Higher education is on an unsustainable path – Daily News

How much is college education worth and why?

According to the US government’s National Center for Education Statistics, tuition fees have increased 33% over the past two decades, from $ 18,992 in the 2001-02 school year to $ 27,357 in 2017-18.

The Manhattan Institute reports that the average cost of tuition and fees at private four-year colleges for the 2019-20 academic year was $ 36,880, an increase of $ 12,990 from 20 years earlier. For public four-year colleges, the annual cost of tuition and fees averaged $ 10,440 for 2019-20. Twenty years ago it was just $ 5,270. That is a price increase of 100%.

For a public two-year college, tuition and fees averaged $ 3,730 for 2019-20, up from $ 2,540 in 20 years.

That’s what it costs. What is it worth

It depends on many factors. A degree in any major from certain highly regarded academic institutions can be a lifetime passport to good jobs. A degree in certain highly valued majors from any school can be a reliable path to high income. On the other hand, investing tens of thousands of dollars in an undergraduate degree in a major that does not match the skills or knowledge required in a job is probably not a good investment.

An indication that something is completely overpriced is that the people who sell it are emphasizing something other than the core product or service in trying to separate you from your money. In the case of higher education, school officials sometimes become poetic about the college experience. Today, some have shifted from poetic to defensive as more than 300 lawsuits have been filed on behalf of students and parents seeking refunds for lack of the promised “college experience” during the COVID-19 stalemate.

The disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic can last longer and deeper in education than in other areas. There is evidence that some people have spent their blackout period evaluating all of their options. For example, California community college officials have been shocked by new statistics showing minority students are increasingly choosing for-profit colleges over state schools.

The California Community College Chancellery has actually produced public television commercials to target so-called “underrepresented students”. One ad shows an actress sitting in the College of Marin library to convey what one speaker called “a common smell of college life”.

Although tuition fees at a for-profit college averages about $ 16,000, far more than the cost of a community college, private schools are attracting more and more students to enroll. EdSource.org quoted an official from the California Community Colleges Chancellery as admitting that the for-profit corporations “do a good job of removing the administrative burden for students and making it easier for them to get into their institutions.”

In other words, the non-government schools make enrollment easier and offer more flexibility. But that’s more than just easier navigation. Private for-profit colleges offer targeted education and a faster path to higher incomes. You don’t overload the curriculum with irrelevant requirements or politically motivated content that paying customers don’t want.

People with no money to burn apparently decide that for-profit colleges are good value even at ten times the price of a community college.

EdSource reports that community colleges lost 12% of their students this spring, while for-profit colleges only lost 1.5%. And in 2020, for-profit organizations saw enrollments increase by 3%.

In the 2018/19 school year, nearly 38% of black students who moved to colleges in California went to for-profit school, up double that figure just two years earlier. Native Americans and Pacific Islanders also opt for for-profit schools in disproportionate numbers.

Community college officials complain that they can’t keep up with the for-profit schools’ sophisticated marketing campaigns. They also warn that private schools charge high interest rates on the loans they offer to students to cover the balance of tuition fees in excess of student funding.

But it is condescending to suggest that students from underrepresented communities cannot judge the value of educational offerings from competing institutions. What actually happens is students vote with their feet and not for state schools. That can be a canary in the coal mine for the entire educational establishment in America. Perhaps the pandemic has accelerated a change in the way many people think about the time and money to invest in a college degree.

Another placeholder are the possible effects of changes in the admission process for universities. The University of California announced in May that it was dropping the SAT and ACT exams as a freshmen entry requirement, a change that could apply nationwide. If this means that some high-performing students are being turned away from top schools because the admissions process assesses invariable personal characteristics via grades and test results, it is possible that more than one type of educational institution will step in and offer these students another route to high-paying ones Jobs.

Stagnant or failing institutions can long survive with their old reputations, but a sudden change in circumstances can lead to a permanent change of perspective, like a sight that cannot be seen. A health fear and a year away from the classroom could have done it. Higher education in America could be heading for reckoning.

Susan Shelley is an editor and columnist for the Southern California News Group. Susan@SusanShelley.com. Twitter: @Susan_Shelley

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/higher-education-is-on-an-unsustainable-path-daily-news/