Government Funding Importance, its Role in the College Cost Problem, and Potential Solution

College Cost Problem
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Abstract
Skyrocketing college fees and massive student loan debt have put university and college spending in the spotlight. While many high school graduates look forward to beginning their college careers and jumstarting their future, parents are worried that the rising costs of college education could be a huge obstacle. Over the past decade, the average cost of tuition and fees has outpaced the rate of inflation by more than 3%, meaning that it is now harder for parents to take their children to college or for college graduates to finish paying their student debts (Powell, 2017). Parents have to spend more on their children in one academic year than they spent on children to themselves during their whole college period. An increase in college spending has been attributed to factors ranging from broad economic trends outside higher educational control that increase the price of highly educated employees to an all-out competition among universities and colleges vying for excellence, high ranking, and prestige (Desrochers & Kirshstein, 2014). Others also claim generous salaries, declining faculty workloads, and perks for top colleges and university employees, expanding administrative bloat and wasteful spending (Hoffower, 2018). Whether these factors play declining government or state funding to higher education institutions should be analyzed when investigating factors contributing to the college cost problem.
Keywords: college, fundings, education, institutions, cost
College Cost Problem
In recent years, discussions relating to higher education have tended to focus on the rising costs of college (Abel & Deitz, 2014). Is higher education accessible all to students regardless of their financial background? How is the cost of higher education split between the government, students, and their families? News of $25,000 or more tuition fees has evoked thoughts that college has become unaffordable (Hoffower, 2018). Some people suggest that the government should continuously allocate and increase funds to cater for higher education. This paper addresses the importance of government funding, its role in the college cost problem, and its potential solution. The thesis of this paper is: The rising college costs can be solved if both federal and state governments prioritize higher education and work collaboratively with the private sector, students, and families to ensure the average student can afford to attend college.
Importance of Government Funding
Government funding enables students to acquire learning equipments such as textbooks, computers, multimedia, laboratory equipment, and other learning material through vouchers schemes. The voucher scheme purposely provides equipments to students at a lower price compared to the actual market price (Kirk, 2014). This enables lecturers to employ the most up-to-date equipment for teaching in the classroom, making the learning environment more realistic. In other cases, simulation is used, such as in real-world situations. Some part of the allocation is used in building educational structures in the university and college institutions, increasing students' capacity.
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