Fieruz Jabir
Mrs. Abbadessa
English 105
18 December 2014
Higher Education Crisis
With their prices quickly rising and their quality slowly declining, higher education institutions in America are failing to meet the needs of American youth. These establishments are clearly overpriced and are putting the upcoming generation, fresh out of high school, into crippling debt. College is necessary in order to obtain a stable job; however, for the first time in American history, Americans are starting to wonder if this investment is even worth the money it is charging. The unbelievably high prices of colleges today are causing the college search for high school juniors and seniors to be a stressful process, which the majority of scholarly faculties from many well-known colleges fail to see as a major problem. The higher education institutes are not only charging too much money, but are also failing to provide consistent faculty which focus too much on research instead of educating students. The very serious higher education crisis in the United States must be taken care of as soon as possible because one must not forget that the education of the America is the future of America itself.
Originally, higher education became more available to the community in the 1900’s and the tuition began to increase sharply in the 1980’s. Throughout history, post-secondary education has always been viewed as a fruitful investment; however the rising tuition of many colleges and universities is causing people to question the worth of a college degree. Although this issue must be addressed immediately by Americans, the majority of them are completely disregarding it. “What has struck us is how many issues are off the table, as if there are placards saying, "Not Open for Discussion."” (Hacker and Dreifus). Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, authors of Higher Education?, explain the static approach that knowledgeable college faculty are taking towards the higher education crisis. This attitude will surely do nothing to improve the educational system for the youth of the twenty first century.
Similar to Higher Education?, a book titled Academically Adrift, published in 2011 by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, was written about the current state of the higher education system(qtd. in Carey). This book shocked the reading public with the truth behind American education. “… none of their findings of "limited or no learning" among many undergraduates should have surprised. Researchers had already documented how students were devoting fewer hours to coursework than in decades past, even as typical grade-point averages rose” (Carey). In this argument, Carey explains that because the statistics and facts about higher education are out in the public, the book Academically Adrift should not have been surprising to anyone. The reaction this book received from the public reemphasizes how overlooked this topic is in modern day America. The college debt issue and declining quality of colleges is more serious than most people think and must be addressed, especially by the higher education community.
The cost of colleges is arguably of greatest concern and there isn't much help offered to the students. Students, lawmakers, and even the president of the United States recognize this as a serious issue but nothing is being done about it. The miniscule amount of money saved through financial aid is compared to a car salesman deal by Andrew Hacker. “If Wesleyan lops $4,000 off its $43,404 tuition this year, it is giving a discount like the one a car salesman takes off the so-called sticker price” (Hacker and Dreifus). The insufficient amount of financial assistance students receive composes the majority of the cause behind higher education crisis. The future of America is in jeopardy as a result of the educational system and must be re-adjusted to provide the youth with an affordable education.
The system of higher education in the United States is not the valuable investment it used to because of many reasons including the high tuition costs. The simple answer to why these colleges and universities are raising their prices is frankly because “they can and they want to” (Carey). Private colleges, especially, continue to raise their tuition rates and remain unconcerned as to what families must go through to pay such high prices. There is in fact much corruption and unfairness in the system of higher education, not only with tuition but with the distribution of money. According to Hacker and Claudia, there are 31 university presidents who receive over one million dollars a year (Hacker and Claudia). It is clearly immoral and improper for University presidents to be receiving such a luxurious salary while most of the students graduating from their University are drowning in debt.
Although the high cost and low quality of higher education institutions resulted in a crisis, neglecting the issues will only worsen the case. Denied by many scholarly figures as valid, this crisis will not come to an end until the higher educated community admits that there is in fact an issue. The few that do believe there is a problem think that it has been an issue for too long for it to be addressed and taken care of. What will the public going to do if the President of the Council of Independent Colleges, himself, believes that the statement “Colleges have not reduced costs” is a myth (Eckman)? It is a fact that most colleges have raised their prices over the years; however, when important seeming people, like the president of the CIC, deny that there is a problem, it turns a blind eye to a serious situation. According to Education Weekly “The quasi-entitlement program, which is funded through both discretionary and mandatory spending, was stretched thin during the recession because of the number of people going back to earn degrees. At one point, it faced a shortfall of $13 billion”(Camera). This simple basic legal fact shows just how little help students are receiving with regards to their education and further disproves the president of the CIC’s claim.
