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Rising tuition preventing college accessibility for all
Fast food, Amazon’s half-priced books, holey jeans, Ramen noodles and, your favorite, student loans are some of the many essentials of a successful college student. As students, we’re well-aware of the sacrifices that are made for college, and that won’t change next year. Instead, some may need to start budgeting for next year’s sacrifices due to another possible tuition increase.
For families with incomes greater than $150,000, tuition is projected to increase 7.5 percent, and 5.5 percent for families with incomes lower than $150,000, according to the Minnesota Daily article “Scholarships balance tuition rise.” So what do we think of the possibility of a 7.5 percent increase in tuition for 2008-2009 academic year? Naturally, we should agree it sucks. There’s nothing fun about hoping for an increased amount of loans for the next school year.
As students, tuition is something we all have to deal with. Whether you’re an athlete using your skills to pay for school, or whether you’re here on a scholarship, using loans or defending your country in the process, we’re all paying tuition in one way or another. The problem with rising tuition is the effect it will have on future college goers who are already wary of a pricey college experience. When tuition increases, it doesn’t only affect the current students it affects prospective students and their families as well. For many of us here, we do not like the sound of an increasing tuition bill in the fall, yet we will still be here in the fall nonetheless. We will find a way to pay and will do some necessary improvising if we need to.
For many prospective and first-generation college students, the sound of an increased tuition bill may be enough to deter them from studying at the university either indefinitely or permanently. Students who are otherwise capable of learning and studying at a collegiate level may decide not to, and instead enter the work force due to an inability to pay the increasing cost of going to college. In addition to prospective students, tuition increases will also affect some students currently studying at the university who are currently struggling to pay for college as is.
Attending a four-year college should be a privilege and an academic investment as well as an achievement, not a financial investment. Being able to say that you’re attending college should be a reflection of one’s capacity to adapt and learn as well as succeed academically. What it shouldn’t portray is one’s socioeconomic status.
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