Discussion: Higher Education Funding (Essay Sample)

Higher Education Funding
Student's First Name, Middle Initial(s), Last Name
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Abstract
Higher education funding is essential in supporting students pursuing their professional programs. The funding targets the needy students from low and poor households to realize their professional dreams. The analysis involved the assessment of the factors of consideration when making the funding decisions. It was established that the size of the support requests, efficiency and productivity and the role of fund in the learning instructions were the factors considered when allocating the funds. It was also established that social and political factors determine to a large extent the financial allocations to facilitate the students’ education. It is essential for the state and federal governments to fund the education since it is aligned with the biblical teachings on giving and helping the needy in society.
Key Words: Needy, Funding, Disbursement
Higher Education Funding
The unemployment stratified by post-secondary attainment levels and the pandemic-driven recession calls for the need for the states to invest in higher education more than ever. Even though the outlook of state fences seems grim especially in the federal investment stalls, the government needs to reconsider its budgetary allocations to ensure that an adequate amount of funds are allocated in education financing. A significant number of students come from low-income households and therefore need financial support to pursue post-secondary education. Also, Christians are required to help the needy in society since it is a show of love that God exhibited. Size, efficiency and productivity and revenue sources are the factors that affect higher education funding, with the whole process being aligned with biblical teachings of support to the poor.
Considerations Related To Higher Education Funding
Size
The most common question raised is the impact of size element on higher education funding. Size, in this case, relates to the number of students requesting post-secondary education support. The state and federal governments sponsor a different number of students each year. Also, the number of learners seeking such support differ based on the economic situations of a country (Dougherty & Natow, 2019). The variations answer the question of size. In most cases, a high number of students seeking support would mean that small funds will be disbursed to the learners to at least benefit all the applicants. The size of students increases during periods of economic recession and hardships. For instance, the current COVID-19 pandemic has paralyzed the economy considering that a large number of businesses closed. Also, some breadwinners lost jobs, making it hard for them to support their beneficiaries’ education (Thorbecke, 2020). Thus, such scenarios expand the size of students seeking financial support to facilitate their education.
Efficiency and Productivity
The government expects to realize positive returns on any support it gives to its students and other international foreign learners. The federal and state governments and the private sponsors fund students that exhibit unique characteristics like accountability, hard work and good performance (Ward et al., 2020). The latter is a measure of productivity that assess the level of performance of the students on their respective course and specific subject areas. The funders, therefore, uphold their funding program when the learners report a high performance during their learning duration.
The other element is efficiency which determines to a large extent government and private funding of the higher education programs. Learners are allocated funds to support their tuition fees and living stipends, although this depends on whether the funding is full or partial support (Dougherty & Natow, 2019). Regardless of which support they receive, the students are expected to ensure efficient utilization of funds. The students are required to refrain from wasting funds on other aspects such as drug consumption which are not included in the budgetary allocations.
Impact of Revenue Sources on Postsecondary Institutions
The funding of colleges and universities is also informed by the effective role of the budgetary allocations on the success of the institutions. Therefore, the other consideration is the impact of the funds on the post-secondary institutions. The success of the institutions of higher learning depends on the adequacy of funds. The colleges and universities are involved in research and talent management activities that require human capital and finance (Ward et al., 2020). Therefore, the support provided to the students facilitates the operation of the institutions. The adequacy of funds disbursed helps the management to effectively plan for research, instructional, project and talent management in these facilities (Duerrenberger & Warning, 2018). In the long run, the centers do not only realize their academic and research goals but also have their students completing their learning in time.
Effects of Social and Political Context on Higher Education Funding
Besides the factors mentioned above, other aspects impact higher education funding. The first is the social context of the target population. Poverty and low income are some of the social determinants of education. Increasing rates of poor and low-income households would mean that majority of learners from these families will require financial support to complete their college and university education (Ward et al., 2020). Thus, the funders will feel the pressure to release significant amounts of money to such learners considering that they do not have adequate funds to sponsor their education while meeting other needs like shelter and food while in college or university. The second aspect is the political influence. The state and federal governments are the significant funders of higher education. Thus, the presence of good political will on the part of the leaders would foster the funding of students’ education (Duerrenberger & Warning, 2018). Therefore, poor governance may limit the funding, making it hard for the learners to complete their