College Education
Over the years, the demand of education has gone up. Every person in this world has dreams and aspirations of acquiring the highest level of education. No one can afford to miss the opportunity to study. Many people have realized the importance of education, and they have decided to invest on it heavily. Every person believes that the high education opens a way that can enable one to steer to a good life. However, despite all the advantages and prestige associated with high education, the cost of education has gone up significantly. Many people around the world have not had an opportunity to access the college education due to the inflated cost. This paper explores the reasons for increased college cost in private colleges and public colleges. Some public universities such as the university of Delaware, Ashfold university and some private colleges such as Alderson broadcast college have varying costs. The rising cost of education can be attributed to a few factors according to me.
The Rising Overheads In The Institutions Of Learning
Over the years college around the world has been faced with increasing number of students. it has been estimated that many colleges have had intakes which they cannot accommodate. Despite this, colleges have ignored this fact, and they have continued taking in more students beyond their capacity. The high number if students have called for a high number of support staff.
The colleges have to hire more officer, deans, support staffs, lecturers, administrative staff, and social support staff among others. As the colleges recruit more personnels, the salary burden also increases significantly. The colleges have no extra sources of capital, and they can only solve the issue of the high overhead costs by increasing fees (HOWELL). This could explain better the reason why the university of Delaware announced their fee increase for the year 2013/2014.
On the other hand, the number of teaching hours has reduced. The colleges allow the lecturers to spend less than 6 hours teaching in a day. This means that they do not have enough time to teach the students. in their attempt to maintain quality and ensure service delivery, colleges have hired tutorial team so as to cover the lost time (Clark). As a result, the cost of hiring additional staff for part time hours has gone up significantly. Facts reveal that, many lecturers prefer teaching on part time because they get more money than when they are in full time employment. This dictates to a higher cost of hiring staff in colleges (Clark). Its so unfortunate that the main source of income for the colleges is the tuition fee, and so the colleges have raised their fees significantly.
The Colleges Have To Invest In Infrastructure So As To Accommodate The Rising Number Of Students
It has been discovered that the number of students seeking high education has exceeded the existing capacity that the colleges can handle. It has been evidenced that students lack tuition halls, and accommodation facilities. Other essential facilities such as the libraries and laboratories cannot serve the high number of students. This has added pressure to the colleges. One cannot imagine that the classrooms in many colleges resemble movie theatres. Some students have to take their lessons from outside because of the shrinking space (Clark). The hostels remain flocked with the high number of students. colleges have attempted to flock many students in the facilities where rooms hold more than double of their capacity. The consequences of this cannot be underestimated since diseases can easily spread. Colleges have to react quickly and solve this kind of menace.
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The colleges have to invest in infrastructural development so as to ensure that the learning process learns smoothly. It is unfortunate that the governments do not fully finance college education fully. This has left the colleges with limited options to raise money (Clark). Although colleges get money from donors and their external sources, the money got is never enough to provide for infrastructural development. On the other hand, donations are not guaranteed. Colleges cannot wait for the donations, ,and they have to rely on their main source of revenue for funding. This has consequently led to the increased college cost.
Decline In State Funding
Over the years, governments have reduced their funding for colleges. Many governments have reduced their budget allocation to higher education. They do not consider that this has a very negative impact on the colleges. Many colleges are unprepared to take up the whole cost. They are always faced with a shock since they do not have other sources of funding. The colleges have the option of increasing the tuition fees as their only survival technique (HOWELL). This explains the reason for the high cost of education in colleges all over the world.
The Profit Making Motive Among The Private Universities Could Have Contributed To The High Cost Of Education.
Private universities are motivated by profits (HOWELL). They believe on the tuition cost as their only source of income and, as a result, they have to increase it. Some colleges such as the university of Delaware have been increasing their costs all over the years. They have come out strongly defending their decisions. Although the cost of college education in public universities is lower as compared to private colleges, the cost of college has increased (Clark). The increasing costs can be attributed to the same factors.
In conclusion, the increased cost of education can be attributed to the factors discussed above. The cost of education will continue to rise if the college and the state do not address the underlying issues.
