The Real Cost of College
By Pin Yuan Zhu Lee
Why is college so expensive? Many high school graduates, including myself, have faced problems when applying to their dream universities. One of the main concerns is the cost of college. When I was in high school, I had the perfect qualifications to attend most colleges, but after looking through the cost of ideal universities, I decided not to apply. Instead, I applied to CUNY colleges because they offered affordable tuition. Here I am—unable to attend any of my dream universities—not because of my qualifications, but because of the luxury cost my family and I can’t afford.
In 1920, Stanford University, a private, non-profit university, only cost students $160 per year. At the University of Pennsylvania, the annual tuition for first-year undergraduate students was around $300. The average household income in the United States in 1920 was approximately $3,269.40. It’s fair to assess that the cost of attending university in the 1920s—even private universities—was affordable.
Although tuition has increased, it was still affordable for students to attend college in the early to mid-20th century. First-year undergraduates paid $400 to attend the University of Pennsylvania between 1930–1939. The cost to attend Harvard University was around $455 in 1947. Moreover, in 1944, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, also known as the G.I. Bill, provided federal aid for tuition, fees, and other educational expenses for veterans. Overall, colleges were still affordable for students.
Govind Bhutada, a writer at Visual Capitalist, wrote that in recent decades, the cost of college in the United States has increased exponentially while there has been little increase in the cost of other consumer products. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures changes over time in the general level of prices of goods and services. Bhudata states that “since 1980, college tuition and fees are up 1,200%, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all items has risen by only 236%.” The cost of college tuition has been rising about five times more than the inflation of other items. A chart from the National Center for Education Statistics shows the average tuition for public and private colleges has increased to $9,403 and $34,059 respectively (Bhutada, 2021). The data concluded that college tuition had a CPI of 1,198.9 percent while the CPI percent change of other items was only 231.82 percent.
This rapid increase in college tuition has negatively impacted college students pursuing their dream jobs. People who pursued higher education achieved higher rates of employment. This is why students want to attend college. However, the cost of tuition takes away these opportunities. In an article by CNBC on opting out of college, Jason Neuharth, a high school senior, said, “I was adamant on going to college—this was going to be my future. I grew up with not a lot of money and that was a fear of mine—the money. I would not be able to feasibly pay for college.” Instead of attending college, Neuharth enlisted in the National Guard (Dickler, 2021).
I was in a similar situation Neuharth was in, but I was able to attend college. Despite this, neither of us was able to attend our dream school because we couldn’t afford it. I felt hopeless when the realization hit. All the hard work that I had been through to attend my dream university was suddenly pointless because I could not afford the tuition. In an article by The Hechinger Report on how low-income students are not attending college, the author, Meredith Kolodner states, “Up to 40 percent of low-income students who are accepted to college in the spring never make it to the first day of class in the fall. They’re stymied by tuition sticker shock.” Four out of ten students do not attend the colleges they were accepted to.
Aranna Tasnim, a freshman at Washington University, would not have been able to attend her dream school if she hadn’t received a scholarship. In a personal interview, Tasnim says, “I wouldn’t know what to do if I did not get the scholarship to attend Washington University. This is where I want to expand [spend] my next four years.” Tasnim was one of the awardees from QuestBridge, a scholarship for low-income families. Her dream was to attend Washington University in St. Louis and complete her degree in computer science. During the interview, she said that she would've changed all her original college and career plans if she did not get the scholarship.
In another interview, I interviewed Shahribonu Azamatova, a freshman awardee of a full scholarship to Yale University. Azamatova expressed a similar mentality, stating, “I wouldn’t go to Yale if I did not receive the full scholarship, neither would I want to become a doctor.” Azamatova has worked hard since high school to become a doctor. If she hadn’t received the scholarship, not only would she not have been able to attend her dream school, but it would have affected her future career opportunities.
High tuition can bar students from accessing career pathways: Tasnim would not have been able to complete her degree in computer science and Azamatova would not have been able to become a doctor. The rapid increase in tuition is taking away students’ opportunities.
The increase in college tuition also has negative mental health effects on college students. In the article, “Does the Cost of College Tuition Have an Impact on Student’s Mental Health?” Sidney Nicholson talks about how college tuition can influence a student’s mental health. Nicholson quotes the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAIM), stating that over 80 percent of college students feel overwhelmed. “This means that with the weight of hitting the books being tough enough, financial burdens could be potentially detrimental to student’s emotional, physical, and especially mental well-being,” Nicholson writes. College students are already overloaded with the schoolwork they have to complete. Financial worries add to this burden, affecting students’ mental health.
As a college student, I feel exhausted most of the time because of the amount of work that we are expected to do. Every time I receive any email related to tuition, I panic because I don’t know how I’d be able to afford it if my parents weren’t paying for my tuition. I feel a sense of guilt, which stresses me even more. In the Northeast Valley News, Daniel Moreno quotes Gabriel Losey, a junior mechanical engineering student at the Colorado School of Mines: “My parents made it a point to pay for my college with money they don’t have. Seeing that really pained me.” I can relate to Losey. Sometimes, I see my parents struggling to pay the bills. But, somehow, they still manage to pay for my tuition. Seeing the struggle of what my parents are going through affects my mental health significantly.
