Solutions to Tuition Increase
Opponents of the tuition increase in public schools, universities are recently on the rise, and they have become very vocal. A good example is in 2010 where eight labor MPs tried to oppose tuition but lost in the parliamentary vote (Bishop, para.2). This comes oblivious of a number of time high those in private school pay in terms of tuition fee than in the public sector. Nevertheless, the students are capable of acquiring a lot of support of their cause. Therefore, if at any time one try to suggest contrary to what the student suggest, this is regarded as a heresy. This paper tackles tuition in colleges where it proposes solutions to stop tuition in colleges from increasing. It gives specific points that support the retention of tuition since it plays an important role in the education system.
We should raise tuition since according to the higher education; there are two types of the appropriation that a student gets. The first one is student aid and the second one is the tuition subsidies. Through the student aid, the student is assisted directly through programs such as Pell Grants, Perkin and Stafford loans, and work-study arrangements. These programs ensure that they regard the size of the need that the student has and incorporate them in the determination of the amount of the reward that they are to be offered (Philip, p.45). This creates a good atmosphere for the lower income earners as they are the highest beneficially of these programs. Therefore, the most vulnerable students benefit from these programs. These aids are there to both public and the private schools.
Nevertheless, the greatest focus is on the second type of the assistance. The tuition subsidy has brought about a lot of discussions currently that need to be set down. The assistance that is offered by the government to the student reflects that the amount of the money that the student pay tuition fee cannot pay fully the requirements of their study (Murphy, & Welch, p.67). Unlike the student aids, this form of tuition is offered to the entire student regardless of their financial position. This requires only a student to be enrolled in a public school. Therefore, striking a balance regardless of the student financial position has brought about many raised eyebrows and necessitates a discussion that will offer light over the issue of increased tuition. There are several reasons that should be put into consideration to ensure that the reason of subsidizing tuition is decreased and tuition fee increased to cater for the reduced tuition fee. Some of these main principals include competition, equity, quality, and efficiency.
We should raise tuition because those people dealing with the subsidizing the tuition fee have always a reason why tuition has to be subsidized to correct the equity imbalance. They have been arguing that the high ability student should not be compromised due to the inability to pay for their school fees. The society at large argues that they are at the receiving edge when education is being subsidized. The reason being that this person from a poor background after getting an education will contribute much to the society than the amount of investment that has been put in his/her education (Peltzman, p.23). The proponents of the education argue that due to the spill over that the education has, the subsidy has to be extended across the board regardless of the economic status of the student. In general, they say that the members of the society will benefit more when any of the people become well educated.
We should raise tuition because tuition subsidies bring about in the education sector to unintended problems. One of them is the burden that the college bears during the recession year that is brought about by high enrollment and the support that is low from the state. The other problem is the span of time that is required for one to graduate as well as the incentives that are offered in the process. The reason of these problems is due to the countercyclical movement that the college enrollment put across that are opposite in the business cycle. During increased economic activity, enrollment of the student is reduced while during the time of economic downturn or during recessions register high enrollment. According to Philip p.57, economist Gary Becker put across a human capital accumulation model that explain that this is rationally discounted benefits of the student as it is easy to find a job during the boom period than during recess period which makes it a good time for attending studies. Due to this counter, cyclical enrolment that leaves the colleges in bad economic status during recession period making them cut down their expenditure can only be checked by increased tuition fee to ensure that schools learn consistently. The tuition increase will reduce overdependence of the public school to the state money, therefore, reducing the effects of the business cycle on them (Peltzman, p.12). Thus closing the gap of being seen as inferior compared to their counterpart private school. It will also ensure that the duration of graduation of the students in public school is reduced and rhyme with that of the private school due to the availability of resources than waiting for the fund from the state.
We should raise tuition because as the tuition, money is determined by the central authority as CHE in most of the state such as Kentucky, brings about many problems in the quality of the education that has been offered in the state. Therefore, if any improvement is required to improve education and it is not allowed tom increase their tuition fee, poor education will always is offered, as the state cannot be able to accommodate this entire fund (Peltzman, p.27). According to the analysis that was done by Charles Clotfelter in Buying the Best: Cost Escalation in Elite Higher Education, he concluded that the effect of increasing the tuition fee in such schools as Harvard, Duke, University of Chicago and other schools that are doing well is to increase their education quality and stay competitive as their private counterpart.
Tuition subsidies should be raised because they are only for those students who are enrolled in public schools. This makes it impossible for a student who is attending a private school to access these services. This makes public school a more favorable place for the student who is sheltering from the issue of price, therefore, sheltering these schools from competition from their counterpart private school. In other words, tuition subsidies create a quasi-monopoly rights on the public universities. This makes these schools receive high enrolment in terms of their prices that make their education quality to be compromised. Due to lack of competition, many bureaucracies are enabled to thrive and the possibility of inducing change to either the instructors who are bad or inferior program is reduced (Peltzman, p.16).
The effect of increased tuition is great and cannot affect the student from a poor background; the reason being that the school aids program can be used to cater for this. This will ensure reduced time for graduation, increase education quality, remove the school monopoly and enhance competition among the schools. Therefore, through proper planning and intensive sensitization increase of the tuition fee can be done in a manner that will not cause mayhem in public school.
