College Inflated
Tuition higher in United States than overseas
By Andrew J. Fitch, contributing writer
Posted on September 14, 2006

Is the United States really No. 1?

The results of a study from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education say it isn’t.

The report found the United States has fallen behind in higher education. The New York Times reported, “[The study] found that although the United States still leads the world in the proportion of 35- to 64-year-olds with college degrees, it ranks seventh among developed nations for 25- to 34-year-olds.”

The United States’ younger generations are enrolling in and completing college at lower rates than the country’s baby boomer generation did.
 
Increases in tuition are responsible for this decline in the rate of enrollment and completion. College expense in the United States has become a serious problem according to the U. S. Department of State Web site. The site said most four-year institutions cost no less than $10,000 a year, but many more range between $20,000 and $30,000.

Edith Prost, a French international student, points to these high costs as the culprit behind students not finishing college.

“It’s more expensive here,” Prost said. “So it’s harder for students to complete [college].”
A great number of other countries provide free or inexpensive college education to their citizens.

In a report authored by U.S. Senator Charles (D-N.Y.), inflation is the cause for raising tuition through the room. The senator said tuitions nationally have risen by an alarming 294 percent over the last two decades. He said that number should be markedly lower — 86 percent. Now students are faced with choosing high debt to steer them through college or no college at all. Both options could impair their ability to prosper in the future.
Economics and finances aside, Students’ attitudes could be arresting the enrollment and completion rates.

Ipeleng Bosilong, a sophomore from South Africa, thinks college has a different meaning for U.S. students.

“[College is about] beers and parties and drunken girls,” he said. “If you get involved with it, it’s a lot of fun, but not a lot of good.” Bosilong also said students aren’t ready for the demands of the next level of education.

Increased pressure on undergraduate students has become evident in recent years. Craig Shealy, professor of graduate psychology and executive director of the International Beliefs and Values Institute, said the increase of psychological diagnoses has escalated due to pressure on students.

“There are people [who are] really mentally ill here.  They’re just not functioning,” Shealy added.     

Other students find that college does not match their interests. Some, like Patrick McGann, drop out.

“I hated it. I felt I didn’t get anything out of it,” he said.

Another former JMU student, Jason Branly, left for academic reasons.  Branly said, “It’s a good school. I really enjoyed it; it just wasn’t for me.”

JMU stands out among other colleges. The 2005 JMU Statistical Summary cited the average for JMU students graduating within six years with a bachelor’s degree is 86 percent. That number is less on the national scene, resting at about two-thirds, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. Because the better-educated segment of U.S. society is close to retirement, a serious threat to the U.S. economy is at hand.  Younger, less-educated Americans are falling short at the task of filling the void left by an aging baby boom generation.

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education paints a bleak picture for the future if current trends continue this way. The center said the proportion of workers with high school diplomas and college degrees will shrink, along with personal incomes, over the next 15 years.