As society progresses and The United States grows as a world power, the need for higher education is becoming more and more necessary. Without a college degree the job market becomes a narrow path to an unwanted job. It is almost essential to have a college degree in today's time, but the cost of college makes it a difficult decision. With rising college tuition costs across the country, it is making it increasingly difficult to pursue higher education without slipping into debt. Through alternatives, such as college deferment, scholarship programs and tuition free programs, it is possible to diminish the cost of college, however, universities are still overcharging students and using that money in ways that are not beneficial to them

There have been many studies done to see how necessary college truly is. Keplinger did one of theses studies, and stated " 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs in the knowledge economy require some postsecondary education."(Higher Education). With the number of jobs that essentially require a degree, it is becoming more and more essential to go to school and get that paper. The problem then arises of the cost of school which has risen to a point that many cannot afford, Adam Davidson states " ... the real outlier is higher education. Tuition at a private university is now roughly three times as expensive as it was in 1974, costing an average of $31,000 a year; public tuition, at $9,000, has risen by nearly four times. This is a painful bill for all but the very richest." (Davidson) With inly the wealthy being able to put up with the price of college without going into the tremendous debt that is college tuition, it makes it an incredibly difficult decision on whether or not to attend school, but that takes one back to the number of jobs that essentially require that degree, which makes that decision for a person. Without the financial aid or scholarship money, it becomes almost impossible to afford schooling. Ethan Siegle produced this chart to show how the cost of college has increased a tremendous amount more than any other mean of living.                      (Siegle). This graph helps to show the increase in college cost as compared to inflation. As one can see, college has increased almost 1200 percent over the past 30 years, where the average hourly wage has only increased a little more than 300 percent. When you add in the cost of books and supplies, which has the second highest inflation rate over the past 30 years, the true price of college becomes a daunting task. With the increase of tuition and sky rocketing price of books and supplies, how to afford all this is one of the major issues that is facing Americans today. Maxine Joselow also did some research in the pricing of college today, while writing her article for Forbes, stating "The College Board reports that tuition at private four-year colleges increased at an average of 2.1% a year, while tuition at public four-year colleges increased at an average of 2.8% a year. To put this into perspective, tuition at Yale University rose 16.5% from $38,850 in the 2004-5 academic year to $46,500 in the 2014-15 academic year." (Joselow). The cost of schooling continues to rise, which leads to the question of what can be done to help fix this.

There have been many proposed solutions to this problem, that can help students afford college. Steve Cohen talks about a college deferment program to avoid the middleman that is large banks. College deferment means that rather than taking out a loan that has a fee and rates that make college even more expensive than it already is, a student is in debt to the university and has to pay them back, rate free for what they owe. This solution will save students thousands of dollars in rates and fees, and although it may not solve the problem of tuition being too high, it will help to lower the cost that students are paying. It will help to make colleges less of a business that helps the banks out by putting people in tremendous debt that is much more than their tuition and help them to only have to pay back what they have to, to the universities. 

Many believe that one of the biggest solutions to this problem is scholarship programs. However, scholarships cannot cover the entire cost of college. Siegle states 'even a plethora of financial aid opportunities and scholarships leave the average student approaching or upwards of six figures in debt as a result of their four year degree." (Siegle). Although there are many scholarship opportunities out there, it is difficult to receive them, especially due to the fact that many scholarships are particular to a certain person. Steve Cohen says "The issue transcends traditional political battle lines because it is middle-class families who are most affected by tuition hikes. They are largely ineligible for most government scholarship programs." (Cohen). When personally applying for scholarships, I was only able to receive a couple, these did not come close to covering the cost of college. This applies to an incredible amount of students today. Although scholarship money is granted, it is not nearly enough to cover the cost of college. As tuition continues to rise, the money granted covers less of what needs to be paid, while the bills continue to stack up. 

Colleges continue to increase the number of student that are admitted and attend the university. Kiplinger states "between the 1995-1996 and 2006-2007 school year, overall enrolment in U.S higher education institutions increased  by 19 percent, or more than an estimated 2.2 million students." (Higher Education). With the increase in size universities are becoming more influential than ever. University of South Carolina, for example, welcomed its biggest class ever this year with just over 5000 students. With a freshman class this big and tuition being where it is at, the university is taking in millions of dollars, but what could they be doing with all this money. Siegle states that   "a full two thirds of the University's annual expenditures are spent on salary for employees, including faculty, staff and administration. So it's no surprise that the majority of the cuts will affect employees: by the end of 2020, the University is anticipating a total reduction in its workforce of 980 people" (Siegle). He is talking about his personal university, that is UC San Diego, but this is happening around the country. Money is going more towards the attractions, such as football and new buildings, rather than the teachers at the universities. Yes, it is necessary to build new buildings to teach in, but senior management is increasing throughout the country as well, shown by this chart. (Siegle). This chart is sowing the increase in the percentage of senior management in universities across the United States. It is clear to see that the number of Senior Management positions has increased a tremendous amount, as student body has only increased by about 50 percent. These higher ups are making a substantial amount of money, doing jobs that do not need this much employment. A senior management position is one of the highest ranking positions at the university, demanding the most money. If universities across America were to decrease the number of senior management positions they have within them, it would be able to help cut tuition costs and put the money back in the student's hands. Even if tuition were to stay the same, the money could go towards more professors, which would mean smaller class size and an increase in one on one learning. These positions have become a waste of space and can be reduced.