The increase in tuition also leads students to develop mental health disorders. Another study found that “female students who experience financial difficulties at university may be at increased risk of developing an eating disorder” (Nicholson, 2017).
I usually feel depressed when I think about how to pay off my college tuition. The feeling of having an anxiety attack at night is not pleasant. In the aforementioned interview, Azamatova says, “I have been stress eating recently. I don’t know how to pay off my books and websites” (some professors require students to pay for a website to access the homework). Azamatova claims that her financial aid does not include book and website expenses. She has been worried about how to pay for the materials she needs to be successful in class.
The increase in tuition has negative effects on a student’s daily life. Many college students, especially students from low-income families, are working either part-time or full-time to pay for tuition and needs. Crystal Cox, a student at the University of Missouri, published her story on CNBC, writing, “Eight out of ten college students work while they’re in school.” These college students are working to pay for their needs. Although their parents are helping as best as they can, “The majority of college, housing, utilities, groceries, gas, and entertainment expenses fall” on the individual. Cox works 35–40 hours per week and, on top of schoolwork, she usually does not have enough time to maintain both sides perfectly. Sometimes, Cox has to decide whether to go to class or work in the morning: “Most of the time, I choose to work because I can still pass the class without that day’s participation points, but I can’t live efficiently without my utilities.” Like Cox, many college students work not only to pay off their tuition but to meet their basic needs.
Additionally, many college students who work don’t have enough time to focus on schoolwork, which affects their overall GPA performance. “Lost participation points begin to add up and my GPA decreases. With a lowered GPA, I’m at greater risk of getting kicked out of college,” Cox writes. Because they have no choice, students like Cox choose to work, letting their grades suffer. As a result, students who work have a higher chance of getting kicked out of their college. According to the article, “New Study Finds That 36% of College Students Don’t Have Enough to Eat,” by Abigail Johnson Hess, “Researchers surveyed 43,000 college students at 66 schools and found that 36 percent of students in U.S. colleges are considered food insecure, meaning they do not get enough to eat.”
Hess argues that, although we are faced with expensive tuition in the United States, the government provides substantial federal aid and scholarships to assist college students. In an article on federal aid for college students, Ashley Boucher, director of corporate communications for Sallie Mae, states, “When it comes to paying for college, the FAFSA (a federal financial aid program) is the gateway to $150 billion in aid to help pay for higher education, including scholarships, grants, work-study, and federal student loans,” that financial aid can make college affordable.
I disagree with Hess’s argument. The cost of college is much more than tuition. Although we do have programs that offer federal aid and scholarships for college students, it is not enough to cover everything. According to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), the average community college student has to pay upwards of $17,000 annually. These expenses are beyond tuition, including rent, food, transportation, textbooks, and other fees (Bray). Financial aid usually only targets the cost of tuition; financial aid does not include personal and housing expenses that are necessary for college students. Oftentimes, students are not eating enough or don’t eat at all. According to the Wisconsin HOPE Lab’s latest study, “Hungry and Homeless in College,” “Two-thirds of community college students are unable to afford basic necessities.” The financial aid does not include the cost of college, only the tuition. As a result, college students are financially unable to pay off both the cost of tuition and necessities. Therefore, although there is financial aid, it is not enough to pay off the overall cost of attending college.
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a “nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing awareness and accelerating action on America’s long-term fiscal challenges,” argues that the idea of the government giving out more money in the form of financial aid for college students is not beneficial since “implementing a nationwide program [financial aid program] would also require a significant investment from the federal government and U.S. taxpayers.” However, what they did not take into consideration is the fact that educational spending in the United States is disproportionately low compared to military spending. In “Here’s How Military and Education Spending Compare in America,” an Attn: article covering military and education spending in the United States, Kyle Jaeger states, “We spend a lot of time talking about the value of an education in America. But if education is such a valuable investment, why do we spend more than eight times as much of our federal budget on the military than schooling?” According to Jaeger, the United States spends eight times more on the military than on education. Therefore, if we spend the same amount—or even half the amount—of what we spend on the military on the education system, I am confident that many college students’ nightmares about college tuition would disappear.
When you are applying to your dream colleges, you might consider taking a step back. In this way, you might discover that going to a more affordable college instead of your dream college is the better option. There are still some chances for students. Even though you lose some of those opportunities by not attending your dream school, it might provide a less stressful environment—an environment where you don’t have to work—because working while in school to pay for tuition and your personal needs will impact your academic performance and daily life. So before you get upset you’re not attending your dream school, try your best and make the most out of it.
FALL 2024
Bibliography
Editor’s note: This piece was submitted to REFRACT in January 2022.
Illustrations were done in collaboration with the New Media Artspace at Baruch College. The New Media Artspace is a teaching exhibition space in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Baruch College. Housed in the Newman Library, the New Media Artspace showcases curated experimental media and interdisciplinary artworks by international artists, students, alumni, and faculty. Special thanks to docent Jafrin Uddin for creating artwork for this piece.
Visit the New Media Artspace at http://www.newmediartspace.info/