The rise of tuition and debt in the US

The rise of tuition and debt in the US

          College is not an end-all solution to moving into the future. College is not an absolute necessity for getting into the job market, as many might claim. College is for those who generally know what they want to pursue or have the means to do so. When once upon a time, colleges were an elite achievement, they are now the norm for many families. In the time that our parents and their parents were being raised, college was something to strive for, and it wasn't a bank-breaker. That expectation has been passed down to our generation, generation Z. It was a consistently growing problem that went unnoticed by the people among the older generations they didn't need to pay for college they'd already done it after all. They paid whatever tuition was and it should be nearly the same now, right? The tuition should pace with inflation, after all... Right? Unfortunately, that's not nearly the case. That hasn't been the case for the past 40 years.
          According to Sandy Baum, author of "How Students Pay For College", "The average published tuition and fee price for a year at a four-year public college is almost four and a half times as high in 2017-18, after adjusting for inflation, as it was in 1967-68." To some, that's certainly not surprising. As the government handed out more and more money while demand for education skyrocketed, schools became capable of charging ludicrous sums because it was deemed necessary to attend. Unfortunately for us, that means attending at any cost. However, Baum states in the abstract of her article, "median family income rose only 50 percent over 50 years, after adjusting for inflation." A fifty percent wage increase to try to match a four-hundred percent increase in price. That's not to say the whole system is broken, really.
          In fact, within the same article, Baum also states that "average grants and tax benefits covered almost 60 percent of tuition and fees at public and private nonprofit four-year colleges and universities." However, it's not sustainable going at the rate it is. In the article "Why Is College Tuition Rising So Much? And What Can You Do?" Mary Bromley estimates that in 18 years "A four-year, in-state school will see an increase from $39,400 to $94,000 and two-year community and private institutions will rise from $77,400 to $186,400 for that degree." As somebody who may have kids within that span of time, that's frightening to think of. It's already become a sort of trend among students, current and within the last ten or so years, to lament over the sheer scale of the debt they must take on to pursue a higher education.
          From around the age of seven, it was a frequent point in conversations with my dad that I "get smart and get a real job." Often implying that something like, say, fast food positions or janitorial work just aren't real jobs, which is demeaning and frustrating to not just the workers but to the "me" in the future. Those are entry position jobs, jobs that many people must take in order to get by sometimes. Without those jobs, things wouldn't run nearly as smoothly as they do now.
          I'm sure many know the feeling, really. My peers and even millennials above us can relate with the often-repeated "advice" to just "pull up your bootstraps, get a job, and pay for college." It's just not nearly that simple anymore, and I doubt it ever will be that simple in the US again without some major changes to the system as it is.
          The world is moving forward at a nearly unprecedented pace, and it keeps getting faster. Technology develops, things are discovered, and values change but right now, the same kind of people who can barely operate a computer oversee government, oversee schools. The kind of people who still define college as a "100% necessary experience no matter your degree" are the kind of people many of us were raised around and the people that perpetuate the crisis surrounding our debt.
          There are certainly alternatives to college, and many if not nearly all of them are viable in one way or another depending on the person. One such alternative is tech or vocational school. While a form of higher education, it doesn't quite go the way of traditional university and instead to more "hands-on" careers. It's also significantly cheaper, generally going upwards of $40,000 as opposed to the $77,000 cost of attending a private university for two years. As a personal anecdote, a good friend of mine began attending a nail tech school in order to work in his family's nail business. His cost of attendance was around $3,000 in order to become certified to work with nails and all the associated procedures. A great cost-effective alternative that helped him to continue on with the family business.
          Continuing with the tech school route, two of my other good friends went into non-academic mechanical fields. One is a diesel mechanic, and the other a machinist who creates parts for planes. In addition to the already substantially lower cost, some employers offer to match tuition, to a point, for their younger workers in order to incentivize an education and keep them within the company. Luckily, that's not exclusive to tech schools, it just helps to mitigate a cost that's already far from a traditional university.
          A second example is my grandfather. He never attended college and often worked odd-jobs and hard jobs that others didn't want to do. He picked up trucking at some point, he would travel with the railroad, much of this within the last twenty years. Those jobs require little to no education, some on the job training, and can get a decent salary. The average salary for a trucker in a private fleet, for example, sits around $73,000. In addition, since many employers require truckers to constantly work, with the older workforce cycling into retirement, there are bonuses being offered up-front in order to incentivize those who are willing to drive the long hours and away from home.


         

Works Cited

         

Baum, Sandy. "How Students Pay for College." Change, vol. 50, no. 3, 2018, pp. 135. ProQuest, http://login.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy1.l...

         

Bromley, Mary. "Why Is College Tuition Rising So Much? And What Can You Do?" Cornerstone University, 5 Mar. 2018, https://www.cornerstone.edu/blogs/lifelong-learning-matters/post/why-is-college-...