This years 10.5% increase in average tuition and fees at four-year public institutions is a welcoming sign that students and families will get a little financial respite from the state budgeting offices. This lower rate compares to 14.1% in the previous year, which represented the highest rate increase in thirty years.

Many analysts believe that the economic cycle has come to a full circle and that spending on higher education can make up for the years of budget cuts, which has been increasingly squeezed out by state spending on healthcare, K-12, and prison. But others are not so sure. They contend that the damage has been done and, increasingly, public college and university presidents wish to increase their financial independence from state oversight by seeking charter status.

The critics point to the fact that at many institutions, tuition and fees continue to increase at a rate higher than historic figures. At the University of Hawaii at Manoa, for instance, it plans to increase its tuition and fees by as much as 50 percent over the next five years; in Colorado, where state fiscal conditions still have not rebounded substantially, tuition and fees are expected to increase by over 20% on some campuses in one year. Though the average tuition increase is lower than a year before, the burden of payment on students and families is still very high inasmuch as tuition and fees do not uniformly moderate as from the year’s past.

Author: Young Kim - 401kid, Education Advisor

Bookmark :

With the cost of traditional education reaching astronomical proportions, it is time to start considering alternatives more seriously. Distance learning has been gaining momentum over the past several years, as a viable complement or replacement for traditional institutions of higher education. Bravo. The true value of this growing field of education goes beyond the financial impact. Convenience, flexibility and freedom are three intangible short and long-term benefits of distance learning that should be considered when approaching the question of higher education.

Convenience, in that a student can study without travelling to classrooms, thereby saving time.

Flexibility, in that the student can study any time of the day or night, around a work schedule and other activities. There are typically no definitive timelines for completion of studies, which can work both for or against the student depending on their discipline.

Freedom, in that students do not have to be bound to huge financial debt burdens during and after college, which can take a psychological toll on them. What happens after college is that the debt-riddled grads hastily jump at income-producing jobs rather than trying to discover what they truly want to do with their lives. As a result, the corporate handcuffs come on, and the young grad engages in the all too familiar pattern of working to live, pay bills and pay off debts, which typically carry forward into their late 30s or early 40s.

I myself am taking a CFP Course through Kaplan College, which costs $2,500. Now this designation will enable me to practice financial planning as well as other financial services disciplines. I know others who are taking healthcare courses, accounting, etc. mostly with positive results. There are a lot of different ways to learn. Learning is not confined to the walls of higher education institutions, by any means. While I fully respect the value of an education, I applaud and encourage the growth in distance learning. Like all new technologies, I predict that distance learning will shatter the current scheme of things in the education industry in the coming years, unleashing more dynamic, creative, flexible and cost-effective education models.

Author: Arman Rousta, President of 401kid

Bookmark :