Education Essay Sample: How College Tuition is Determined

"Financial planning process should commence long before a student is admitted to an institution. It is essential because it makes the student study comfortable and with ease. Facilities are always strict with college tuition payment, and there is no time they will waive fees for students with outstanding balances. Since 1978, the cost of college fees has risen by a whopping 1,200%. This is a significant rise considering how educated is valued at the moment. Paying school fees is not a simple task, in the USA it is estimated that the college fee per semester is $448 which is not a very high amount but to some families, it is money they will struggle to raise. Although state funding plays a big part, calculating college tuitions is a complicated process because there is no fixed price for all programs in colleges. Each student's budget is different, and it varies depending on the number of credit hours a student plans to attend during the enrollment period. I will talk today about how tuition is calculated, state budget cuts and the effect it has on students and families. I have researched this topic for the last week and have a lot of supporting sources to prove my case.

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Tuition in colleges is calculated per credit hour. The amount of fee to be paid will be based on the number of subjects a student partakes per semester. A good example is if a student takes subjects 1 and 5 and lab 5 for the first semester the fees for that particular student will be the sum of the number of credit per each subject which adds up to the whole tuition fee (David) (Dickeson.).

The state also chips in to aid students with difficulties in paying their fees. They use the cost of attendance which is a set of estimated expenses that are used by The Office of Financial Assistance to determine the amount of money a student can obtain. The average class in every college in the state is three credit hours. The fee per credit is the same for advanced students, i.e. master and doctoral students. All tuition fees are the same around the country in government institutions; there is a standard fee for all students (Statistcs).

The rise in tuition fees has hampered the accusation of education by many families and students. The skyrocketing fees are hard to rise for some students and families. Rising tuition fees leads to an average of 0.25% decrease in enrollment per each $100 raised to tuition. This has given students and families an almighty strain when it comes to college fees. In 2016, the average student had $37k in student loan debt along with over 44 million in the U.S. alone tolling over 1.3 million in borrowed money (Archibald).

The rise of tuition fees is an issue that should be addressed to ensure that college education is affordable to every citizen. Effects of substantial fees to families and students are terrible; it can lead to psychological issues and struggles. The state should lower the fees to make it affordable instead of issuing aid. If they achieve in reducing costs, it will boost chances of students acquiring education which will be a big boost to the countries development because knowledge is power.''

Works Cited

Archibald, Robert B. "Why does college cause so much?" Oxford University Press (2011): 267-269.

David. "Anatomy of college tuition." Leadership and Advocacy (2010): 1-22.

Dickeson., Robert C. "Frequently asked questions about college cost." Future of Higher Education (2010): 1-10.

Feldman. "Estimate used data for students enrollment." Digest of Education Statistics (2010): 221-2228.

Statistics, National Center for Education. "Immediate College Enrollments Rate." The Condition of Education (2016). http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cpa.asp.