Listen to Jane's interviews with people around the UMaine campus about the rising costs of college around the country.
College tuition is a national crisis. More than 44.2 million Americans have over $1.44 trillion in unpaid student loans, and this number is only rising. College enrollment has risen by 138 percent over the past 40 years, as it should have. But student debt and college tuition have both risen by extreme amounts as well. And when so many Americans are thrown into debt trying to escape poverty, something needs to change
Education seems to be the only option to have a financially stable life in the United States. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, a high school dropout on average annually makes close to $19,000, and a high school graduate makes almost $10,000 more at $28,000. Those who hold a four-year degree make more than the national average of $48,000, around $51,000 a year. Advanced degree holders on average make $75,000 annually. It seems obvious that the higher degree one holds, the higher the annual salary. It also appears to be an easy choice to make, but when people have to throw themselves into extreme debt for decades, it becomes a problem.
College is expensive. It has always been expensive, but in the past 30 years, it has become exponentially more expensive. Since 1985 the consumer price index has increased by 115 percent, whereas the college education rate has risen nearly 500 percent. To put that in perspective, the annual in-state tuition rate at Ohio State University in the 1985-86 school year was $664, according to national education statistics. In the 2017-18 school year, in-state tuition will be $10,591. The rise of tuition and inflation isn’t the only inequality either.
In-state and out-of-state tuition have extremely different price points. Student in-state tuition should be should be lower than out-of-state tuition. Students or their parents pay state taxes that help fund the school. But the inequality shouldn’t be as extreme as it is. On average out-of-state tuition costs $8,990 more than in-state, which doesn’t even include the usually necessary room and board costs. State tuition inequalities also lead to students receiving a worse education.