The High Cost of Higher Education Tuition

Policy Brief on the High Cost of Higher Education Tuition Name: Affiliation: Course: Instructor: Date: Policy Brief on the High Cost of Higher Education Tuition Executive Summary This brief describes a current policy issue: increasingly expensive tuition at higher education institutions in the United States. It proposes courses of action that may help solve the problem. Tuition costs have increased, influencing the cost of college education since many college students from low-income families cannot afford college education and other expenses like fees. Two intervention strategies are proposed to solve this problem. First, an incremental solution includes a tiered tuition structure that allows all students to pay reasonable and affordable tuition rates while, at the same time, proving that low-income students are welcome to pay a small amount of tuition to join the school. This model has been recommended for use in institutions like the University of California systems; this model guarantees efficient improvement of accessibility and cost for disadvantaged students (Abad, 2018). Second, the idea of creating a more expanding federal grant program would provide funding for tuition for students from low-income families, with aid funded by a progressive tax scheme (McPherson & Schapiro, 2021). Like other educational programs like the Pell Grant, this program can enhance access to education and increase graduation ratios. Despite criticisms on administrative practicality, fairness, cost and efficiency, and sustainability, both solutions will have long-term positive effects and are imperative for achieving educational justice, economic opportunity, and social justice. Introduction The current trend of higher education tuition costs in the United States imposes a considerable cost burden on the learners and their families. As college education becomes more expensive, many students find it rather challenging to finance their college education independently, thus requiring parental and government support. Low-income families are the most affected since they experience financial difficulties meeting educational and essential needs. This is a matter of equity since all students seeking a university education should be given a chance without worrying about the costs involved (Abad, 2018). Furthermore, addressing the issue of tuition fee debt is crucial to social justice and to creating opportunities for students to attain earning potential to improve their quality of life and, of course, the quality of the communities to which they belong (Woodhouse, 2015; Montalto et al., 2019). Thus, providing greater access to higher education would lead to an increased number of educated and skilled personnel, contributing to the overall education of the nation and its economy. Dimensions of the Policy Problem The policy problem of rising tuition costs to pay for higher education is anchored on expansive economic factors and institutional settings. Economically, several factors have pressured universities' operating expenses: reduced state funding and ever-increasing global demand for university education have boosted tuition fees (Carnoy et al., 2018). This is further exacerbated by institutions where universities hire more administrators than necessary and spend to create expensive services and facilities to attract more students due to the need to compete with other universities to keep a high reputation. Nationally, this problem manifests in stark statistics: education costs have increased dramatically, credit prices have increased significantly, and admission rates experience sharp fluctuations (Kane, 2010; Goldrick-Rab & Kendall, 2016). Again, most people in this group have limited access and cannot afford expensive treatment, hence contributing to the development of further discrepancies between the rich and the poor as well as between the white and the black. The increase in students for this issue is most sharply experienced in its impact, whereby students are forced to take loans and end up with daunting repayment challenges, resulting in a challenged financial future in the years to come. Socio-cultural factors hit the graduation rates, academic performance, and career opportunities as the financial challenges burden students (Johnson, 2018). This is why it is critically important to understand the tractability of possible solutions to address this complex problem. Solutions like more funds from the federal government, no ...