Imagine a setting where intellectuals have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and further their education without being placed under enormous amounts of stress. You might think back to the 1970’s America where college students would flock home to work for the summer, then head back to school and pay for classes with their summer allowance. Or you might even think that this utopian idea of college students being able to earn their education in an environment where their entire focus is dedicated solely to their studies is just not suitable in the present society. Over the past 40 years a lot has changed with how American colleges and Universities operate. A major reason for these changes has to do with the simple fact that there are more people than ever before who value a college degree as a requirement to be successful. The times of being able to graduate high school and begin working in a specified field for the next thirty years while you start a family and play golf every Sunday is almost unheard of nowadays. Growing up in the public school system in the suburbs of Charlotte, NC, I was constantly reminded of this seemingly inevitable period in my life where I will be attending college. It has just always been the standard. Well, now I have arrived at this time and I’m currently a freshmen undergraduate student at a major four-year public University. The only problem is the entire higher education system that myself and my fellow peers are stuck in until we earn the piece of paper that says “You’re now qualified to start your career…”. As I dive into the many aspects that circle around the American higher education system, I want to point out that I am more than happy for deciding to go to college because I truly believe it will be a stepping stone to propel me in my future career endeavors. 

As high school students begin to think about their fast approaching years’ post-graduation, and I mean fast-approaching, they are faced with the ultimate decision of attending some form of higher education or not. Some may choose to go into the military, others may decide that college is simply not in their best interest, but in the United States today there are more students enrolled in some form of college classes than ever before. The American higher education system consists of all public/private colleges and universities. This system is designed to equip willing individuals with a formal education that will prepare them for their desired career. Many of the Ivy league schools such as Harvard and Yale are the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States and have been providing students with quality educations for multiple centuries. College always seemed to be fairly cheap compared to the inflation rates of currency and median family incomes, until the mid 1970’s which happens to be around the time where baby-boomers became college aged. Ever since this time period, the cost of college tuition has steadily increased on an annual basis. 

College attendance has grown at a constant rate as well and school decision makers have followed this trend by increasing the cost of attendance, specifically tuition. Why? Because it is a perfect opportunity to increase revenue for the University. An article published in the New York Times written by Paul F. Campos stated that just in the past three decades, if car prices had increased as fast as tuition then the average new car would cost over $80,000 (Campos). This is a very shocking statistic that triggers me because the average American teenager, as in me, would damn sure be hiking to school every day, not riding around in the 2017 Mercedes. But in contrast, the same average American still has to find a way to afford the cost of their education, which in most cases today can feel out of reach. The current system in America doesn’t allow for the freshly graduated high schooler to legally drink a beer, but with the click of a few buttons you can take out thousands and thousands of dollars in federal loans in order to cover the cost of a college education. Americans currently owe over $1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt, and this number is rising every school year as students look for ways to get in the door of the college classroom. Public funding from state governments for higher education has also been on the chopping block as more student’s flock to the state universities, causing the schools to find ways in order to fund their enormous annual budgets. Since I attend the University of South Carolina, I am particularly interested in the actions of the state deciding to cut funding for my school and the reaction by the University to implement a 3.25 percent tuition increase for this past school year (Wilks). 

The American higher education system is something worth careful examination, for there are many elements that comprise of the system as a whole. At the surface it may seem as though the system is doing just fine. This is all but true, for I am going to analyze how colleges and universities have grown to become student neglecting monopolies that continue to become more expensive at the blink of an eye. First, I am going to make the argument that college tuition is continuously increasing and is blindsiding students and their families across the country. I am personally invested in my own education and as a student at the University of South Carolina (USC) I am frustrated with the recent increase in tuition rates and am strongly opposed to any further increase. A college education has become invaluable in today’s society due to the market demand for jobs, but affording the prized degree has become nearly out of reach for many teenaged Americans. In the second component of my major argument I am going to prove how the National student debt is higher than ever before and is going to continue to increase as long as tuition skyrockets, this is a countrywide problem that places immense pressure on the shoulders of students who are conflicted by this burden. I will highlight in this section the circumstances that the national government and states have placed on the higher education system as far as funding for universities. Another argument that I consider to be highly relevant is where there is such an unequal gap between the benefits of university leaders and the struggle being forced upon students. Regarding this problem, I will uncover some of the surrounding issues of university administrators in particular. As I seek reasons why the University can justify for a tuition increase, my final piece to my arguments pertains to the questionable salaries of the University President Harris Pastides. It nonetheless raises eyebrows to watch my tuition bill increase at almost the exact time period as President Pastides approval for a raise that will push his salary to over $1 million! I understand that the higher education system is a for profit business in most cases and at the end of the day there are people who have to put food on the table through devoting their time to the system. But I do not stand for causing students to contribute astronomical amounts and take out egregious loans in order to take classes. I also believe that Harris Pastides is a great person who does an exceptional job at running a university. Although I will not turn the blind eye to the pattern of his increasing salary at the expense of my hard earned money. 

