More and more often now, education comes with a price tag. These days you would accumulate quite the hefty tab if you were to follow the old advice to “never stop learning,” since the real evidence of education is a pricey degree.
College tuition is on an upward slope across the country, and it seems that those of us most affected by it won’t find many ways around it.
The state of California has long been known for its low tuition for residents. There’s a large backlash against the possibility of this reputation changing.
Students have been busy protesting against the projected tuition hikes at the University of California, where they may be facing a 16 percent increase by the beginning of the next academic year.
However, it looks like no amount of passion alone will be able to change the future trends we are beginning to see.
We’re even seeing this here at Ohio University, where almost weekly there are new updates about the budget cuts that will affect all of us.
And the scariest part? The tuition hike may end up affecting the value of our education.
Although tuition at the University of California still does not compare to what students attending OU and many other schools in our area are paying, the incremental hikes may force students to make the difficult choice of dropping out abruptly.
As if the climbing price of tuition were not enough, the student loans that many use to cover the cost of higher education are in increasingly worse shape, as well.
In almost every case within the past few years, public universities are being forced to raise tuition due to less state funding during the economic recession. In this situation it seems the schools are being pushed into a corner; they cannot afford the current affairs, but have little room to make budget cuts without compromising quality.
College is expensive. It seems universities have so many sources of revenue, but when you think about where that money goes, it is not surprising to me that it goes quickly.
All these opportunities we are afforded — the beautiful campus we all love and the school sports we partake in or cheer for — come at a price. The university can raise the tuition, they can push for an increase in state funding, but there are only so many options.
I believe this is a calling for a new and creative approach.
This is a problem that is undermined in our society. Making higher education nearly unobtainable will only set Americans back.
What we really need is to invest in a more dynamic and advanced workforce. We begrudgingly accept the steepening tuition prices, while in some European countries the idea of paying for an education still seems ludicrous.
We’re all here to invest in ourselves, and therefore in our futures. But to invest in our society’s future, a new answer to this growing problem will have to be found.
Nicole Spears is a sophomore studying public relations and a columnist for
The Post. Email he
r at ns307109@ohiou.edu if you think a tuition hike means less education value.
