{"id":14,"date":"2015-06-23T04:39:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T04:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kawfeen.wordpress.com\/?p=5"},"modified":"2017-07-19T17:00:42","modified_gmt":"2017-07-19T21:00:42","slug":"post-secondary-education-affordable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timcarrier.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/23\/post-secondary-education-affordable\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Secondary Education \u2013 Affordable?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This entry is an activity for Teach-Now while working towards a teaching certificate. Specific goals and requirements had to be met by this entry and is by no means designed to be an independent feature.<\/p>\n

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\"Burden<\/a>
Burden of College Loans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Huffington Post<\/a> posted an article October 14, 2014 titled Poverty The Strongest Factor in Whether High School Graduates Go To College<\/a>.<\/strong> The article summarized a report from National Student Clearinghouse<\/em> regarding the factors and statistics of high school students with the hopes of attending college. Unfortunately, hope only seemed to glimmer the brightest on those with the most. The organization identified low-income students and then evaluated this group based on past records of other low-income enrollment rates. They found that schools with low-income students \u201chad 47% to 58% college enrollment rates<\/em>\u201d compared to the 61 – 70% for high-income schools. Beyond the challenge some students face of the every-day education career, they are also burdened with the future hardship that is required of them if they expect to succeed in this highly competitive industrial global economy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Young students are already burdened\u00a0with the necessity\u00a0of going to college — compound that with the cost of secondary education and wonder why there is discouragement.<\/span><\/h2>\n
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\"Congrats<\/a><\/h2>\n
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College Is Getting Expensive<\/span><\/h2>\n

Beyond the concern that colleges and universities may be an institution of the past<\/a> (Sweet, 2015), the price of acquiring a degree is very expensive. According to CollegeBoard.org<\/a>, the average cost for a 4-year out-of-state public school is $32,762 for the year 2014-15 (CollegeBoard.org, n.d.). The United States Department of Education<\/em> provides a tool called the College Affordability and Transparency Center<\/a>. This tool is somewhat of an evaluation calculator that refines data based on your criteria for school attendance. For instance, a person can choose to attend a \u201cPrivate for-profit, 4-year or above\u201d sector (sounds expensive already) that has the lowest tuition. For illustration lets try a 4-Year Public school Net Price and find the results of that \u2014 net price is essential the average cost to attend 1 year of school after any financial aid (DEP, n.d.).<\/p>\n

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The Results<\/h3>\n

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\"Miami<\/a><\/p>\n

The highest school was Miami University-Oxford of Ohio $24,674 <\/strong>(CollegeBoard.org, n.d.).<\/strong> Visiting the school website\u2014 Miami U of Oxford, Ohio<\/a>\u2014 for their tuition and costs information. You will discover that for this coming year, out-of-state total cost is $41,449 <\/strong>(Miami University-Oxford, 2015). The total cost is what most people forget to consider — the expenses for living, eating, books, supplies, classroom fees, and random other fees of services you may not even use such as the Transit fee or even the General Fee which partly supports the Goggin Ice Arena (you better go get your skates!).<\/p>\n

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\"Seal\"<\/a>The next highest according to CollegeBoard.org was Penn State, Pennsylvania at $22,560 (CollegeBoard.org, n.d.). As for Penn State, they too provide a calculator to find your estimated investment in their facility. For the experiment, we will attend Penn State at University Park<\/a>, \u201cThe largest Penn State campus offers academics, activities, and recreation in the classic college town of State College (Penn State, 2015).\u201d They estimated a price per year of\u00a0$43,200. One fee with an alarming cost is the $504 Computer fee which gives you an email account and access to the world wide web. What is the difference in service of\u00a0Penn State internet service provider compared to that of say Comcast or Optimum? Rhetorical question for its seems that may be inflated unless every kids also receives a dedicate wi-fi, unlimited data, no restrictions, etc… but this is not the point. Within CollegeBoard.org’s results, Penn State interestingly held 7 of the top 33 expensive net cost schools.<\/p>\n

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The Challenge<\/h3>\n

The American Federation of Teachers<\/em> said it right regarding the massive education debt \u2013 (American Federation of Teachers, 2012) \u201cToday, many students face a stark choice: go to college and acquire a mountain of debt that will come due right after graduation, or forgo college altogether.\u201d The cost of education is not so much just the financial burden after graduation, the cost affects the decision of going to college. Here is the conundrum: go to college and cannot afford to pay a home or provide for a family; or do not go to college and not have access to the advanced job field of higher wages that require a degree?<\/p>\n

One of the biggest swings to the cost increase is simply disinterest. AFT continues in the same report that federal and state commitments and investment have waned \u201conly 10 percent or less of many public universities\u2019 budgets\u201d which causes the schools to increase their costs. This increase not only potentially discourages able students to attend schools, but also decreases the chance for the low-income students to acquire enough financial aid before applying for loans. As a result, the following generations will be lacking in what society calls the necessary education for the new work force. This lack of workforce will mean a lack of income which will mean a lack of investments such as houses or simply inputting into the industrial economy. Looks like a sign of no-growth.<\/p>\n

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The social and civic benefits of a college education are also well-documented. College graduates tend to be healthier and put fewer demands on social service and safety net programs. They also have higher rates of volunteerism and civic participation. It is clear that college not only provides knowledge and skills that are important economically for both individuals and their communities, but it also plays a foundational role in developing the educated and engaged citizenry that is essential in a healthy democratic society.<\/em> (AFT, 2012)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Essentially, support secondary education or destroy society.<\/div>\n
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The Contenders and Actions to Battle the Cost<\/h2>\n

So you have attended college, and now wonder how to pay off those loans. One could rely on this person’s advice<\/a>\u00a0which may or may not be helpful,\u00a0or simply find security with other\u00a0authorities.<\/p>\n

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The National Education Association<\/h3>\n

This collection of education professionals\u2019 interests are protecting the rights of students and providing accessibility for education. In a nutshell, they support students and their success. Based on NEA’s<\/a> (NEA, 2014) assessment of\u00a0$1.2 trillion\u00a0in education loans and that 5 million borrowers have fallen behind on their payments, one of their concerns is college affordability. Their Degrees Not Debt <\/strong><\/em>campaign raises awareness of this issue as well as ways to make college education more affordable. One message is a great video story chalked out explaining hope for those experiencing this dread. The video explains of two ways to reduce a student loan: one is the Income Driven Repayment<\/strong>; the other is the Public Service Loan Forgiveness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n