Student Pay the Price

The constantly increasing cost of tuition for colleges and universities is an issue that is affecting everyone throughout California. Students, teachers, parents, and others know too well that attending college or a university has become overwhelmingly expensive for the majority in California. Although increases in tuition are necessary to shoulder some of the expenses, leaders of our campus and the government of California should work together with students to alleviate negative effects of a costly education.

It is amazing how the California government once promised anyone who wanted a higher education would only pay at a bare minimum. Today it is the total opposite. Leslie A. Maxwell, a staff writer for the Sacramento Bee, emphasizes how costly higher education has become and ironically states that "...University leaders nationwide are asking students to pay a larger share of the tab, and California has led the way." The consequence for placing such financial responsibility on students results to many negative outcomes. Some are collecting debt through huge loans that will take years to pay. A student at California State University, Fullerton who takes out a loan would have approximately 26 thousand dollars accumulating over his/her head and even more if interest is not paid. Although financial aid does provide government subsidized loans, which requires qualifications, a newly graduate would still be stuck with thousands of dollars owed. Others students who try and prevent such debt must go through the rigorous task of attending as a full time student and working full time to compensate for school expenses. As a student progresses classes become more challenging, so having to work 36 hours or more can significantly lessen the success of students. Alberto Salazar, a sophomore studying under the Liberal Arts at Fullerton College recalls, " That many of my classmates are studying less because of long work hours and lack of sleep.", and shows how higher tuition can negatively impact a student's academic success. Holding a full time job in order to support the dream of graduating college demonstrates how money has become a major barrier towards earning a higher education.

So as students or parents reluctantly open their thin wallets to pay college fees, leaders of many campuses in California await raises in their already luxurious salary. Chancellor Reed of California State University has seen his salary generously increase (Honeycutt). So instead of California's leaders in education agreeing on enhancing their wealth, they should sacrifice their raises and consider taking a reasonable cut in their salary. This would alleviate students by preventing their financial troubles to grow. In addition, having money allocated from administrators directly to the students will emphasize that college/ university administrators' best interest are in the students. If this one change regarding the management of student tuition can have positive results to students attending California colleges and universities, then making even more differences can greatly benefit students of the future.

When well paid leaders of higher education do make the change in salary, then education in California can foreshadow another change on how higher educational costs are perceived. With the extra money that can be extracted from larger salaries students can expect tuition percentage raises to finally slow down. Bumping up prices of college tuition every semester is not only unfair to students, but deceitful to future students. Since tuition has been increasing every semester, the term "annual tuition" is no longer relevant yet universities

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