The cost and benefits of university education

¶ … University Education

Education is one of the inalienable rights of every human being. In order to ensure that education is imparted to citizens in the best possible manner an education policy is devised by every country. Bracey (2005) writes, "...more and more people are coming to believe that a college degree is necessary for achieving the good life in America." There is no denying of the fact that today's world is a knowledge-driven place where only those nations can excel that remain abreast of latest knowledge and consequent technology hence it is imperative to have an education system that is versatile and dynamic enough to cater to the needs of modern times and education policy is needed to conduct such system. Education policy comprises of laws and rules pertaining to education system, it is important because it underlines the purpose of education; its modality and mechanism of gauging its effectiveness. In case of United States of America and specifically in the context of Education the Federal government is quite decentralized in keeping with the 10th amendment of Bill of Rights that states "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." The states, therefore, have primary responsibility for the maintenance and operation of public education. Each state is required by its state constitution to provide an education system whereby students of all ages may receive an education. The National Institute of Education was created to improve education in the United States. Within states this leads to efforts to substantiate that each child no matter where he or she is situated receives an adequate education. The Equal Education Opportunities Act of 1974 provides that no state shall deny equal educational opportunity to an individual on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin. As the policies vary from state to state we will analyze the university education policy of the state of louisiana. [1] in the constitution of louisiana state there is an article VIII that specifically deal with education. This law was enacted in 1974, it has more than dozen sections and numerous subclauses which discuss in detail various aspects of education in the state. In the context of higher education this law has provisions from section 5 onwards. In first part of section 5 a costitutional body is endorsed called the Board of Reagents its responsibilities include coordinating affairs and budget sanctioning of higher education setup. To maintain diversity and democracy its members are representative of all classes of state. The salient powers vested in this body by constitution are: it can revise or discard the existing degree program; sanctioning approval or disapproval to the proposed degree program; establishing a new management board; authorizing transference of a university from one board to another; it recommends budget for institutions. In the section 6 of the same article the establishment of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana Syatem is articulated; its members are appointed by Governor following a certain selection procedure.

The section 12 of this article tells of appropriation of funds to higher education and according to it the funds appropriated shall be administered by the managing boards and these funds will have utility solely as defined by law. By adding such measures as part of their constitution they have ensured that education being dynamic force of impetus in economy must continue to enligthen and better the lives of people who are willing to harness it and use it for their own good and society. The constitutional safeguards determine that the value of education will never be undermined and with passage of time the fruits of an educated and viable workforce are delivered to the society and the ever increasing competitiveness of global economy can no way exert detrimental impact on the society but rather be reinforced because of ready adaptibility and preparedness of the society through education.

There is a growing surge to get an access to university and gain a degree much in pursuit of American dream like owning a home or a secured life. The university degree has at least become a ray of hope to remain in the middle class if not over-dramatically outright affluent. It is estimated that about two-thirds of Americans undergo some sort of higher education so as to keep themselves at pace with the competitive and demanding work environment, statistics show that an investment in higher education pays off in higher earning power. As in any other sphere of life "higher education" includes both the intense competition for students to get into universities and the low-cost community colleges and other such assorted institutes that are all in some way supplying knowledge to people.

Acquisition of knowledge in today's world can be a costly venture with average tuition at a private university somewhere around $20,000 per academic year [2]. Public universities and community colleges are relatively more affordable, with their costs heavily cut down by state governments. But when money is short public university systems suffer a great deal as government perceives other avenues of public interest more pressing and important. In such a climate both public and private institutions compete for students' tuition money against each other. This results in exorbitant increase in cost of education and loans offer the only ray of hope: "With the cost of education continuing to rise at a rapid rate, it is more important than ever to look at loan options, loan sources, and the long run repercussions faced by students seeking an education in today's society." (Manton et al. 2002) to make situation worse higher education systems find themselves in dilemma of disgruntled state legislators, businesses and students asking for accountability or productivity and results. The Critics argue that by comparison with other education system the mechanism for gauging the utility of the system is by far less and how could taxpayers be rest assured that their money is well invested. In the atmosphere of financial constraints and uncertainty many institutions are at the verge of shut down. During early part of twentieth century universities were mainly the domain of elites and aristocrats and this impression remained till World War II, with the passage of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944[2], it opened the school doors to more than 16 million veterans of World War II and the Korean War. Many of them were first in their families to study beyond high school. Congress also gradually allowed funds and grants for people to seek better education and this opened new avenues for people to gain to universities. In america higher education imparted in college or university is normally of four-year duration; it is highly stratified and differentiated into freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. But recent five decades have also seen community colleges gaining popularity these are two-year colleges basically meant to brush up academic skills in students before letting them into four-year college, the reason they've become popular because of the diverse range of subject they teach and their low tuition and open admissions policies.

