Question

In this module we learned that, despite increases in the cost, the value of higher education has increased over time. How can college be made more affordable? Revenues earned by colleges and universities come from three main sources:

1. Tuition and fees paid by students, which have increased faster than the cost of living.
2. Support from governments at the federal, state and local levels. This support is paid for through tax revenues. Even private colleges and universities obtain funding from the government, but government support has declined at all levels in recent years.
3. Alumni contributions.

What has caused the cost of college to increase so much? (Not every college has a fancy gym or an Olympic sized pool with a lazy river.) What features of your college education would you be willing to do without to make college more affordable?

What do you propose should be done to make higher education more affordable? What reasons can you provide to support your argument?

Answer 1

Answer) I will answer the given question in following 3 parts

1. What has caused college cost to increase so much
2. What features of college education can be left out/reduced in order to reduce cost
3. What can be done to make college fees more affordable along with supporting argument

• What has caused college cost to increase so much-In given question,3 sources of revenue are mentioned for colleges but let us look at some cost centres,cost of instructors/professors;a lot of colleges boast of top notch professors and just like in any other field,it costs to get their services,cost of study material is an area where a lot of costs keep increasing with access to material from other institutes,college experiences such as field visits also has increased,add to that cost of infrastructure,another important point worth mentioning is brand value,lately brand value and placement value is associated with high fees,it is a marketing tactic already successfully implemented where high cost of product is seen as a hallmark of good product,finally we look from point of view of supply and demand,when demand will lead to shortage,it will be easy to charge high fees and no one would want to compromise on this issue even if it means paying high fees which is not affordable even in some cases and lead to huge debts.
• I think a lot of practical experiences are not so important,in the sense that they are more of a tradition following exercise and can be replaced with cheaper options,study material though cannot be done with but can be prepared in house,not everyone needs to read same cases ,instead it will allow for original thinking too,add to that cost of miscellaneous charges such as various events,ceremonies and one can see costs are unjustified and exaggerated and can be done with.
• I think,we can start with evaluating various cost heads of a fees and see what all are students being charged for and then see what all we can do away with or reduce,the reason I am saying this is that a lot of costs are inflated and not called for but students are not even aware of it,second way is to reduce the gap amongst various colleges in terms of education quality which can lead to no mad rush for few colleges allowing them to charge as they wish,this is an important step as with every year this will become more difficult and fees will further increase,third way is to cap fees and expenses,something unpopular but may be required to keep a check on unnecessary spending to showcase authority is not required,finally one has to look at alternatives of certain aspects of such education,what if students can be allowed to substitute certain aspects or remove certain aspects is something which can be looked upon as a measure as this will give choices to students to remove things which are not required by them.

Answer is complete.Thank you!