Despite common belief, the crisis cannot be blamed on one person alone . The legislatures, college faculty, and even the presidents of the colleges have all had a part in causing this urgent problem. Not only have they made it difficult for a student to graduate debt free, but most colleges are heading down the wrong road when it comes to educating the youth of America. Kevin Carey believes that many of the professors are unschooled in teaching and are not held accountable for educating students (Carey). Likewise, authors Hacker and Dreifus believe that research is not appropriate when it is done to “bulk up resumes” and takes away from educating the students (Hacker and Dreifus). Professors which are unskilled and too much research instead of learning are just two causes of the higher education crisis. As mentioned before, colleges are throwing students into crippling debt, but the worst part is they cannot even provide sufficient faculty. According to Hacker and Driefus, just under 90 percent of college mathematics classes are taught by untenured or non-track faculty (Hacker and Dreifus). Colleges must take steps before other parties intervene because that may bring conflict and controversy.
Causes for the inaction of higher education professionals have been proposed by the author Kevin Carey. Because of the way that colleges are set up, he recognized that they are mostly run by older people far into their career. He strongly believes that because colleges are run by people that are about to their career they don’t see the need to reform a system that has been implemented for quite some time (Carey). Another idea is that after a person spends time at a college, they develop a love and sense of loyalty for their college community. Although this may sound positive, it may lead to an inability to criticize one’s self or in this case, one’s college or university (Carey). There are many causes that have led to the higher education crisis in the United States which has had dire effects on the youth of America.
To drown in debt or to abandon their dreams, students fresh out of high school are forced to make difficult life changing decisions. The higher education crisis in the United States has had various negative effects on the youth. If students choose to attend a prestigious school, they and their parents are forced to pay unreal amounts for a decent education (Pant). Although scholarships and financial aid are offered to students, the tuition of colleges and universities are causing the majority of the youth to borrow money in order to complete their education. The simple fact that student debt has hit the trillion dollar mark only substantiates the seriousness of this problem, and proves furthermore that it must be addressed (Pant). According to Ms. Sun, founder and managing partner of Sun Group Wealth Partners,
As a financial planner as well as a parent, the issue of the inaccessibility of a college degree really troubled me. In our nation, student debt has swelled to the $1 trillion dollar mark, eclipsing both credit card and auto loan debt. Conversely, state funding for higher education has reached its lowest point in 25 years in 2011.* This 'perfect storm' means many hard-working families face financial ruin or bankruptcy if they choose to educate themselves and their children.
One of the many distressed parents, Ms. Sun is able to understand the college debt issue and perceive its effects. The college student loan debt is a dire issue which, the youth of America are currently experiencing.
Many students will work hard to make ends meet while in college but some are unable to even attend. The sticker prices on colleges is causing people to ask a dangerous question: “is college even worth it?”. Education is an investment in the future and if America is unable to invest in its future then some serious effects will take place. The expensive prices and low quality of higher educational institutes are causing many disadvantaged students to abandon their dream. America the land of opportunity is a lost idea for many of these students. Oftentimes the students will drop out of school as a result of financial problems or the quality of the education. There are large dropout rates in colleges and universities all across America which reflects the lack of regular proper professors and an abundance of professors that have no skill in teaching introductory courses. Kevin Carey summarized what higher education has come to after all the price increases and corruption. “Higher education has been plucked from its pedestal and set down among all of the other financially self-interested industries of which buyers should be wary.” In this quote he explains how higher education has turned into nothing more than a money making business.
These numerous far reaching effects are met by a silence from the scholarly community. Instead of this issue being addressed and worked on it is being completely overlooked and ignored. When the topic arises the majority of the people simply say they don’t think there is a problem. What writers Hackers and Dreifus have discovered after receiving feedback on their book Higher Education, is that although some people admit there is a problem with higher education in America, they also believe that it’s been this way for way too long for it to be changed. The ineffectiveness of this way of thinking is a serious issue that Higher Education? points out, and despite this issue being publicized higher educational institutes don’t make an effort to make a change. The attitude of the higher education professionals towards their institution’s problems raises a red flag of danger and must be taken care of.
