Published in 2017, David F. Labaree’s book A Perfect Mess: The Unlikely Ascendancy of American Higher Education analyzes exactly what the title suggests. Across the United States of America there is a total of 2,618 accredited four-year universities/ colleges (the words are synonymous throughout Labaree’s writing, a trend I will continue in this review). Within the first page Labaree states that this system was never really supposed to work. He then continues the book by showing the ways American higher education was able to grow into the successful system it is today. During his argument Labaree wavers back and forth on supporting the idea that public universities are strong enough to stand on their own without state funding.…
Sweetland, Edwards H., Altman Alex, Miller Zeke J., and Thompson Mark. But Can America Afford This Approach to Solving Student Debt? Vol. 186. , Time, 2015, pp. 92-99. Academic Search PremierAccessed 2 Feb. 2017.…
Drafting a plan to address the problem of Manhattan Institute inability to grow revenue demands acquiring adequate funding. Fulfilling a university mission relies heavily on the availability of financing. The video clip (Educause Policy, 2012) concluded that determining funding options becomes critical to a university survival, the quality of education given to students, and the preparation of faculty to deliver quality education. Weisbrod, Ballou, & Asch, 2011 firmly believe that private donations and endowments are a primary source of a university and college revenue. The author's further state that higher education leaders must possess the ability to finance their unprofitable activities and be able to survive any shortfall of income (p.147).…
As of today United States faces a lot of socio-economic problems. One of the most critical is the alarming rise of college tuition. Universities are operating more like businesses than actually higher learning institutions, student population not being ready to take college level classes (remedial), numbers College graduates are in a constant plummet, and students demonstrate no improvement in skills ranging from critical thinking to writing. In the book Academically Adrift, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa discuss these issues and also propose us how we can solve these problems that require imminent action. This book is an extensive research by these authors to demonstrate what is wrong with American University systems, to support their research…
New systems and policies have been instituted by the State Higher Education Executive Officers to make college access and success a national priority. These policies include: Targeting low-income and first-generation students, “overhauling the notoriously complex financial aid system” (627), and developing new information systems. Low-income and first-generation students are statistically the least likely to succeed in college and complete their degree study programs. People who fall into this category are targeted by allocating greater public resources to community colleges and regional four-year institutions, while also providing need-based financial aid. The financial aid system is obviously complex and difficult to understand. One way to create ease of access to this program is to allow data for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid directly transferable from the federal income tax form. Pell Grants should also be slated to students’ basic living needs and not tuition to highlight the responsibility of the states and colleges to provide grants for tuition to low-income students and moderate tuition and fees based on students’ financial status. As for the development of the information system, it better tracks students’ progress and determines whether they are at risk of dropping out.…
When I first starting planning out the trip to down town to visit the museum I thought it would go actually the way I planned it. The plan was to wake up on Sunday make sure I wore enough layers of clothing because I am always cold; get on the train and go. Well it was a bit more complicated than that. I woke up later than I expected but still had fun waiting at the train station with my boyfriend. Also I did not wear proper shoes because when I started driving off it started raining, but my car is an endless closet so I found some shoes that were not going to soak through when I hit the first big puddle in Chicago. On the train ride I started calculating what I wanted to see and in what order, but I did not consider that my boyfriend would want to see something else and that we have different taste. This of course was a problem when we got there. So when we started walking down the couple of blocks that would get us to the museum from Union Station, I knew there would be bums, but they decided that Sunday was the best day to come out. On the way there we got asked by more than five bums if we could make a donation so that they can help the homeless shelters to support them. They especially liked the area right in front of the museum so it was hard not to make contact with them. However once inside I did not expect the museum to be so large because on the outside it honestly looked smaller. The lady at the front desk was nice enough to give us student discounts even though neither of us had our student IDs, and my boyfriend was finally happy that he can dry off his feet, unlike me he did not think about carrying around boots with him.…
“Graduating with six figures ' worth of debt is becoming increasingly common.” (179) In the essay “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission” Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus discussed about how the price of college education is increasing, while the quality of some teachers is decreasing. Hacker and Dreifus gave tips on how to make college education successful. Hacker and Dreifus included the tips they discovered including money, faculty-student relations, classes that should be taken, graduate schools, and teaching techniques; the two also visited schools across the United States from University of Mississippi to Western Oregon and figured out what those schools were doing right to have a good success rate.…
