Cost of Post-Secondary Education in the United States: Too High?
Bart Van Kerkhove
Instructor: Andrew McCullough
ENG 100
2 May 2008
Is the cost of post-secondary education in the United States too high?
Everybody knows that the cost of higher education in the United States can be substantial. As a result a considerable number of students have to take up a part-time or even full-time job so they can cover not only tuition, but also rent and every day expenses. In some cases parents (or the students themselves) have to take (often big) loans to fulfill the financial needs. This work will research some issues that may arise surrounding this matter.
First of all it will examine the general discrepancy in tuition between the United States and some other countries. Therefore I want to compare the general tuition cost at different universities worldwide. The following section will investigate in what way the life of the students and/or the parents may be affected by having to make financial and personal sacrifices to be able to pay for the tuition. In conclusion I will raise the question to what extent a country’s government is responsible to educate its population. Should post-secondary education be made more affordable, and how could this be accomplished?
In order to compare tuition between several countries, only averages and overall figures are supplied. In reality the costs can be very divers, even when putting side by side universities located in a single country (like the United States). The idea is to present a general indication rather than compare institutions in particular.
The U.S. is more expensive than most countries around the world when it comes to tuition costs for higher education. According to The National Center for Education Statistics, the in-state tuition cost in the U.S. in 2005-06, for undergraduates enrolled at public institutions, averaged around 5,300 dollar. For private institutions this mounts to over 18,000 dollar.
This is in high contrast with European universities. Out of 27 countries (the 25
Instructor: Andrew McCullough
ENG 100
2 May 2008
Is the cost of post-secondary education in the United States too high?
Everybody knows that the cost of higher education in the United States can be substantial. As a result a considerable number of students have to take up a part-time or even full-time job so they can cover not only tuition, but also rent and every day expenses. In some cases parents (or the students themselves) have to take (often big) loans to fulfill the financial needs. This work will research some issues that may arise surrounding this matter.
First of all it will examine the general discrepancy in tuition between the United States and some other countries. Therefore I want to compare the general tuition cost at different universities worldwide. The following section will investigate in what way the life of the students and/or the parents may be affected by having to make financial and personal sacrifices to be able to pay for the tuition. In conclusion I will raise the question to what extent a country’s government is responsible to educate its population. Should post-secondary education be made more affordable, and how could this be accomplished?
In order to compare tuition between several countries, only averages and overall figures are supplied. In reality the costs can be very divers, even when putting side by side universities located in a single country (like the United States). The idea is to present a general indication rather than compare institutions in particular.
The U.S. is more expensive than most countries around the world when it comes to tuition costs for higher education. According to The National Center for Education Statistics, the in-state tuition cost in the U.S. in 2005-06, for undergraduates enrolled at public institutions, averaged around 5,300 dollar. For private institutions this mounts to over 18,000 dollar.
This is in high contrast with European universities. Out of 27 countries (the 25