America, we have a problem.
A democracy depends on an educated voting public, but obtaining a
university education is becoming increasingly unaffordable. Over the last
decade, tuition at four-year public institutions has increased at about 7.5%
per year. This translates to a doubling of tuition in a decade. Tuition is
twice as expensive as it was 10 years ago.
In addition to tuition increases, many universities have
increased room and board charges and added an array of student fees, which mask
total cost increases of attending college.
It appears that more affordable 2-year programs and community colleges
may have had even larger increases.
Against rising costs of education, minimum wages, which many
students earn while working part time, have not increased at all. Average
annual wage increases for all workers have risen about 3% during the same
period.
With higher costs and lower relative wages, it is not a
surprise that students are accumulating higher levels of debt. There appears to
be about $1 trillion in outstanding student debt in the U.S., and student loan
defaults are reportedly about $146 billion.
A second problem relates to cutbacks in social services at
the same time social needs are increasing. The recent financial crisis reduced
revenues to Government, resulting in spending cutbacks in many state and local
governments. Cutbacks were typically widespread including support for public
education and social services. At the same time unemployment and
underemployment were increasing, community services were decreasing.
These two issues may have a common solution. I have a proposal
that will not eliminate these problems but could help mitigate them. The
proposal is more fully explained on my new website (macdonaldscholars.com).
The proposal does not require any more Government funding;
it is a private initiative, funded by private sources. If implemented broadly, students will
graduate with less debt, and community services will be increased, Stay tuned.
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