There was a time in America when many colleges turned away students based on race, gender or religion. Overall social changes have led to an increasingly diverse student population Women now make more than half of all college students and significant change was observed in case of minority students who considerably increased their participation in university affairs. This increased diversity can also be attributed to the result of a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that barred institutions from observing bias against any minority community. Some people emphasize the best way to make sure minorities get the opportunities they were once denied is by encouraging them and giving them ample opportunities. [2]but critics have pointed out that even this practice is also spreading malaise among communities as some white students have complained they are being denied admission in favor of minority students with poorer grades. Critics also say that using race as a factor, even with the best intentions, is wrong because it moves us further away from a society based on merit

The college dues continue to soar at much faster rate than does the financial aid and family incomes. More often a student applies for university out of pressing financial considerations rather than on academic grounds. An important factor that should be kept in view is that tuition fees changes dramatically depending on the institution. The tuition fee of private college is round about in the range of $18,000 per year [2] while public college charges approximately one-fourth of it and community colleges charge even less. Another sources puts the price tag at "an annual average of $12,841 for tuition, room and board at public colleges and an average of $27,677 at private colleges." (Ebony, 2003)

Large majority of students avail federal financial aid but it's not the complete answer to their financial problems because though the government pays two-thirds of all financial aid but it is not wholly an outright grant and more than half of the money is in the form of loans that student has to return. Consequently a student when graduate is already under debt thousands of dollars. Most of the time those students are awarded aid that are need-based but quite a number of students are entertained based on academic merit, sports ability or musical talent rather than financial need. Universities gave almost half of their $14.5 billion in scholarship money in 2000 to students based on merit or ability.

Students gaining admissions and financial aid could still display poor result as shown by the 1996 study of UCLA according to which there were less than 40% students who finished their degree in the first four years of joining university, a decline by 7% from 20 years ago.

As the large some of public money goes into the higher education system public definitely do take cognizance of who is taking advantage of the scheme and how much is been spent. Majorities say it's important to have a college degree to get ahead in today's society. About 60% parents of students undergone higher education say that college is absolutely essential for their child. But the public also sees a college education as more than merely an economic advantage. A survey showed that large population expressed that student possessing higher education degrees must show maturity and that the campus should be as diverse as possible. Majority of general population is of the view that students who are diligent and hard working should be allowed to gain college education without hassle and worrying about the cost of degree. At the same time people also say that most college students borrow unfair quantity of loan that only adds to their troubles and tensions. They demand of government to take initiatives and make higher education more affordable to students in this way more and more students can really avail the opportunity of higher education without having to fret about the fiscal dimension of the problem. To some money problem is another big factor why students can't concentrate on their studies properly because they're also been distracted from their core job of studying by financial considerations that divide their focus thus affecting poor on their studies. One way of overcoming this problem can be to provide financial freedom to students that leaves them to concentrate only on their studies and this financial freedom can only be brought about by joint cooperation of public and private sector who must be willing to invest in future for the sake of good. There were surveys conducted in which people were asked to give their views on students undergoing higher education and the aspirants, a section of public expressed their view that any one who wants college degree can get admission while equal number of people said half the students already in universities don't really belong there, showing an important attitude of public towards university education that it's up to the student to make the most out of college. (Manton, 2002) This way the students can establish themselves by learning and putting their knowledge of whatever they have learnt to application. The benefits of education may be several but they are not realized immediately as Dearing Report illustrates: the benefits of higher education are "...unpredictable for the individual and realized over a long period of time. We believe it would be unjust and inefficient if those who did not have immediate access to the necessary finance to participate in their higher education were, for that reason, denied the chance of receiving any of its benefits." (NCIHE, 1997:86)

One basic divide between developed and underdeveloped countries is that major percentage of population that might be as high as 50% [3] in developed countries attends universities for higher education. Therefore in developed countries higher education is responsible for strong national economies as it provides highly trained and qualified personnel to impetus the rest of economy. Since well-informed and educated personnel prove to be much superior workforce in terms of work and in comparison their earnings are a lot better as well. Thus despite short comings and flaws in the policy of university education I strongly support this policy because through it a sustainable and continuous chain of well educated and better equipped man power is produced. It is estimated that in the next decade or so major portion of new jobs generated will require individuals who possess higher qualification and additional skills that invariably are part and parcel of higher education. The research shows that higher education qualified person is in much more comfortable position to negotiate salary with the employer and in addition to it the educated person earns approximately 35% more than normal pay. There are different reasons why people go for higher education; sometimes it is as simple as higher education gives sense of accomplishment and honor that is associated with it especially if that individual is the first person in the family to go to university. As by securing university degree one not only enhances one's credentials but this additional learning skills also helpful in obtaining good job and in earning better living.