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As the cost of higher education continues to rise, American students are their parents are starting to question its value. It was always been taken as an article of faith and a crucial component of the American Dream that after you graduate from high school, you attend a college or university before entering the workforce. The value of education has long been promoted as an absolute and unquestioned good. That has not changed. What has changed, however, is the price tag. When the experts talk about rising college costs, they often focus on private institutions that charge their students upwards of $50,000 in tuition costs and fees for a single year of study. But the rates at private colleges and universities really don’t have much of an effect on the average student. For one thing, most of the students that attend these institutions can afford it, or they receive aid in the form of academic scholarships. Secondly, only about 20 percent of college students attend private schools. The other 80 percent are enrolled in public institutions. And it is these schools that have increased their tuitions costs and fees at an alarming rate in recent years. America’s public colleges and universities raised their rates by more than 8 percent in 2011! Why? It’s not a conspiracy or even very difficult to explain. The fact is that all public institutions of higher learning receive most of their funding from the states they reside in. When states run out of money, they are often forced to make severe cuts to public funding. And as a result, the college or university must increase tuition costs. These costs are now rising between two and three times the rate of inflation, i.e., the cost of living, at most public schools. Is college still worth it? For the first time in American history, most high school graduates are asking themselves that very question. They hear the horror stories from their older siblings and friends that went to college and emerged with a diploma and tens of thousands of dollars in student debt. Most college grads spend years, even decades paying off their student loans. With that said, higher education is still a good investment. The average college graduate earns one million dollars more in a lifetime than then average high school graduate. He also has more career mobility and is less likely to be unemployed for protracted periods of time. Signup for online college courses Most public colleges and universities have a series of required courses that every student must complete before they declare a major. These courses are often introductory or intermediate courses and are labeled “101” or “102,” and they do not differ much from school to school. However, students are charged just as much for these classes as they are for ones they actually want to take. One easy way to save beaucoup bucks is to take online college courses. For a fraction of the cost of regular college course, students can take required online college courses on the internet. Most providers offer courses in English, Mathematics, the Humanities, Business, and Science. Students can often signup for as many online college classes as they like. And if they pass these classes, they can transfer all earned credits to the college or university of their choice!
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