Resulting from the criticism they received, some higher education workers and experts concocted irrelevant arguments. The president of The Council for Independent Colleges attempted to justify the acts of higher educational institutes in a speech he delivered.
With the exception of the Vietnam era, the United States has been spared the kind of social upheaval led by young people that many countries in Europe and the Middle East have experienced in the past. These social scientists argue that a comparatively large percentage of America’s adolescents have been in college, rather than on the barricades in France in the 1780s, Germany in the 1840s, Russia in the 1910s, or in Eastern Europe in both the 1960s and the 1980s.
While trying to validate the prices of the education, he states that they have done a good job of keeping people off the streets and from barbaric riots that have taken place in the Middle East and in Europe (Ekman). However anybody that has studied the least bit of history would understand that there are more factors that play a part the peace and political state of a country than simply good colleges. If anything, the factors surrounding American colleges like a peaceful and civilized nation, gives them no excuse to be so out of shape. This argument that he presents does not vindicate the debt colleges are throwing students into. During his speech, the President of the CIC deviates from the original topic he was meant to address and begins to speak on why college and education is good. Everyone knows that colleges are good but that is not the question at hand(Ekman). The real question is why are they so overpriced and is paying all that money really worth it.
Although there is a great crisis at hand and it has had terrible effects, the American people still have the time and resources to reform and change the higher education system of the United States. An idea was proposed by Sun Group Wealth Partners to make education more available and affordable through large corporations (Sun). They launched a Campaign for Next Generation which was made in response to the excessively large student debt crisis. Ms. Sun the founder of Sun Group Wealth Partners believes that the simplest and most efficient solution to the student debt crisis is to have the nation’s largest employers set up higher education plans to assist workers that would like to earn a degree(Sun). This thought process is extremely rewarding to the American nation and will help the people cross off one more issue on the nations to do list. Other than investing in America’s future, companies should help fund student education in order to gain hardworking employees and overall have a more productive workforce. This simple idea presented by a wealth management firm may be great way to help reform the higher education system of the United States(Sun).
Similar to the campaign launched by the Sun Group Wealth Partners, Roger Williams University launched a program to address student debt crisis (Sun and Cost). The initiative this college is taking is yet another way in which Americans can reform their higher educational system. Roger Williams University calls their campaign Affordable Excellence and its objective is to provide quality education at a low cost (Cost). If the universities and colleges of the nation follow in the footsteps of Roger Williams University the higher education system will be hopefully reconstructed. Everyone in America must take the genuine advice of Dr.Farish, The president of Roger Williams University, when he explains the dire state of the matter. “While our natural inclination may be to go into hibernation and wait for the storm to pass, doing so would only prolong the inevitable – we need sustainable solutions, and we need them quickly"(Cost). He also believes that there should be open discussion and conferences in order to resolve the higher education crisis (Cost). This is an example of a solution that can be used to solve the higher education crisis and this method can be adopted by many different colleges and universities.
Apart from the initiatives taken by colleges and universities, the congress of the United States of America will be faced with a variety of different issues and will have to overcome a good amount of obstacles before they can re-enable The Higher Education Act which will aid significantly in the student debt crisis (Camera). Although the student debt crisis may seem hopeless, congress is proposing plans to reform federal aid, so despite the dreadful state of the system currently, all hope is not lost (Camera). A point that needs to be addressed however, that is, although congress continues to propose ideas and come up with ways to help the student ;debt crisis, the American people need action because unfortunately coming up with ideas and plans won’t benefit anyone until they are enforced. If all else fails, hopefully people realize that what colleges are charging for a degree is unreasonable, but until then there must be laws implemented in order to reform the higher education system of the United States.
The serious higher education crisis in the United States will have serious long term effects on the youth of the 21st century. There are many causes and components to the issue. Rising college tuition, increasing quality, and disregard of the problem are all putting American youth at risk. The effects are evident throughout the young population, which may include a dropout rate and debt that has reached the one trillion dollar mark (Pant). There are some solutions that have been proposed by different businesses and colleges; however congress must make laws to help out the student debt crisis (Sun). Although congress has lengthy plans and many bills to aid students, nothing will occur unless they are passed and implemented (Camera). Higher education in America must be reformed as soon as possible in order to provide the next generation with an affordable and reputable education.
