The disadvantages of colleges having high tuition fees for students

As the economy has picked up after the great recession, the college degrees are increasingly becoming hard to acquire. The government distanced itself from the issue of funding higher education, leaving schools and colleges to bear the concern completely. The other solution left is for students to borrow from the federal government. However, the biggest concern falls on the colleges and universities leading to various adverse impacts (Ehrenberg). This essay focuses on the impacts that the high tuition fees in higher education have on colleges. The adverse effects that are exerted on the students will be addressed specifically as well as the solution to these problems .
Colleges have been experiencing a setback of raising school fees for a long period. The school fees have increased at a rate of 3-3.5% over a period of 30 years while the family income levels have only risen by 16%. This rate of increase is higher than the rate of expansion. In addition, the college financial aid budgets have continued to rise as a result of the great recession and the policies that have been adopted to make college funding more accessible to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. State policies have reduced the higher education budgets making colleges bear the concern of financing school fees payments for them (Cusumano 26).
Interestingly, the colleges are viewed as a part of this problem. This blame arises because they complain of the federal laws that force them to make huge spending through tuition from their income. They are also apprehensive about the possibility that they might lose the favorable tax treatment that they obtain on their grants (Ehrenberg).
The universities and colleges encounter fewer students that pay full school fees. This is because the rise in the tuition fees means that many students require financial aid to be able to access education. The numbers of those students who require funding is high and the figures continue to rise as the tuition fees increase (Ehrenberg). As a possible solution to this setback, universities and colleges should be selective during admissions and admit the students who show a high potential of working after school hours so as to finance their education. The institutions should also present job opportunities for their students as a way of giving them independence (Scherer, Anson, and Connect 104).
As a result of the requirement for higher tuition fees, colleges spend more of their award in financing students’ school fees instead of carrying out other developmental programs or research activity with the money. For instance, at Cornel University, in 1987-1988, 29% of students received financial aid and this figure rose to 52% in the year 2013-2014 (Salmon and Barrington 38). This situation can be solved in an easy step. Colleges should source for funding from external sources that are specifically meant to finance education. These will be independent donors who are willing to give the money in the form of charity. Through this way, the colleges will not have to use the money that has been set aside for the developmental activity or research purposes (Bowen, William, et al. 55).
The state cut down on funding school fees due to the economic recession. This has caused schools to be unable to finance the same level of financial aid thus the burden is passed on to students. The schools that try to subsidize these fees are caught in a dilemma of reducing development activity and cutting down on expenses such as the salaries of professors or having many students leave school due to lack of fees (Salmon and Barrington 40). The individual states should take up responsibility and resume funding for the higher education. They may need coercion in order to take up this responsibility. The pressure should emanate from students groups, parents associations, and community groups in the form of demonstrations, the court system, and other channels that can reach the governance of individual states (Scherer, Anson, and service 116).
Division arises from the students who receive grants and those who do not receive these grants. This situation arises when information spreads out to the students who pay full fees on the large amount of grant aid that the disadvantaged students receive. Additionally, disagreements can arise among these two groups of students and create a negative learning atmosphere due to the difference in views and opinions that might sometimes cause fights. This situation might bring about a negative attitude about donating to the colleges when they become alumni (Ehrenberg). This setback can be mitigated by offering seminars and educational conferences that bring about understanding of the need for funding for some students. Additionally, the university should make sure that the gap between the school fees is not so high such that the self-sponsored students feel manipulated. This way, they will not be dissatisfied, and the disagreements will not arise (Salmon and Barrington 39).
University leaders have acquired additional tasks to their official duties. These tasks include conducting campaigns in order to raise endowments for the undergraduate financial aid because the amount needed has skyrocketed. The operations take time and effort leading to wastage of viable time that could have been spent carrying out other developmental activities (Salmon and Barrington 39). In order to mitigate this drawback, the institutions of higher learning should come up with an individual and independent department which will be responsible for sourcing for funds. This department will ensure that there are donors who are willing to give to the education and thus, the other authorities will not be distracted in their official duties. The only time the officials will be involved in the activities will be during giving of instructions and presiding over events (Salmon and Barrington 40).
Colleges are forced to divert funds that were meant for other purposes into funding education aid for the disadvantaged students. This is because the students cannot afford the high student fees, and they are forced to apply for aid. The overwhelming number of applications causes the finance departments to squeeze funds that were meant for developmental activity and catering for expenses to be used in funding (Canadian Federation of Students 1). This problem can be solved by establishing a fund that will be used in financing the needy and emergency cases. As a result, when a student is evaluated and found to be in need of school fees, the university can draw money from the fund and offer him or her (Ehrenberg).
Colleges will not be able to survive in the wave of increased school fees. The colleges that will be most affected are the least elite, and the for-profit institutions that are already in question. They will encounter difficulties because their aim is profit maximization. Students who cannot afford school fees will transfer to colleges that can offer financing aid. Over time, the colleges will collapse leaving the public institutions in the market. Examples of the institutions that are expected to collapse are community colleges and second-tier and third-tier universities and colleges (Salmon and Barrington 38). This problem will be mitigated through government intervention. The local authorities should step in and offer funding for the universities and colleges so as to prevent them from collapsing. If the colleges go under, the quality of education in the local and national level will go down (Carter 40).
The high cost of tuition fees has also caused an increase in the spending habits of people. Parents who have children in school have been forced to spend more of their money in paying the tuition fees. They forego their daily spending habits and concentrate on making sacrifices so that they can cater to the requirements of school fees. When the fees are analyzed as a proportion of after-tax family income, it is clear that most of the burden weighs more on the budgets of the middle and low-income earners (Salmon and Barrington 41). In order to solve this difficulty, the management should come up with a national funding system that enables needy students to access financing for their school fees. This loan will be at a low-interest rate, and it will be deducted from their earnings when they get employed. This system will reduce the burden on the students’ families, and thus their lifestyle will not be affected (Salmon and Barrington 39).

Works Cited
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Canadian Federation of Students. Impact of High Fees.n.d.Web. 31 March, 2015.

Carter, Deborah. A Dream Deferred?: Examining the Degree Aspirations of African American and. New York: Springer, 2009.Print

Cusumano, Michael A. “Are the Costs of ‘Free’ Too High in Online Education?” Technology Strategy and Management (2013): 26-29. Print

Ehrenberg, Ronald G. “Is the golden age of private research university over?” May 2013. Change. Web.31 March 2015

John, Smart. Higher education : handbook of theory and research. Volume XXII. Dordrecht : Springer, 2007. Print

Luminafoundation. “Putting Colleges on Notice: Crafting Smarter Strategies to Improve Affordability through Curbing Cost Increases.” 2015. Luminafoundation.Web. 31 March 2015

Salmon, Adrienne T. Washington, and Barrington. “The Chronicie of Higher Education.” Diverse: issues In Higher Education (2014): 38-41. Print

Scherer, Juliet Lilledahl, MirraLeigh Anson, and Palgrave Connect. Community colleges and the access effect : why open admissions suppresses achievement. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. Print