As most of you noticed tuition in the past years has increased dramatically. A study was conducted in all 50 states in the US. they revealed that on average tuition has increased “ For public institutions from 1997-1998 and 2006-2007 tuition has gone up $2,758 and an increase of 89.6%.” In my research, I found out that undocumented student must pay more for tuition, how ridicules. Undocumented students have to pay the same rate as an out of state person would. There was a study at CUNY in the spring of 2002, they noticed tuition for undocumented students doubled from $133 to $283. As for those who were full-time students, they had an increase of $1800. An interesting fact I discovered in my research was Indians don’t have to pay for any outside tuition fees, I think that is amazing for them considering we took their land.
The biggest question of them all, why is tuition rising at the rate it is? Well, there’s plenty of reasons to this question. One of the leading causes to tuition rising is remedial classes are being offered at universities. There are many unprepared students or students who didn’t get the right education. Another leading cause to tuition rising has to do with what type of government structure they have. Tuition tends to be lower when the institution is being run by a centralized government. As for when its being control by a decentralized government tuition tends to be higher. Lastly, tuition does rise because universities are always in competition with each other on who’s looks better. For example, Chico State has the “Wrec” a huge gym with multiple machines, fitness classes, a huge pool and of course rock climbing. This brings so much attention to the students who want to come here. So many institutions use students tuition money to make all theses “eye-catching” buildings to see who has the best school and can bring the most students in.
Since the prices keep rising it will get more difficult for many students to pay for tuition it in the next couple of years. It’s very important to know your options. Loans can be a smart choice if you know the differences. There is a subsidized loan where essentially the Federal government pays for your interest while you’re in college. Then there is an unsubsidized loan where the interest beings to accumulate as soon as the loan is taken out. With that being said subsidized loans are the ones you’d want to take out if you had to. As for unsubsidized loans, those should be your last option.
To all future and current students, now that I touched on how much tuition has increased in the last couple years and the leading causes to tuition rising. I hope you all have an understanding of what to expect in the next years with tuition.
College Tuition 