Growing up in the suburbs of Charlotte, NC I partook in recreational league sports every season. I became attached to the sport of football at a very young age and eventually put down some of the less significant sports of mine to focus on the game I loved. Before I knew it, my senior year of high school had arrived and I began to ponder consistently about my future. My dream to play collegiate football seemed in reach as I gave my final season every ounce of effort I could. Some choices in life are not intended for you to physically decide and as the school year dwindled down I started to realize that maybe it was just time to hang up the cleats, maybe I had played my last down and that it was time for the next chapter in my life. Fast forward six months later and I was moving into my dorm at USC to become a full-time student. I knew college was something I always wanted to take on, but what I didn’t realize at the time was how the system actually operated.

College tuition is too expensive and is unethical to be continuously rising in 2017. I chose to attend the University of South Carolina primarily because I fell in love with the Moore School of Business and the quality education the program had to offer. I also wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself and coming to an SEC school felt like it would provide an unparalleled sense of school pride. But why did I still feel like I wasn’t being given the full opportunity to succeed in the classroom and that I was being placed under obstacles that set me behind the rest of my peers? I faced true adversity transitioning to college as I didn’t come from an affluent household, so I had to look for alternative options in order to help finance my education. At this same time period I felt disrespected by the University for implementing a 3.25% tuition increase for the fall semester (Wilks). This tuition increase is stemmed from the state of South Carolina cutting a percentage of the budget for higher education, which forced the hand of the USC board of directors to make up for the lost funding. This action had an overall negative impact not only on myself, but thousands of other students that attend USC.

 I feel as though if the higher education system were to be a balance beam, the side of the actual system would be heavily weighed down and the side with the students raised into the air. This is based on an article by Richard Vedder that depicts the inconvenient truths about American higher education, and reveals how universities are run in favor of faculty and employees rather than the most important piece of the puzzle, the students (Vedder). Without the students, there would be no University. Therefore, colleges must learn to ease the sticker shock of tuition amongst the students in order to provide people like myself with an experience that doesn’t feel as though you are a part of a suspicious scheme.

The current higher education system is flawed throughout proving to be detrimental to the current student. With federal funding for higher education being on the chopping block as of the recent Trump administration’s projected budget. The time is now to seek ways for universities to make up for that loss of funding from the federal government. One way Universities have sought to make up for the lack of funding is by annually increasing tuition costs. This tactic has been extremely popular across the country and has led to an American higher education system with the highest costs ever witnesses. An article from the New York Times, titled “Is college tuition really too high?”, gives a perspective of college tuition which states that in 1974 the price of tuition for a public university was around $510 per year, which is equal to about $2,500 in today’s dollars. But that is far-fetched from reality, the actual price that students and families of today are paying today for on average for public tuition is $9,000 (Davidson). This devastating fact is one that presents an economic and political issue. 

Economically, the pricing of education has a rippling effect across multiple markets due to the fact that someone is responsible for meeting the demand of the universities and in many forms that demand is met through private educational loans distributed by American banking corporations. Politically, there are members of congress lobbying for the slashing of the budget that is directed for universities’ which places the board of directors at many schools under immense pressure to develop a decent budgeting strategy (Douglas-Gabriel). I believe that this is one of the largest red flags in the American higher education system because the decisions being made at the top are trickling down and effecting the young adults who are scrambling to find ways in order to adjust to tuition increases. This current system is not fair and the Trump administration taking aim at higher education is only going to make matters worse as far as forcing students into looking down the mere one-way street of taking out loans to finance their education. I personally have been effected by this very system and will not stand for the bullying from Washington big-wigs that continue to depress the future generation of this country. 

As a degree-seeking undergraduate student, I have already made the decision in my life to dedicate the prime years of my life to being an intellectual with the plan of one day becoming a professional in the Business world. With this realization follows the eye-opening statistics of the millions of other students are also in the same boat as me, traveling to a destination that is all but certain.  I remember hearing the teachers and parents murmur something along the lines of “You have to go to college in order to be successful” and “It is merely a requirement to have a degree if you want a good job”. While the previous statements may very well be true, it has no doubt been a reality in America that students are attending college at a never before seen rate and enrollment numbers are the highest in history (Schoen). Students are also borrowing more than ever to reach their goals of earning a degree, which is held is such high regard in the trending job market. 

