Nothing in the world has been as expensive as it is now, and this very much includes college tuition costs. Whether you are going to a public university, private university or even a community college, the cost of attending these schools have risen substantially, and are continuing to rise. Per Bestcolleges.com, four year college tuition prices have risen about 57% in the last 20 years, and two year college tuition prices have risen about 49% over the last 20 years. College tuition prices are way too high and change needs to be made to allow for equitable opportunities.
College tuition is an issue that has affected students for years, and is something that has made life after college very difficult. People that attend colleges end up being in debt for years. Per Ramseysolutions.com, most people remain in debt for 10-20 years, and sometimes this can take even longer. This makes other expenses more difficult, including potential mortgages, insurances, etc. It costs way too much money to go to college and affects the structure of peoples lives in a negative way going forward after school.
Another problem that comes with higher tuition costs is it creates an imbalance of people that are able to attend college. If tuition costs are so high, many people are unable to afford to attend college as they are unable to pay for it. This means colleges are being filled with people who come from higher income families or areas. Scholarships definitely can help with this issue, and it is absolutely possible to achieve scholarships, but for people who come from lower income areas and who are less fortunate, they generally have less opportunities and this makes it very difficult to even get scholarship opportunities.
Another issue that comes from higher tuition costs is it can affect the career path that a person goes down. College tuition prices being so high can affect career choices in two ways. One of these ways is that people are more discouraged to go into lower paying jobs. People are seeing less value in going into certain fields, such as education, because they will have to pay a lot of money to go into a field where they will be underpaid for their work. There is a teacher shortage already and it is going to continue to get worse. The education field is simply an example of a very large issue.
The other way that higher tuition costs affect career choices is that people are more discouraged to go into jobs where they will have to be in school for longer. Getting a graduate degree or a doctorate is becoming more difficult as it costs so much money to go through that many years of college. Most people do not want to have to pay off student debt for more than four years of college.
An increase in college tuition is an issue that is negatively affecting all people that plan on going to college or that are already in college. This issue is genuinely affecting people’s futures and their life planning. Attending college is still worth the cost;by going to college you open the doors to more opportunities in the future, and college is a huge investment that will pay off for the rest of your life. However, people in government need to address the issue of rising prices, as lowering them would give better opportunities to all people, and the United States would be much more equal.