If this rising tuition continues on the current trend tuition will quickly be out of the reach of many middle class families. And with this problem occuring all around the United States, it is not just an Oklahoman problem but a nation problem. This problem is caused by an unstable economy and several other factors, the solutions must deal with these factors and cure the heart of the problem.
But it is likely that the long term solutions will take... well a long time. So, what is the solution for families that are about to send one of there children off to college now? They may not be able to afford to wait for the effects of these long term solutions. They must rely on the government to take action to help them now or the United states may have a generation of adults that were forsaken my the government to have middle class jobs.
The more immediate patch work solution to this problem is tuition freezes. These tuition freezes would cause a number of instant effects that would releve some of the pressure on the working class families. First of all it would obviously help by stopping tuition from going up, this would provide a stability that has been absent in recent years. As the website for Diverse Issues in Higher Education notes, "Student leaders have come to expect tuition prices to go up every year" (DiverseEducation.com). Simply put, students have become accustomed to having to pay more for an education every year. But now some students are having their educations put in jeopardy by these new tuition raises. If the tuition continues to go up by as much as it did this year than students can expect to pay are 25% more for tuition than what they paid for their first year. So if a student started out paying $10,000 a year for tuition they could expect that amount to go up to $12,808.24 for there final year of college.2 This could cause some students to be able to afford college at the start but then not be able to finish.
This new found stability in the cost of college would also allow for students to be able to plan their expenses in a more effecient manner. For instance now that a college student knows what the price of college will be, they can make plans and set aside or obtain the proper amount of money. In the current situation this is not possible. The same $10,000 may not be enough for the next year of schooling.
Overall tuition freezes are a good idea for the short term. It will allow stability for students who are already in college, as well as helping to keep tuition prices bearable for prospective students. While this short term "patch work fix" is in place the nation economy can be stabilized and some of those wide reaching large factors that cause tuition fluxuation can be sorted out and brought to a stable level. These things can only be accomplished if you call your state legislator and get in contact will lawmakers in your region. Things will only change if you make yourself heard, so contact your state legisture, contact your governor, and let them know how you feel.
1. all numbers used in the calculation were taken from okcollegestart.org for the 2008-2009 school year tuition.
2. calculation was carried out like this (.086*10000), (result of first calc.*.086), etc.
Posts