Mrs. Abbadessa
English 105
18 December 2014
Higher Education Crisis
With their prices quickly rising and their quality slowly declining, higher education institutions in America are failing to meet the needs of American youth. These establishments are clearly overpriced and are putting the upcoming generation, fresh out of high school, into crippling debt. College is necessary in order to obtain a stable job; however, for the first time in American history, Americans are starting to wonder if this investment is even worth the money it is charging. The unbelievably high prices of colleges today are causing the college search for high school juniors and seniors to be a stressful process, which the majority of scholarly faculties from many well-known colleges fail to see as a major problem. The higher education institutes are not only charging too much money, but are also failing to provide consistent faculty which focus too much on research instead of educating students. The very serious higher education crisis in the United States must be taken care of as soon as possible because one must not forget that the education of the America is the future of America itself.
Originally, higher education became more available to the community in the 1900’s and the tuition began to increase sharply in the 1980’s. Throughout history, post-secondary education has always been viewed as a fruitful investment; however the rising tuition of many colleges and universities is causing people to question the worth of a college degree. Although this issue must be addressed immediately by Americans, the majority of them are completely disregarding it. “What has struck us is how many issues are off the table, as if there are placards saying, "Not Open for Discussion."” (Hacker and Dreifus). Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, authors of Higher Education?, explain the static approach that knowledgeable college faculty are taking towards the higher education crisis. This attitude will surely do nothing to improve the educational system for the youth of the twenty first century.
Similar to Higher Education?, a book titled Academically Adrift, published in 2011 by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, was written about the current state of the higher education system(qtd. in Carey). This book shocked the reading public with the truth behind American education. “… none of their findings of "limited or no learning" among many undergraduates should have surprised. Researchers had already documented how students were devoting fewer hours to coursework than in decades past, even as typical grade-point averages rose” (Carey). In this argument, Carey explains that because the statistics and facts about higher education are out in the public, the book Academically Adrift should not have been surprising to anyone. The reaction this book received from the public reemphasizes how overlooked this topic is in modern day America. The college debt issue and declining quality of colleges is more serious than most people think and must be addressed, especially by the higher education community.
The cost of colleges is arguably of greatest concern and there isn't much help offered to the students. Students, lawmakers, and even the president of the United States recognize this as a serious issue but nothing is being done about it. The miniscule amount of money saved through financial aid is compared to a car salesman deal by Andrew Hacker. “If Wesleyan lops $4,000 off its $43,404 tuition this year, it is giving a discount like the one a car salesman takes off the so-called sticker price” (Hacker and Dreifus). The insufficient amount of financial assistance students receive composes the majority of the cause behind higher education crisis. The future of America is in jeopardy as a result of the educational system and must be re-adjusted to provide the youth with an affordable education.
The system of higher education in the United States is not the valuable investment it used to because of many reasons including the high tuition costs. The simple answer to why these colleges and universities are raising their prices is frankly because “they can and they want to” (Carey). Private colleges, especially, continue to raise their tuition rates and remain unconcerned as to what families must go through to pay such high prices. There is in fact much corruption and unfairness in the system of higher education, not only with tuition but with the distribution of money. According to Hacker and Claudia, there are 31 university presidents who receive over one million dollars a year (Hacker and Claudia). It is clearly immoral and improper for University presidents to be receiving such a luxurious salary while most of the students graduating from their University are drowning in debt.
Although the high cost and low quality of higher education institutions resulted in a crisis, neglecting the issues will only worsen the case. Denied by many scholarly figures as valid, this crisis will not come to an end until the higher educated community admits that there is in fact an issue. The few that do believe there is a problem think that it has been an issue for too long for it to be addressed and taken care of. What will the public going to do if the President of the Council of Independent Colleges, himself, believes that the statement “Colleges have not reduced costs” is a myth (Eckman)? It is a fact that most colleges have raised their prices over the years; however, when important seeming people, like the president of the CIC, deny that there is a problem, it turns a blind eye to a serious situation. According to Education Weekly “The quasi-entitlement program, which is funded through both discretionary and mandatory spending, was stretched thin during the recession because of the number of people going back to earn degrees. At one point, it faced a shortfall of $13 billion”(Camera). This simple basic legal fact shows just how little help students are receiving with regards to their education and further disproves the president of the CIC’s claim.
