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College Prices Rising Exponentially
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has said “The cost of college education today is so high that many young people are giving up their dream of going to college, while many others are graduating deeply in debt.”(Sanders) College is a way for students to further their education, giving them more job opportunities and have an ability to have a prolific role in society. However with the current tuition costs and unemployment, many individuals are unsure of their future. In the past years, a college education was not considered very important because there was an increase in many unskilled jobs. However with the new technology and fewer job openings, someone with a college degree is more preferable to companies who seek new employees. On average, someone who has a basic college degree earns over l million dollars more over their lifetime than someone who has a high school diploma only. College is fundamental in today’s society, but how should it be valued if only the wealthy can afford it?
A college degree opens up many opportunities for an individual. Many people are concerned due to the fact that the housing market and the automobile market have remained steady, however, the college prices have grown exponentially. For example, if the automobile market prices grew at the rate that college tuition has, the average car would cost over 80,000 dollars. This disproportional growth of college prices began in the 1970’s. This was caused by an oil embargo and faulting economy. At that point, college prices were growing as fast or faster than the inflation rate, which was in the double-digits at the time. Federal loans were slowly replaced by private loans, heavily subsidized by the government. As the income dropped, loans began to increase in value. However, due to this, public investment in higher education dropped, which is a significant reason why college prices have gone up.
Some people think that college should be entirely free. In many European countries like Sweden, Norway, Germany, and many more college is already free. The problem with them is the tax wedge is very high. The tax wedge is how much percentage of your income goes into taxes. As of 2014, the tax wedge in the United States was 31.5 percent. The tax wedges in countries that have free college are as high as 42.5, 43.9, and even 49.3 percent. Though the only factor of taxes is not just the free college, it raises the taxes substantially, making free college impractical in the United States.
One practical solution for this growing problem would be to raise the income tax wedge by 3 percent. This would produce roughly 400 billion dollars per year. This money would be used to further fund public colleges, bringing the prices down to a lower cost, while also not raising the income tax too much. Due to this lower cost of public universities, private universities will be forced to lower their costs or else they won’t generate enough money to continue. Also, a committee will be formed in colleges to work out inefficient use of money throughout all areas of the college, where and how money generated through tuition, government funding, and other sources will be spent, how much money will go into scholarships, and other issues. To help save money,the committee will be comprised of professors and staff members throughout the college. The individuals who are part of this committee will get benefits such as salary raises.
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College is a very important part of anybody’s life. However, colleges prices are extremely high. The most probable cause for this may have been an oil embargo and a failing economy. Other countries such as Sweden have free college however the income tax is substantially higher. A possible solution for this is to raise the income tax wedge by about 3 percent and create committees to help spend money more efficiently. American actress Jane Fonda One said “Our youth deserve the opportunity to complete their high school and college education, free of early parenthood.
Their future children deserve the opportunity to grow up in financially and emotionally stable homes. Our communities benefit from healthy, productive, well-prepared young people.”(Fonda). College is an essential parts of one’s life, which is why it should be affordable to all.
Works Cited
- Sanders, Bernie. “Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote.” BrainyQuote.
- Xplore, n.d. Web. 29 May 2016.
- Fonda, Jane. “Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote.” BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 29 May 2016.
