The Cost of College Tuition

The Cost of College Tuition is a topic that will never go away and will always be discussed. There are many ways to help current and future students pay for college such as work study, grants, scholarships and of course student loans along with many other options. There are also many things that hold students back from going to college. The constant change in interest rates, family influences, economic issues in the home and many other reasons. The reason some students may not attend college in other countries may not be the same reason that some students in the United States do not attend.

Over the course of time, college tuition has increased by an extreme amount. According to CNBC, Students at public four-year institutions paid an average of $3,190 in tuition for the 1987-1988 school year, with prices adjusted to reflect 2017 dollars. Thirty years later, that average has risen to $9,970 for the 2017-2018 school year. That's a 213 percent increase. The difference is stark at private schools as well. In 1988, the average tuition for a private nonprofit four-year institution was $15,160, in 2017 dollars. For the 2017-2018 school year, it's $34,740, a 129 percent increase.

Throughout the years, the college enrollment numbers have increased from back in the day. The first set of student loans that were given by the Federal Government were offered in the 1950's under National Defense Education Act. Back in 1940, the number of graduates ranged from about 180,000-190,000. These numbers mean that approximately less than 5% of the adults ages 25 and older had college degrees. The number of college degrees just about tripled in the 1950's thanks to the Servicemen's Readjustment Act in 1944, more commonly known as the GI Bill.

This allowed veterans from World War II to get an education using federal benefits. The GI Bill in today's generation is used for any Department for Veterans Affairs education benefit earned by members of Active Duty, Selected Reserve and National Guard Armed Forces and their families (GI Bill Overview, 2018). By the 1970's students obtaining a bachelor's degree had increased to almost 900,000. By this time, the number of women involved in getting a college education was still low, but still tripled over the 20 years prior.

More women have become active in the education world overtime. Many corporations and organizations have opened up allowing more women living in third world countries to attend school and get a higher education. In an article titled, Why men are the new college minority, It goes into describe why men are enrolling in college in smaller and smaller number over the years. An observation was done at Carlow University and it showed that women at that university outnumbered men by more than six to one. As to back in the day, that number would've been drastically different.

According to this website, by 2026, 57% of college students will be women (Marcus, 2017). Carlow University started out much like Alvernia, it was an all women's college by an order of nuns and to this day, the school is still overrun by women. School's around the world are looking to recruit more men to pursue a college education by adding athletics or more male-based activities to draw their attention to their universities. Athletics such as men's track-and-field, football, and wrestling are the sport's that are used to appeal to men. Degrees such as business and sports related majors are used to bring more men into pursuing higher education. Most men are going into vo-tech or straight into the workforce after high school.

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