Despite common belief, the crisis cannot be blamed on one person alone . The legislatures, college faculty, and even the presidents of the colleges have all had a part in causing this urgent problem. Not only have they made it difficult for a student to graduate debt free, but most colleges are heading down the wrong road when it comes to educating the youth of America. Kevin Carey believes that many of the professors are unschooled in teaching and are not held accountable for educating students (Carey). Likewise, authors Hacker and Dreifus believe that research is not appropriate when it is done to “bulk up resumes” and takes away from educating the students (Hacker and Dreifus). Professors which are unskilled and too much research instead of learning are just two causes of the higher education crisis. As mentioned before, colleges are throwing students into crippling debt, but the worst part is they cannot even provide sufficient faculty. According to Hacker and Driefus, just under 90 percent of college mathematics classes are taught by untenured or non-track faculty (Hacker and Dreifus). Colleges must take steps before other parties intervene because that may bring conflict and controversy.
Causes for the inaction of higher education professionals have been proposed by the author Kevin Carey. Because of the way that colleges are set up, he recognized that they are mostly run by older people far into their career. He strongly believes that because colleges are run by people that are about to their career they don’t see the need to reform a system that has been implemented for quite some time (Carey). Another idea is that after a person spends time at a college, they develop a love and sense of loyalty for their college community. Although this may sound positive, it may lead to an inability to criticize one’s self or in this case, one’s college or university (Carey). There are many causes that have led to the higher education crisis in the United States which has had dire effects on the youth of America.
To drown in debt or to abandon their dreams, students fresh out of high school are forced to make difficult life changing decisions. The higher education crisis in the United States has had various negative effects on the youth. If students choose to attend a prestigious school, they and their parents are forced to pay unreal amounts for a decent education (Pant). Although scholarships and financial aid are offered to students, the tuition of colleges and universities are causing the majority of the youth to borrow money in order to complete their education. The simple fact that student debt has hit the trillion dollar mark only substantiates the seriousness of this problem, and proves furthermore that it must be addressed (Pant). According to Ms. Sun, founder and managing partner of Sun Group Wealth Partners,
As a financial planner as well as a parent, the issue of the inaccessibility of a college degree really troubled me. In our nation, student debt has swelled to the $1 trillion dollar mark, eclipsing both credit card and auto loan debt. Conversely, state funding for higher education has reached its lowest point in 25 years in 2011.* This 'perfect storm' means many hard-working families face financial ruin or bankruptcy if they choose to educate themselves and their children.
One of the many distressed parents, Ms. Sun is able to understand the college debt issue and perceive its effects. The college student loan debt is a dire issue which, the youth of America are currently experiencing.
Many students will work hard to make ends meet while in college but some are unable to even attend. The sticker prices on colleges is causing people to ask a dangerous question: “is college even worth it?”. Education is an investment in the future and if America is unable to invest in its future then some serious effects will take place. The expensive prices and low quality of higher educational institutes are causing many disadvantaged students to abandon their dream. America the land of opportunity is a lost idea for many of these students. Oftentimes the students will drop out of school as a result of financial problems or the quality of the education. There are large dropout rates in colleges and universities all across America which reflects the lack of regular proper professors and an abundance of professors that have no skill in teaching introductory courses. Kevin Carey summarized what higher education has come to after all the price increases and corruption. “Higher education has been plucked from its pedestal and set down among all of the other financially self-interested industries of which buyers should be wary.” In this quote he explains how higher education has turned into nothing more than a money making business.
These numerous far reaching effects are met by a silence from the scholarly community. Instead of this issue being addressed and worked on it is being completely overlooked and ignored. When the topic arises the majority of the people simply say they don’t think there is a problem. What writers Hackers and Dreifus have discovered after receiving feedback on their book Higher Education, is that although some people admit there is a problem with higher education in America, they also believe that it’s been this way for way too long for it to be changed. The ineffectiveness of this way of thinking is a serious issue that Higher Education? points out, and despite this issue being publicized higher educational institutes don’t make an effort to make a change. The attitude of the higher education professionals towards their institution’s problems raises a red flag of danger and must be taken care of.