There are a few people that believe that there is no problem today with the college tuition prices in America. They have many different claims as to why they believe there is no problem facing America, but the one that stood out the most was that of Jeffery Dorfman, stating, "Private colleges have become incredibly expensive. Public colleges also have been raising tuition sharply in many cases, mostly to offset cuts in the funds they receive from state budgets. Yet, by the standards of the economic marketplace most colleges are still underpriced." (Dorfman) He continues on to explain that the demand for college has continued to increase, with tens of thousands applying to individual schools each year, and them only taking a certain small percentage of these applicants. He uses the example of Harvard, stating "Harvard University accepted only 5.8 percent of over 35,000 applicants this year." (Dorfman) He believes that Universities should be treated like a business, continually trying to make money and become the best in the country. While it does make sense that universities should be trying to improve and become the best they can, the idea that they should be running like a business is why the system is corrupt today. As previously stated, Universities are dumping their money into the higher up positions that are senior management. While the student body continues to increase, so does the number of senior management positions. What schools really need is an increase in the number of professors that they have to decrease the class size and help students have more hands on learning. These colleges are considered places of higher learning, not a business, they should be spending their money in ways that will help to better the university and the students that pay to go there, not have senior management positions that are not necessary and waste student's money on a guy who sits in his office and does not do anything to better the university all day.

In order to help see how the universities have become more like a business already, one can look back at the price of college back when they had just began, prior to World War I. John Thelin did some research into this area and was able to find that "For example, annual tuition at a prestigious, private East Coast university remained constant over two decades at about $120 to $150 per year (indexing for inflation, thiswouldbetheequivalentofatuitionchargeofabout$3000 today). A typical annual budget for an undergraduate at a private college in 1910 was $350 (equivalent of $8000 in 2013 dollars)." (Thelin) Universities today can cost up to $60,000, depending on where one would like to attend school. After factoring in inflation and doubling that price just to insure some kind of profit for the university, the price today is still triple that at some of the most prestigious universities in America. It is true that Universities were not making enough money back in the early 20th century in order to survive, which is why there is some form of business aspect that needs to be taken into account, however, the dramatic increase in many universities tuition cost has led students into this tremendous debt that they are coming out of college with. There is no reason for colleges and universities to be charging this much money to attend, since 1978 college tuition has increased a total of 1,225 percent (Cohen). This is more than any other item in the country and it is due to the fact that colleges believe that they are a form of a business nowadays. This is why people across America are continuing to try and find solutions.

One solution that has surfaced, especially in the recent Presidential debated, is that of free community college. Kiplinger wrote on the issue and recognized that there was no way to make this free. Although the students may not be paying for the schooling, it is coming straight out of tax payer money. This is where the problem arises, tax payers do not want to lay more for students that are not themselves to go to school. It is an incredibly difficult proposal to get across, especially with how community colleges are set up. Community colleges have a tremendously high dropout rate compared to a typical college or university (Keplinger). It makes it seem as if people are paying for students to go to community college and just drop out. This is a problem that needs to be fixed for people to begin to back this proposal at all. Without a strong community college system, there is no way of showing why it should be supported by the tax payers. Until community colleges are able to decrease their dropout rate and show why they are worth government funding, this solution will not be supported, although it may work. It would be able to help students cut the cost of universities down by taking out 2 years, in which they would be able to save up money and not come out with the tremendous debt they would have had if they had gone to a 4 year school. If the system were to be fixed and the proposal supported, this solution would help millions of Americans save thousands of dollars.

Through the charts and data previously stated, it is clear to see that college tuition has gotten to a point that it has become a serious problem facing the country. Millions of Americans are slipping into tremendous debt coming out of school, which takes almost a lifetime to payoff. Colleges are spending money on senior management positions that are not necessary for the university, morphing themselves in what looks to be more of a business than a place of higher learning, and overcharging students that go to an overcrowded class with a huge bill for textbooks and supplies. There are many ways that can help us solve this problem, potentially though scholarship, or even two years of community college for free, but what appears to be the one that can be done today to help save all students thousands of dollars is that of college deferment. This would cut out the middle man that is the bank eliminating and rates or fees. Something needs to change in America's college system to make it more affordable to all people, it is the only way we can advance as a country, and make this place an even better society.
