 "Photo: MCT Campus")
 "Photo: MCT Campus")
During President Barack Obama’s campaign for the White House he made it clear what his plank on education was: to improve K-12 schools and expand access to higher education.
In Obama’s plan to expand the opportunities for higher education, he stated that he wanted to make it “more affordable by expanding Pell Grants and initiating new tax credits to make sure any young person who works hard and desires a college education can access it.”
According to a recent article in the New York Times, Reed College in Portland, Oregon had to deny more than 100 students worthy of admission because they needed financial assistance. The admissions officers at Reed College had already accepted these students, but no acceptance letters had been sent before this decision was made.
In other words, more than 100 students who deserved acceptance letters from this private college were replaced with students who had the money to pay the $50,000 tuition bill without financial assistance and did not necessarily ‘deserve’ to attend the school.
Due to the recession that the country is currently enduring more college students have applied for financial aid. At the same time many colleges and universities are making adjustments; such as cutting costs wherever they can, reducing salaries, suspending hiring of new faculty, and postponing campus improvements.
By not administering enough financial aid colleges and universities have placed a huge burden on the students and their families that are unable to pay for the cost of attendance. With the unsteady economy, it does not seem fair that these schools would raise tuition and fees, especially when taking into consideration the endowment losses –making financial assistance a little more difficult to receive. Many schools are taking the approach that if they raise tuition or increase their enrollment, it will offset the other expenses.
“If you talk to financial aid officers they’ll tell you that applications nationally for financial aid are up about 20 percent this year. That’s on top of the 16 percent increase we saw last year,” said Phil Day, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, in an interview with CNBC.
Finding enough money to make it through college has become a fruitless search for many college students and their families, especially with numerous lenders decreasing the number of student loans they offer.
According to the Charlotte Business Journal, the cost of attendance at UNC Charlotte will increase 3.3 percent to $4,423 per year.
“While additional tuition revenue would be helpful as we deal with the impact of budget reductions, current economic conditions require that we focus on solutions that avoid additional financial hardships to our students,” said Chancellor Philip Dubois, in an interview with the Charlotte Business Journal.
Many people are discouraged from pursuing their education because of the high costs and with many schools raising costs; this is not helping the situation. To compete in today’s global economy, a higher education is a necessity, but we are going to need the government to keep to their promises. Make higher education more accessible to those who desire to go to college and are unable to afford it without a little help. The economic situation is not going to change overnight, but education should not be suffering because of it.
Be the first to comment on this article!