Discussion On Is The Cost Of Higher Education Too High?
Writing Exercise II: Research Proposal
Purpose and Description
Expert researchers do more than simply collect information and report on it. They identify problems, ask questions, consult databases, study the scholarly conversation, gather and analyze data, and present new findings both to their research communities and to non-expert audiences. They also spend time convincing others that their research is worth undertaking at all. With these foci in mind, your aim in this assignment will be to propose a study that you can continue to develop through the remainder of the semester. What follows are some guidelines for helping you engage with this process.
Part I: Providing Context
Compose 1-2 paragraphs in which you do the following:
Identify and explain the problem or issue that drives your inquiry;
Propose a research question that you can use to focus your study. Specifically, you should begin with an indirect question and refine it as you learn more about the problem you have identified: I am studying ___________________because I want to find out what/why/how ___________________.
Part II: Describing Particulars
Compose 1-2 paragraphs in which you do the following:
Identify and describe the audience for your inquiry (general);
Identify and describe the audience for your inquiry (academic);
Identify and describe the methods you will use to answer your question, including the types of evidence or information/data you may need to collect to add to existing scholarship.
Part III: Explaining Significance
Compose 1-2 paragraphs in which you do the following:
Explain the potential significance of your inquiry for the audience you have identified. You might ask: When you have answered your question, what will your audience know that it did not know before? How will your research contribute to an existing body of knowledge? What other benefits (e.g., social, educational, economic) might come out of your research?
Specific Requirements
Your proposal should:
Provide a clear foundation for your inquiry;
Be ~2 single spaced pages (1000 words maximum);
Be written in a clear, precise, and active prose style;
Use 12 point Times New Roman or Garamond typeface;
Use a recognizable citation style (e.g., MLA or APA);
Be uploaded to Canvas as a Word document by the deadline (consult your course syllabus
and schedule for details).
The overall aim of this assignment is to help you clarify the scope of your inquiry rather than identify a particular argument you want to support. So, try to approach it as an opportunity to pursue a question that is meaningful to you and that you can answer, as fully as possible, by the conclusion of the semester. Please write or stop by my office (or both) if you have questions about this assignment or anything else related to the course.
Professor:
Course Title:
Date:
Is The Cost Of Higher Education Too High?
The Study Context
Many key issues are raised concerning higher education. Unfortunately, all these issues are related to the cost of higher education. For example, Blumenstyk raises issues on whether higher is an essential investment for students; whether such education is indeed accessible students from low income families, and also whether higher education is a good value to invest in. How is higher education cost shared among families, students, and their respective governments? These inquiries are in fact related with many publicized issues. For instance, the reports of education cost of $20,000 or more have raised feelings that higher education has turned out to be unreasonably expensive in the United States (135). In fact some Americans believe that the policy on federal financial aid should assist many people to fund their higher education. Others believe that federal financial aid policy should be offered in terms of grants but not as loans as it is presently constituted. As Stephenson, John, and Mantz indicates, most governments are indeed facing a crisis with a lot of pressure on their budgetary terms, with higher education institutions being forced to cope with small allocations. These institutions end relying primarily on tuition fees from students to finance their operations. From the issues raised by Blumenstyk, it is then justified to ask ourselves; “is the cost of education too high?”
I am therefore studying to unfold whether or not the cost of education is too high because I want to find out what/why/how higher education is essential investment, accessible to students from low income families, results in a good value, and impacts of cost sharing among students, parents and governments on higher education learning. Clotfelter argues that for higher education to be effective in terms cost, it must demonstrate to be an essential investment, accessible to everybody despite income disparity, be good value for investment, and should ensure appropriate cost sharing between the students, parents, higher learning institutions, as well governments of the day.
Particulars to the Study
The study targets higher education students, their parents, higher learning institutions and government institutions related to high education. The students comprise an important stakeholder in higher education system. Some of these students fund their own education while others rely on their families and well-wishers as well as government institutions. Their effectiveness in adhering to purchasing of the required resources, paying tuition fees on time will be used as indicators to measure the cost of higher education. The parents on the other hand invest a lot of resources on their children in higher education. It should be noted that most of these parents come from low income families who might be facing challenges in adhering to higher learning institutions’ fees payments policies. This will also be the variables to measure whether the cost of higher education is indeed too high to afford. The higher institutions are also responsible for meeting the operation costs including paying their staff, purchasing of the required facilities, and adhering to the standards of ISO certifications. On the other hand the relevant government institutions are responsible in allocation of certain budgets to higher educations. They are also responsible for ensuring that needy but bright students acquire higher education through loans and paying the public employees in higher education institutions. Therefore students, parents, higher institutions of learning and government institutio...