How Much Are You Willing To Pay?

The cost of getting a decent education and job (in the future) is getting worse every year, an issue my colleague has recently recognized in one of her blog posts.  Overall, I think my fellow student, Kiran Azad, is spot-on in her position on the issue.  One of the few parts I disagree with is her claim that “no one actually talks about the actual problem, which is the cost of education.”  I’m no expert, but from experience I can tell that people, especially college students or parents of said students, do talk about the increasing cost of education.  Quite a few people I’ve come across tend to complain about the issue in general, and I don’t think it’s just my acquaintances that have these complaints.

The other disagreement I have is with her notion that “the problems seem to rise and there is no solution.” That’s not a very optimistic outlook on the situation considering she is one of the many people affected by the rising costs.  I can think of a couple of potential solutions off the top of my head.  One solution is that the higher education facilities simply lower their cost.  Another could be a group of people (most likely college students) raising awareness of this issue, potentially getting our elected officials to change how much tax money is given to higher education, allowing the schools to lower student costs.  The latter solution may only make a difference locally, though.

I appreciate the fact that she points out how the cost of education is causing the graduation rate to drop.  Although I imagine that this is correct, it would be more convincing and leave a bigger impact on me if she had provided her statement with some sort of evidence of this lowering graduation rate.  I also agree with her idea that students should chose a community college to get their basic courses out of the way at a cheaper cost, then transfer to a university to graduate.  After all, that’s the path I chose to take. But what will happen to the cost of Community College if everyone starts enrolling there?  If there were a dramatic increase in applicants at a community college, that college would have to hire more professors and make room for the increase in students.  These things cost money, and where are they going to get that money?  Once again, the student is the one penalized.  Unfortunately, this is an issue many are trying to overcome.  Eventually something will change, for better or worse.