Its no secret that college costs an arm and a leg. The secret is in why it costs as much as it does. That’s no secret
America sadly has a “vicious cycle of supply and demand”.(https://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-college-so-expensive-2018-4) Supply and demand means the more something is wanted or needed by people, the more that thing will cost or increase in scarcity. Due to college being a newfound priority for many teens now, more money than ever is being spent at these schools. Many people who attend a higher learning institute are receiving some type of funding in order to attend. This funding either comes from their own pockets, student loans, or government funding. The funds from the government are given through financial aid. When it comes to financial aid, it is first come, first serve. This means that there is only so much money and when it runs out, that’s it. Since there are so many people now trying to attend some type of college, the late bloomers who don’t get their financial aid applications turned in, in a timely manner are stuck with no money to attend. The demand for college is rising so the supply of money that is available for people to attend is decreasing.
Another reason that college is so expensive now is due to all of the student luxuries available. “The curdled indulgences of campus life: fancy dormitories, climbing walls, lazy rivers, dining halls with open-fire-pit grills [and] most of all—college sports” (https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/09/why-is-college-so-expensive-in-america/569884/) are robbing students blind. Even though not all schools offer the same amenities, these amenities are what racks up the cost of tuition. The campus officials want their students to be as comfortable as they can possible be, just not for free. The comforts and extra appliances like computers and other things all cost money. Since the campus officials aren’t caring enough to pay for student’s comfort, the student must pay for it.
The last point I plan on talking about is the decrease in government funding when it comes to colleges. Higher education has been put on the back burner by the government. “States have collectively scaled back their annual higher education funding by $9 billion during” (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-realize-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions) the last 10 years. Due to them spending less money on education, students are forced to pay more tuition. “Forty-four percent [of Americans] think government-funded grants and loans have failed to keep up with the price of tuition” (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-realize-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions) which says a lot. Almost half of American agree that the government has not increased their funding to match the increase in tuition.
In conclusion, America has got to do better. Either the cost of college needs to stop increasing, or government funding is gonna have to learn how to keep up. I’m not going to discourage anyone from going to college or continuing their education in some form so the problem lies with the funding. Presidents of colleges should find a way to accommodate all of their new students by getting more funding from the government and any other sources. Since college is such an important staple to life in America, we, as Americans, should collectively find a way to make college more accessible for people.
Inquire: You mentioned “supply and demand means the more something is wanted or needed by people, the more that thing will cost or increase in scarcity. Due to college being a newfound priority for many teens now, more money than ever is being spent at these schools” as a reason for the cost of college being so high, and sure, it does sound intuitive (more people want college, higher it costs, right?), but it doesn’t actually explain why college has gotten so expensive in regards to supply and demand (you sort of elaborated with the closing statement of the paragraph, but it still didn’t answer it). Wouldn’t a larger influx of college interest mean more people to delegate cost of the indulgences/ luxuries/ buildings or more institutions built, etc? Even if my interpretations are wrong, it would be helpful to explain what exactly has changed in regards to supply and demand to raise the cost of college so drastically, everything is implied, which weakens your blog imo.
In this honors thesis, https://www.stern.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/con_042986.pdf ,she digests the work of Archibald and Feldman in “Why Does College Cost So Much?”, claiming that the long run supply curve (supply and demand) is flat and that the noticeable cost (causing upward shift in curve) is caused by economic growth and technological advances. “They base their argument on that foundation that the long-run supply curve for education is flat, meaning that institutions can increase total enrollment and facilities infinitely in the long-run and at no extra cost to students. They claim that a surge in demand would therefore have no affect on cost, and costs could only have increased if the long-run supply curve has shifted up over time.” (Archibald and Feldman (2011), Why Does College Cost So Much? pg. 48). She later elaborates from page 18-21, providing citations from the book underneath. She concludes that rise in price of college is primarily due to dependence on skilled labor. You could expand on that as a more direct reasoning and try to implement it into supply and demand
Btw I’m not claiming that your point about supply and demand is utterly wrong, I’m just inquiring if it actually even answers the question of why college is so expensive
This is like an inquiry mixed with a suggestion.
Did not rewrite quote so it’s an Inquiry.