
The cost of college in America has sharply increased over the past fifty years. "In 1970, a year of tuition at a public university cost $1,207. In 2007, a year of tuition at a public university cost $11,034" (Hamm). College debt has become a norm for graduates and is affecting the national economy. The inflammation of the American dollar over the past fifty years does impact the cost of college, but that is not the main problem with America's college system. There are many contributing factors that raise the cost of tuition in America and most of them can be addressed and fixed. Profit schools are public institutions owned by shareholders that increase tuition to turn a profit. The cost of college has reached a tipping point and has now become a major concern for America's future; a new plan that is called F2CO needs to be implemented in order to regain stability in the college system. This essay will examine the rise in cost of college over the past five decades, how profit schools affect the cost of tuition, the economy of America and how it is affected by the high price of college, and different solutions such as saving plans or free college tuition based off of the F2CO plan to help make college more affordable and more effective for future students. 

The cost of college has been on the rise over the last fifty years, but within the last twenty five years the cost of college has increased significantly more and has now become a financial burden on students and families. '"College tuition price in the United States has also steadily increased for the past four decades, and since the late 1990s, tuition increases have accelerated beyond inflation and family incomes'"(Kim and Ko 816). The spike in college tuition price during the 1990's was overlooked at the time because America's economy was flourishing. When America's economy crashed in the mid-2000s and the cost of college continued to rise, families and students turned to student loans that would take years to pay off after graduating. Federal policies like the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 were put in place to help slow down the rise in cost and to restrict colleges from charging overpriced tuitions. Even with new policies in place the problem was not fixed and the rise in cost continued. Experts have agreed on the three major problems with America's college system which are "reduced state appropriations; increased institutional spending on services, facilities, and compensation; and increased spending to provide remedial courses for unprepared students entering institutions" (Kim and Ko 817). Profit schools also affect the tuition price of other institutions and can leave students in tremendous financial debt.

Profit schools are colleges owned by corporate shareholders who are selling education in order to make a profit. The problem with profit schools is the business model behind them, because they need to be profitable in order to function properly. "Publicly traded companies need to grow consistently, must turn a profit year to year, and must maintain their stock prices to satisfy investors" (Morse 585). This means if a profit school accepts a lower amount of students than the year before tuition has to increase in order for the school to stay lucrative. "'The number of publicly traded . . . providers of higher education grew steadily throughout the 1990s, and in 2010, the for-profit sector brought in $29.2 billion in revenue'" (Morse 585). During the 1990s the amount of profit schools in America grew at a rapid pace; which is exactly the same time the spike in college tuition was recorded. America's college system was and still is clearly affected by profit schools, but they are also affecting the economy of America. 

The number of students graduating with debt after college has risen substantially in the past twenty five years; it has now become a norm for most Americans. With student debts at an all-time high the economy has taken a hit due to the fact that so many young Americans are burdened with student loans. Studies have shown that the number of graduating college students moving out of their parent's house after graduating has gone down significantly because of college debt. "If current tuition rate increases continue, a child born this year will have to pay an estimated $215,064 for a four-year degree at a public college or university"( Jessica Hathaway 20). This is why the average age at which couples are having kids has risen which has been linked to financial stability problems for their kid's future college debts. These two factors affect the economy because these graduating students aren't purchasing goods that would stimulate the economy, but instead they are paying off college debts. Efforts to help pay off debt for graduated students have been implemented but these programs and organizations only focus on a small portion of people with outstanding student loan debts. College has become a huge financial obstacle for families, scholarships or financial aid has become crucial for some students to go to school. It didn't always used to be like this, working a minimum wage job to help pay for college used to be an option; but now it's not even considered worth it. 

A college student can no longer work a minimum wage job and fully pay off their college debt. "In 1979, it took a student working at minimum wage ($2.90 per hour) 385.5 hours to pay off one year of the average college tuition" (New Republic 1). Working a minimum wage job thirty five years ago was a viable solution to paying off your college tuition. "Today, it takes 2,229 hours working at the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) to pay off one year of the average college tuition" (New Republic 1). Working 2,229 hours at a minimum wage job today would earn you approximately $16,160 which wouldn't cover a full years' worth of tuition at The University of South Carolina. Unless the minimum wage is raised or the price of college is reduced significantly working a minimum wage job to pay for college is not possible for most students. Other options like financial aid or public funding for reduced college cost are the most realistic option at this time.

Financial aid programs have become more and more popular among families looking to send their kids to college. Most financial aid programs don't cover the whole cost of college though, they are set up to help pay for a portion of college to help make college more affordable. Financial aid is a great tool if parents have been saving money for a college plan, but less than half of American parents with children under the age of 18 have started saving for college. Some states have started a program to help families start saving for their kids as soon as they are born. "Low- and moderate-income children with college savings of as little as $500 are three times more likely to enroll in college and four times more likely to graduate, according to research by the Corporation for Enterprise Development" (Jessica Hathaway 21). Starting a small savings account for college has proven to be affective and would significantly increase the number of students enrolling in college. Saving money early is so effective that states have started family savings account initiatives strictly for families with young children, these programs are new and growing fast. Even though these programs are new they are predicted to increase student enrollment, lower student financial debt, and help young people with financial stability after graduating. Saving early for college is a great idea for families but another option that has become more realistic is free college.