Resulting from the criticism they received, some higher education workers and experts concocted irrelevant arguments. The president of The Council for Independent Colleges attempted to justify the acts of higher educational institutes in a speech he delivered.
With the exception of the Vietnam era, the United States has been spared the kind of social upheaval led by young people that many countries in Europe and the Middle East have experienced in the past. These social scientists argue that a comparatively large percentage of America’s adolescents have been in college, rather than on the barricades in France in the 1780s, Germany in the 1840s, Russia in the 1910s, or in Eastern Europe in both the 1960s and the 1980s.
While trying to validate the prices of the education, he states that they have done a good job of keeping people off the streets and from barbaric riots that have taken place in the Middle East and in Europe (Ekman). However anybody that has studied the least bit of history would understand that there are more factors that play a part the peace and political state of a country than simply good colleges. If anything, the factors surrounding American colleges like a peaceful and civilized nation, gives them no excuse to be so out of shape. This argument that he presents does not vindicate the debt colleges are throwing students into. During his speech, the President of the CIC deviates from the original topic he was meant to address and begins to speak on why college and education is good. Everyone knows that colleges are good but that is not the question at hand(Ekman). The real question is why are they so overpriced and is paying all that money really worth it.
Although there is a great crisis at hand and it has had terrible effects, the American people still have the time and resources to reform and change the higher education system of the United States. An idea was proposed by Sun Group Wealth Partners to make education more available and affordable through large corporations (Sun). They launched a Campaign for Next Generation which was made in response to the excessively large student debt crisis. Ms. Sun the founder of Sun Group Wealth Partners believes that the simplest and most efficient solution to the student debt crisis is to have the nation’s largest employers set up higher education plans to assist workers that would like to earn a degree(Sun). This thought process is extremely rewarding to the American nation and will help the people cross off one more issue on the nations to do list. Other than investing in America’s future, companies should help fund student education in order to gain hardworking employees and overall have a more productive workforce. This simple idea presented by a wealth management firm may be great way to help reform the higher education system of the United States(Sun).
Similar to the campaign launched by the Sun Group Wealth Partners, Roger Williams University launched a program to address student debt crisis (Sun and Cost). The initiative this college is taking is yet another way in which Americans can reform their higher educational system. Roger Williams University calls their campaign Affordable Excellence and its objective is to provide quality education at a low cost (Cost). If the universities and colleges of the nation follow in the footsteps of Roger Williams University the higher education system will be hopefully reconstructed. Everyone in America must take the genuine advice of Dr.Farish, The president of Roger Williams University, when he explains the dire state of the matter. “While our natural inclination may be to go into hibernation and wait for the storm to pass, doing so would only prolong the inevitable – we need sustainable solutions, and we need them quickly"(Cost). He also believes that there should be open discussion and conferences in order to resolve the higher education crisis (Cost). This is an example of a solution that can be used to solve the higher education crisis and this method can be adopted by many different colleges and universities.
Apart from the initiatives taken by colleges and universities, the congress of the United States of America will be faced with a variety of different issues and will have to overcome a good amount of obstacles before they can re-enable The Higher Education Act which will aid significantly in the student debt crisis (Camera). Although the student debt crisis may seem hopeless, congress is proposing plans to reform federal aid, so despite the dreadful state of the system currently, all hope is not lost (Camera). A point that needs to be addressed however, that is, although congress continues to propose ideas and come up with ways to help the student ;debt crisis, the American people need action because unfortunately coming up with ideas and plans won’t benefit anyone until they are enforced. If all else fails, hopefully people realize that what colleges are charging for a degree is unreasonable, but until then there must be laws implemented in order to reform the higher education system of the United States.
The serious higher education crisis in the United States will have serious long term effects on the youth of the 21st century. There are many causes and components to the issue. Rising college tuition, increasing quality, and disregard of the problem are all putting American youth at risk. The effects are evident throughout the young population, which may include a dropout rate and debt that has reached the one trillion dollar mark (Pant). There are some solutions that have been proposed by different businesses and colleges; however congress must make laws to help out the student debt crisis (Sun). Although congress has lengthy plans and many bills to aid students, nothing will occur unless they are passed and implemented (Camera). Higher education in America must be reformed as soon as possible in order to provide the next generation with an affordable and reputable education.