College Tuition Benefit Analysis

Many college students learn something everyday and for many it is costing them an arm and a leg. As tuition increases for students, so does the years the students will have to pay them off. Comparing to 40 years ago, accounting to inflation, average university cost across the country rose from $10,680 in 1976 to $33,480 in 2016. This makes many people question the reality of college tuition. why is it still rising? How could someone let this happen? When will it stop? For William J. Bennett, the Secretary of education from 1985 to 1988 under the presidency of Ronald Reagan, found some answers. Bennett argued in 1987 that the encouragement of growth in federal financial help “have enabled colleges and universities blithely raise their tuitions,
Meanwhile, they spent about $8,700 a year on classroom instruction for each student, up about 9 percent.”
Students at universities within Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) all face that exact issue. For the 2012-13 academic year, students attending PASSHE universities as a full-time resident undergraduate were faced with $188 increase or $94 per semester. This does not include the increased costs of living on college campuses in the dorms nor any extra fees the universities have in place.
Some of the PASSHE schools have all had increased tuition rates through the years. From the PASSHE website, Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Slippery rock both average tuition for in-state students averages to $20,650. California University in-state prices are well above that ranging in at $26,727 and out-of-state averaging around $30,347. These costs are all comparable and Edinboro University sits between the average of the PASSHE
As for Edinboro University, Leslie Shaeffer adds that “Edinboro is known for liberal arts and their nursing program. The nursing program gets its money's worth plus they have extra props and medical supplies to purchase when doing fieldwork.” Sheaffer continued to add “I'm a journalism and public relations major and I feel like there are times when I don't get my money's worth in some of the major classes.” There are some ways around the issue. One student, Erika Yashinski, comments she receives help from grants, scholarships and FAFSA. Which Yashinski stated “...helps pay for a good amount of it.” Schaeffer commented “Thankfully, I still have help from my family, but some students are not as lucky as I am.”
Other students are fortunate enough to receive state financial aid called FAFSA. FAFSA states that “We offer more than $150 billion [student Aid] each year to help millions of students pay for higher education. Gianna Sen-Gupta, Writer for NerdWallet, claimed that over $2.9 billion worth of grants and aid were not taken in the years of