Jordan Tawney Informal Writing #7

Informal Writing #7

Jordan Tawney

Is college a basic need that should be affordable to everyone?

A conversation between Jeffrey Dorfman from the article, “Theres No College Tuition “Bubble”: College Education Is Underpriced” and David Leonhardt from the article, “The College Drop Out Boom”.

Dorfman: So how do you feel about the idea that college is a basic need that should be affordable to everyone?

Leonhardt: Honestly, I feel college is already underpriced enough as it is and college is something that should be worked for and earned, not a basic need.

Dorfman: I’d have to disagree with you on that one, after speaking with Andy Blevins, someone to dropped out of college, I feel that everyone should have the potential to a brighter future with the help of a college degree.

Leonhardt: Although college degrees do help with finding jobs and earning money, it would be very hard for colleges to keep up with their high standards of learning and copious amounts of resources if they were forced to make it completely affordable for everyone. Harvard for example, only accepted 5.8 percent of their 35,000 applicants and Stanford only accepted 5.7% of their 39,000 applicants. These colleges are in high demand and just like with businesses, when there is high demand the price tends to increase. The colleges do not want to increase their number of students, but there are so many students wanting to attend why would they not increase the price?

Dorfman: Just because colleges are in high demand does not mean that they are forced to increase prices. When prices increase, students are more likely to dropout, and this number is increasing everyday, especially for students from low-income families. A study from the Department of Education found that only 41% of low-income students who enter a four year college actually graduate within five years. This number is at around 66% for high-income students, which shows that the low-income students are obviously facing much larger issues. If colleges were made more affordable, the dropout rate of low-income students would be almost guaranteed to decrease therefore giving more students the opportunity for success.

Leonhardt: There can be many factors that play into these statistics, and not just price itself. The prices that people focus on these days are usually not even the prices that most people pay. Many students receive financial aid depending on income, and therefore students from lower-income families would be receiving more financial aid than students from higher-income families. Harvard’s price for example starts around $59,800 but the average price paid by students and their families who qualify for financial aid is only $15,550. This is an extremely affordable number for a private institution such as Harvard. Aside from this, the price range of colleges is never the same. If a Mercedes costs $100,000, someone is not going to assume that all cars are this expensive. Likewise, just because one college costs a lot of money does not mean they all do.

Dorfman: Even with the help of some financial aid, the price of college can still be intimidating for many students, and they often seek alternate routes to start making money rather than spending it. Andy Blevins for example, dropped out after only one year at college because he had been working all summer making money and didn’t want to lose it all heading back to college. Looking back now, he regrets dropping out and knows that without a college degree everything could easily slip away. He even described it as feeling “trapped” and stated that, “A lot of places, they're not looking that you're trained in something...they just want you to have a degree." If he had been given the notion that college was going to be something that was more affordable for him, he may have been more likely to continue with his education.

Leonhardt: A student’s drive to attend college should be something that they automatically have, not to be affected by the price of the education. There are many different options for students including community colleges, technical school, and public as well as private universities ranging in tuition rates. If someone wants to get a degree, there are many ways to accomplish it as well as the fact that one can work while attending college. Research has found virtually no impact on students’ academic performance from working while going to school. If money really is a deciding issue, finding a job while in school is a smart and hardly painstaking route.

Dorfman: I can see your point, the idea of earning a college degree often seems out of reach for so many people, it is hard to find a solution to fit everyone’s wants and needs.

Leonhardt: I agree that finding a way to please everybody can be very difficult at times. Nice talking to you.