Is Higher Education Worth the Bill at the Summit?

Jake Hughes
The Paw Print

Springtime is here, and it’s time to consider our financial woes for the next school year. The mad rush to fill out and finalize scholarship applications for next fall has come and gone, and the worry is over.

The stress of writing cover letters and finding a willing professor to write a recommendation will hopefully come to avail. You’d better hope so, because if you didn’t already know, tuition is set to rise up again next year a huge 16 percent, as if tuition wasn’t already pillaging our pockets. I do believe “great stories begin here,” but only if you can afford it. We live in an area of immense poverty, believe it or not, so the chances of local residents continuing onto further education will surely dwindle. The rise in tuition isn’t because of greedy shareholders wanting to line their pockets, but because of state funding cuts in public institutions. However, over the past four years, ASU tuition has increased a staggering 42 percent.

Yet, ASU still remains the second cheapest four-year university on Colorado. ASU is trying many ways to make higher education affordable—by increasing the amount of loans, grants and scholarships available to students. But is it enough? Can the increase in financial aid combat the constantly growing tuition bill? The national student debt bill recently topped $1 trillion, with the average debt of a single student in 2011 over $26,000. One particular debate keeps popping up in the education world, asking a firm and worrying question. Is higher education worth the bill packet now?

Students are racking up huge bills and then trying to pay them off for the rest of their lives. With the current climate, finding a job after schooling has become a harder task then paying for tuition. Unemployment of the college graduate is slightly higher than the overall rate of unemployment. To me, it’s an unbalanced equation.

If the current situation regarding tuition and student debt in higher education continues to rise like it has done, then without a doubt there will be a national crisis.

With the increase in demand for people with degrees in the workplace something has to give, whether it be more funding, lower tuition or freezing tuition or making degrees more highly credible. Another controversial idea argues that student loans should be harder to receive.

Individuals that choose to go to private institutes should be asked to pay their own way instead of using taxpayer money. Also, certain degrees should receive little or no financial help, like Video Game Technology and more aid should be given for degrees like Math, Science, English, Politics and Education. Whatever the weather, we must find some middle ground to work off of, and improve the current education and funding situation. Schooling is a vital part of our present and future society and it’s becoming increasingly at risk. Higher education should be available to anyone willing to better themselves, their nation and our world.

If you wish to air your voice and opinion, the next two Senate meetings at  ASU are open for students to attend. It would be a shame to miss this opportunity to listen in and comment on important issues at our university, such as the mounting tuition bill.