Free college in America is a highly debated concept in politics, but has become a more reasonable solution to the rising tuition problem. The Lumina Foundation is an organization established to design new ideas to help make college affordable for future students. Their plan is called F2CO and it would make college the first two years at all public institutions free of cost. Their plan redirects the current federal college funding plan and distributes the budget money to certain places that would ultimately make the first two years of college completely free. The reason why the first two years of college is the main focus is because, the first two years of college are mainly broad courses that cover a variety of different topics some not related to your major. After the first two years of college most students would know their major and could spend their money on specialized schooling for their majors. If the F2CO plan was enacted these are some of the characteristics that would come with it. The program would be fair and efficient in that the students that need the most support would receive it and would receive the amount of support they actually need; unlike the current financial aid system that supports participants who don't need it and doesn't offer enough support to the low-income families. Higher quality education would be ensured because colleges would have to report on the effectiveness of their current programs compared to the system now that doesn't require any data from colleges and their course programs. The new system F2CO offers would be more stable and predictable because it would be a universal program and families would be able to make an accurate prediction for future college costs compared to the fluctuating college price now. It would make the college system simple and would attract more low-income families with the word "free". The F2CO plan would ultimately work if all stakeholders were on board, but in order for that the plan must be solid and stable.

F2CO is a clear and simple plan; its message is "If you complete a high school degree, you can obtain a 13th and 14th year of education for free in exchange for a modest amount of work while attending school." (Goldrick-Rab and Kendall 19). "Free" as defined by F2CO covers the cost of books, living, tuition, supplies, fees, and also secures a job to cover living expenses. Unsubsidized loans would also be available for students who need them. The students receiving aid would be the ones who need it and students that don't qualify for everything to be covered will still receive certain aid to help pay for tuition. One of the most important variables of the F2CO is the job that will be supplied to students. The job given to students will vary depending on the student and where the institution is based. A student in a city environment will receive a higher paying job than a student in a rural environment; because living costs vary. If a student has children, they will get paid more from the job given to them by F2CO which will increase the student's chances of staying enrolled. Paying for F2CO is also simple but would require participation from public universities. 

Currently the federal government financial aid programs support both public and private institutions with a budget of 80 billion dollars. While both institutions receive support from the federal government, private institutions are given a disproportionate amount of money compared to public institutions. "29 percent of undergraduate enrollment was in the private sector in 2012-2013, that sector received 35 percent of all Pell Grants, 49 percent of Supplementary Education Opportunity grants, and 47 percent of work-study funds -- approximately $18 billion in total" (Goldrick-Rab and Kendall 23). With the F2CO plan in affect funding given to private institutions for financial aid would be cut and strictly given to public institutions. This will affect the private institutions negatively, but at the same time profit schools would be exposed and unable to function. Based on current predictions eight to ten million future college students a year will be using the F2CO plan. Paying for F2CO would require "Redirecting all federal higher education grants (~$50 billion) and tax benefits (~$32 billion), as well as current allocations for education and training in the Workforce Investment Act (~$3 billion) to cover the allowable tuition costs" (Goldrick-Rab and Kendall 23). These actions would allocate an average of $8,500 to $10,600 for every student participating in F2CO, which is around the current average cost of tuition at public institutions and over the average cost of community colleges. 

There are some potential consequences if the F2CO plan is enacted. All of the federal funding towards higher education will be allocated towards public institutions and students not participating in F2CO will receive no government help either; even though most wont need it. Another concern is no funding for private institutions, which will cause low income students to have less opportunities at private institutions even though only a small fraction of low income students is accepted into private college. Funding for colleges would not be focused on gyms or fancy buildings which might upset some consumers, but it would instead be focused on learning. This concern ultimately disrupts the ability of colleges to spend money on what they want. F2CO will for colleges to spend money on purely educational purposes but this could result in the hiring of many un- or underemployed post-baccalaureate graduates that would be hired to help teach. With these concerns it will take a lot of time and work to make the F2CO plan a legitimate solution for the future. 

The F2CO plan is currently still being examined as a future college solution and it will take a lot of support for it to pass as policy in America. If the F2CO happens to be the new future for financial aid millions of future college students will be debt free and the burden of college debt will be a thing of the past. Other plans to help make college affordable again are still being formed as well and use some of the same concepts from F2CO. Bernie Sanders, a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections is a huge fan of free college education which brings hope to the idea that free higher education could be free in this country. If free college is not however in America's future, another solution needs to be implemented soon or the price of college will soon not be worth it. It is up to Americans to decide whether or not their tax payer dollars will go to free higher education, hopefully we have our future invested in education rather than elsewhere. 

