Synthesis Paper on Secondary Education

An Informative Look at a Financially Successful Future College has always been an important step towards getting into a high paying job. Unfortunately, in most states, tuition is on the rise and students who do not come from wealthy homes find themselves a step or two behind. The next step they will take, however, will leave them even further behind the more financially set group. They have to somehow come up with the money to afford their well deserved education. By looking at the cause of rising tuition, grants, loans, and scholarships, it can be easily seen that tuition hikes are directly influencing students ' school performance in a negative way. First and foremost it is important to understand what is causing the rise in tuition. Richard Vedder of the National Review discussed the outlandish costs of college in an article titled, "A Fortune in Tuition." Vedder found that cost per student rose an alarming seventy percent in merely the last twenty years (par. 1). Surprisingly, this money is not going towards learning. It seems that tuition is rising because of two reasons. The first is a feeling of need for a better environment. On the average, increased tuition percentages have gone to help finance better buildings and new course offerings. Taking a look from an economic standpoint, it is a simple case of supply and demand. "When demand rises, relative to supply, prices (in this case tuition) go up." (par. 4) Demand for college has made a huge jump in the past few decades; more and more students want to go, and since the arrival of the community college, it 's been possible. When looking to pay for higher education, many students first look into grants, most often, Pell Grants. A grant, by definition is a gift of money for a specific reason. This reason is education and the gift giver is the government. Pell Grants are put into place for students who are considered low-income. Richard Vedder of National Review looked closely at the

Cited: Vedder, Richard. "A Fortune in Tuition." National Review. New York: Oct 11, 2004. Vol Winter, Greg. "Drowning in a Sea of Debt." New York Times Upfront. March 7, 2003.