up
https://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/a-timeline-of-college-tuition/