In the article, “Are Colleges Worth the Price of Admission?” by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, the authors did research on several colleges around the country to see whether our investment on higher education is really worth the money that we pay for it. The authors believe that universities are the ones responsible for the doubling of tuition costs compared to what they used to be , and not fulfilling the most important objective to student’s which is: “to challenge the minds of young people” (180). In the article, Hacker and Dreifus outline some things they think would help improve some of the problems in the college system and a few universities that they like, and tell us why these schools have won their favor. Being an incoming freshman at Grambling State University, I’ve been able to see some of the issues universities can have from budget cuts, to problems with the G-men football team.…
Given that tuition and fees at colleges and universities are rising at a pace higher than the cost of living, students face an increasingly difficult burden of funding their educational pursuits. Since the 1980s, the cost of higher education has skyrocketed; college tuition and fees have…
As a society we believe if people are provided wit the best education then we will have a good economy and a good life. In a speech by the President of the University of Illinois the President said,” when funding for this core mission is disrupted, the entire system is threatened.” The president’s statement is correct because if the University of Illinois isn’t being funded properly then the student’s education is at risk. It is understandable that the state government shouldn’t be blamed for the financial crisis fully, but the government is the one who should provide the university the funds. The University of Illinois wants the top people their fields to graduate from this university, which will only be possible if the government gives the university the money it deserves. The state government is using the money on other things instead of giving it to the universities. This isn’t fair for the school because they have to also pay bills. When the state doesn’t provide the money to the universities, they also go in debt.…
(insert intro to quote here) “50% of the money public universities make goes towards instruction, research, and hospital services. Only 7% goes towards academic support and 4% goes towards student services, operations and maintenance” (Jasty, “Where Does All That Money Go?”). According to the graphs Jasty put together, only 24% of the money that is put towards higher education goes towards the students’ benefit such as student services and auxiliary enterprises, which only makes up only 13% of that 24%. Student services and auxiliary enterprises include student activities and organizations, admissions, residence halls, dining services, student health services, athletics, and student counseling. At least 18% of the money that students pay goes towards independent operations and depreciation, in which some students do not have any affiliation with. Students cannot help that colleges lose some assets every year- that is going to happen to any place over time, so why should students have to pay for the depreciation of the college that they choose to attend? Independent operations include “expenses unrelated to the primary missions of the institution (i.e. instruction, research, public service) although they may contribute indirectly to the enhancement of these…
Even when life seems to be changing rapidly and it appears that nothing stays the same, we know there is one thing that will almost always remain constant: the rising price of college tuition. For the past thirty years this issue has been plaguing the United States and college students alike. In recent years it has become even worse – in fact, the cost of college tuition today is 400% more than what it was thirty years ago. The average college student’s debt today is $23,700 with the average loan debt being $432 per month – over 10% of typical monthly earnings at a post college job. These colleges claim to be “building future leaders” and “preparing you for the real world.” The irony is that they are causing the problem to begin with.…
As a student, one of my greatest concerns regarding higher education is whether or not it is worth the price. Will I be left in debt with little to show for it? Scholars have argued for years that these concerns are justified and that the cost of higher level education is rising beyond the point of sustainability, resulting in an economic crisis. Robin Wilson, on the other hand, contends that such fears are exaggerated. Robin Wilson is a reporter for the Chronicle of Higher Education with 25 years of experience dedicated to reporting on higher education. In her article “A Lifetime of Student Debt? Not Likely,” published in Washington, D.C. in May of 2009, Wilson provides hard facts and anecdotes with one main point in mind: acquiring a reasonable amount of debt for your education is a good investment. Wilson makes some very compelling points that are still relevant, and by and large, I agree with her at this very moment. However, some things have changed since Wilson wrote about student debt and this issue may not be so cut and dried. As interest rates change and the price of a college education increases, her argument makes less and less sense. Though for the time being, her main point still remains viable.…
America has been a world dominating country for decades, but in the later years we've seen a constant fall in the American economy and its future. We live in a highly competitive, global economy, and if our economy is to be strong, we need the best-educated workforce in the world. Education is also essential for personal well-being. We won’t achieve that if, every year, hundreds of thousands of bright young people cannot afford to go to college while millions more leave school deeply in debt. We need to ensure that every young person in this country who wishes to go to college can get the education that he or she desires, without going into debt and regardless of his or her family’s income.…