As of a few school years back, nearly 60% of students graduating from a public four-year university had some kind of student loans, this also comes at a time where tuition is increasing at a faster pace than average family income (Schoen). This dilemma in American higher education is one that creates a burdening scenario for college graduates. Where instead of solely focusing on starting a career, there is this looming cloud of college debt that constrains students from reaching their full potential. It is cruel to a point for colleges to continue placing students in overbearing situations that are simply not financially achievable. Relaxing the cost of an education will dramatically decrease the stress that students take on while venturing the student loan arena and will cause a chain reaction of producing more confident college graduates. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that our nation has created a system that is basically anti-student due to a stimulating feedback loop that causes students from less-affluent backgrounds to continue down a path of being financially burdened. I want to be a part of a movement that rises up for the students by demanding that University’s and state legislatures reverse the trend of skyrocketing tuition costs that in turn cause for students to go down a fearsome trail of billowing debt. 

There is inequality between university leaders and students. One major flaw in the American higher education system that has become apparent to me since I stepped foot on the beautiful campus of USC, is that high up administrators of the University are contributing to the problem. They are doing this through increased hiring’s attached with rising salaries that have added up to be alarming. An article by Tyler Kingkade titled “New analysis of the problematic boom in higher Ed. Administrators”, outlines studies from the American Institutes for Research that show from 1987-2012, universities and colleges have added 517,636 administrators which is equivalent to an average of 87 per working day. It is fair to estimate with the upward growth in this statistic that these numbers have only increased in the past five years. With more administrative salaries contributing to the total expenses of the university, there has to be some sort of strategy that makes up for this increase in total salaries expense. Therefore, I believe that in fact this is also a key factor in why tuition is continuously increasing not only at USC but at other regionally accredited colleges and universities as well. 

President Pastides of the University of South Carolina is overpaid. In August of 2016, The University of South Carolina’s trustees voted to increase president Harris Pastides’ overall pay to over $916,000 for the 2016-2017 school year. His base salary comes from the state of SC, through tax payer dollars and starts at $312,530. The other portion of his pay is a supplemental compensation from privately raised funds through the USC Foundation. The USC trustees have agreed to multiple retention bonuses that will lead to him making a total of $1.17 million in the upcoming school year. With tuition on the rise, this increase seems to be coming at a coincidental time. I was raised to not ask about another man’s salary, but when it regards the President of the University in which you just enrolled in this school year it is hard to not bring this to the attention of my concerns. There is most definitely value in highlighting that while students are paying more than they ever have in the history of the University, there is also an approval to pay the leader of the University a correspondingly peak salary. 

I understand as someone who is interested in economics that in order to operate as a profitable business, money has to be made. The University of South Carolina has living, breathing, faculty members that have devoted their time to educate young intellectuals in exchange for money to live a healthy life. To pay faculty requires for the profiting of money and that has to come at an abundant percentage from the very students who call themselves gamecocks. No, I am not lobbying in this argument for the uber-liberal ideals of making college free because that simply would not be able to operate under the laws of economics. Too many people are invested in making a career out of higher education, through teaching, being an administrator and all the way down to the people working in the mailroom. But that doesn’t mean that the system isn’t keeping an unequal amount to themselves, seen in the form of extreme salaries and unnecessary perks for university leaders such as country club memberships and chartered planes (CBS Moneywatch). I think that it is more than the right time to quit this aged system that repetitively makes the rich even more richer and causes students to feel even more neglected. I also concede the point that Harris Pastides is one great university President, who carries himself with class and professionalism on all cylinders. He has done a marvelous job of being approachable and present on campus when he is needed most. But I have to hold my ground on the idea that he is being overpaid. I was raised to not worry about another man’s salary out of respect, but when it regards the president of my own school I have no other choice but to take an opposing stance on the publicly released information. There is no justification for him being paid millions of dollars to oversee a system that has been running itself since 1801 based on people who want to better themselves by gaining an education. I mean how stressful could it be living in a mansion that’s paid for by the university and sending out a couple of emails a semester to give students a word of advice? As I stated previously President Pastides is a class act, yet I cannot support the flowing of millions of dollars per year into his piggy bank, while students at his university are struggling to afford ramen noodles nonetheless tuition. 

As my Freshman year of college winds to an end, I am faced with the inevitable thought of reflection. Reflecting upon the good times and bad. Reminiscing to the times where I exceled in the classroom and learning from the actions or non-actions that caused me to fail. I have become more passionate about the school I am attending which has led myself to pick up on some of the things that I feel are corrupt surrounding the university system. I have added in personal history that has formed me into the person I am today, which is a major reason why I am so concerned with how the system is being run behind closed doors. The outside research that I have conducted has only supported my argument which unpacks the major flaws that I have detected as being the most damaging to the student. The overall higher education system in America is a complex system with a web of ties between the students, university leaders, board of directors, state governing officials, and the federal government. If the current system continues the pattern that is taking place today, then future prospective students are going to be sucked into a system that could potentially be harmful for their entire adult life. It has been too many years of allowing this system to take advantage of young, bright students and I urge my peers to also open their eyes to see the harsh reality in the system. 
