Traditional College: Is It Money Down the Drain?

Rising costs worry many; students, families wonder if there’s a different way.

By Linnea Caswell

sidestep College costs continue to skyrocket! Student debt looms large on the horizon. Is higher education slipping out of reach for many Americans? While recent research threatens all this, thinking families across the nation are looking for alternatives. Let’s explore these recent trends and see what options may be available for those who investigate and think “outside the box.”

Astonishing Increases

Since the 1990s, college has become increasingly unaffordable for lower to middle-income families. The year 2008 continued this pattern with some shocking results. College costs have risen 439% since 1982, according to Measuring Up 2008, a recent report by The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Increased Cost = Higher Percentage of Family Income

While the 439% rise doesn’t take inflation into account, consider that the median family income has risen only 147% on the same scale while medical care costs have risen 251%. On average, lower-middle class families are paying 33% of their family income for one student’s yearly college costs at a public four-year college. The lowest income families are paying as much as 55% of their income per year. And these figures already have financial aid and scholarships deducted from them.

Student Debt Overwhelming

As costs escalate, student debt continues to increase to an all time high. Debt levels for graduates with student loans have more than doubled over the last decade. The average graduate ends up with nearly $23,000 in debt, often with no available work in their chosen career field. An unexpected percentage of the debt total is just interest charged by the lending institution. For example, a student with a $10,000 loan at a fixed federal rate of 6.8% would pay about $2,206 in interest over 6 years. More and more students, however, are turning to private lenders whose interest rates may be higher than 20%. The same loan, financed privately could cost the student over $7,000 in interest. This was a recent finding by the College Board.

Increased Value for Increased Cost?

As costs and debt burdens soar, one wonders if the quality of a college education is also increasing. The Delta Project just released a comprehensive report called “Trends in College Spending” which suggests the contrary.

Researchers examined nearly 2,000 public and private universities and concluded that almost all revenue from tuition increases went to offset revenue losses as state funding decreased. It’s not that students gained better classroom instruction or higher quality education; the schools simply needed money that wasn’t coming in from other sources. In fact, with all the increase in college tuition, the typical college used less than 3% on direct instructional spending.

Beyond Financial Cost

The financial picture is bleak enough, but adding in the potential moral, emotional, and spiritual costs of attending traditional schools is alarming. Researchers estimate that 70-88% of Christian teens are leaving the church by their sophomore year in college.

In addition, the emotional stress on morality experienced by most students is well known. Even if a student recoups the financial investment in earning potential, emotional and psychological damage may have occurred that will take years longer to heal.

A Truly Educated Person

Anyone can develop creativity, logic skills, networks, and relational connections through dedicated work and key mentoring relationships, without setting foot on a college campus. It’s really the person behind the degree that determines how much money he or she makes, what they’re involved in, how they relate to society as a whole, and what they’re passionate about.

While the college tradition has promoted the idea that real education can only take place on campus within a classroom, the real world understands that students learn by doing—not just by theorizing. Although achieving the piece of paper called a “degree” may be essential for some professions, students and their families need to look beyond the theoretical environment of the classroom and on to the real opportunities awaiting them after they finish their degree.

you can

Linnea Caswell is a CollegePlus! graduate and lives in Illinois with her family. She earned a BA degree from Thomas Edison State College, is a certified paralegal, and teaches piano.

Name:
Email:
Website:	(optional)
Comment:
Captcha:	What is 1 + 1?