Why Should People Pay for Higher Education - Coursework Example

Why Should People Pay for Higher Education People should pay for their higher education to assist the state government which is being faced by various issues it has to focus on. Education is the most vital thing one can achieve in his/her life. For the last twenty years, the balance of cost sharing when it comes to paying for higher education has shifted radically toward the students. Prior the government was typically taking the burden of paying about two thirds of the fee for undergraduate, in-state education and the rest was pad by the students. Of late, most of the states have moved towards the students paying half of the fees as the state pays for the other half. The trend is leading to a situation where student will find himself or herself paying for the higher education\, and this can be attributed to various reasons Slow Revenue Growth Rate The states are facing a period of slow revenue growth rate that hassled to rising costs in public education, in healthcare as well as corrections according to Bligh, McNay and Thomas (6). As a result, the tuition fee at both state universities and colleges is being viewed as ‘user fee’ for the education beneficiaries. Higher education is regarded as ‘user fee’ because the particular degree acquired marks the individual’s social achievement. Therefore, given the many necessities that the state has to check on compared to rate of revenue growth the state has seen it important to push the burden of fee payment to the students. Government funding in most areas of the economy has led to slow revenue growth, as many people are not paying tax. As a result, the government should reduce their funding on some of these areas and one of them is the funding of higher education system. Fiscal Pressures on the State Practically the fiscal pressures hence leaving the state at financial crisis have faced every state in the United States. Due to this, state has been faced with difficulties in funding the higher education. Hence this has required students to dig into their pockets and pay for them. The economy has been growing fast, and this has required the states to focus on some important areas of the economy as opposed to others. In this case, the higher education has received little attention from the government. Hence, this leads to the fact that people need to pay for their higher education as the government uses those funds to focus on other areas of the economy. Education as Individual Benefit People often have various interest on the type of degree they want to pursue in relation to what they want to benefit from in their education. It is true that some degrees demand higher pay due to the facilities needed in teaching hem. As a result, it is vital for students to pay for their course so that they can get the right professionalism. This has proofed true in colleges where students take responsibility of their fee payments and hence end up getting the right content for their courses as suggested by Bligh, McNay and Thomas (7). The Growing Number of Students in Higher Education A massive number of students who are there to pursue various degrees has faced the higher education sector. In this progressive era, many people are realizing the importance of higher education and are thus doing their best to achieve it. As a result, there has been a burden to the states in funding al these students n higher education hence the need to push the burden to the people. Therefore, a future is seen whereby every person will become responsible for his or her tuition fee. The Increasing Number of Private Universities and Colleges In the recent past and even today there has been a massive increase of private universities outweighing the number of public universities. Despite the fact private universities individuals cater for their tuition fee, there seem to be more students joining them , as opposed to public universities. This has implied that people today are having the potential to pay for their higher learning, as opposed to the pas where the states had to support them. As a result, the states have realized that individuals have the potential to pay for their education hence living the burden to them. This is important, as the state government will be able to focus on other areas. The Availability Useful Technology Technology has radically grown, and it’s being applied in almost all areas of human life. As a result, of increasing and advanced technology people can now study even away form class or even attend classes from far away. Therefore, most of the students today is able to work and study at the same time hence being able to pay for their higher education. The fact that students re able to earn as they pursue their education facilitated through distance learning has proofed it possible for them to pay for their college fee. Government Subsidies on Undergraduate Fees The state governments have embarked on introducing subsidies fro the undergraduate studies. This has made it easier for people to pay for their higher education as they can afford to it as suggested by World Bank (187). . The states will manage this by cutting costs and thus increase supply. Encouraging fresh entrants into the market enables this. As a result, the state government will have to establish more universities and colleges thus discoursing monopoly that increases the cost of education. The plan to offer cheaper degrees for those joking fresh universities encourages people to ay for higher education. Ethical Perspective From the ethical point of view, it is important fro he beneficiary contribute financially towards their education. Higher education is deemed a superb asset o the individual despite it being also crucial to the government and the society generally. Therefore, it is ethical to for individual to share in paying for their higher education despite the fact that the society might be wiling to pay for it. Although people should pay for higher education as argued above, it is also necessary to note that this might have a negative impact in different ways. For instance, currently, higher education cost is extremely high for some people who come from a poor background. Generally, it is important toput into consideration the employment status, income and other life condition of the students and their families before deciding on whether they should pay or not. Given the fact that different people are born at different economic gaps provides a reason why people should not be put at the risk of paying for their higher education according to Jaycox (537). Additionally, requiring people to pay for their higher education will discourage most of the students from pursuing such education. This in return leads to government lacking professionals who would help in facilitating development actives. Moreover, when people get discouraged in pursuing this education they will only access low paying jobs. This implies that they will pay low axes hence intensifying the problem of slow revenue growth. In a case whereby people will have to finance their higher education, it means that there will be high corporations’ competition. This is because there will be few graduates as not many people are able to pay for their higher education. This concurrently leads o a situation of low economic development given the fact that the level of professionalism is low among the workers. Similarly, education in colleges will also become expensive, as most of the people will have to go for college education as opposed to the universities. Works cited Bligh, Donald. McNay, Ian. & Thomas, Harold. Understanding higher education: an introduction for parents, staff, employers, and students. London: Intellect Books. 1999. Jaycox, Faith. The Progressive Era. New York: Infobase Publishing. 2005. World Bank. World Development Report 1990. Washington: World Bank Publications. 1990. Read More