Toulmin Argument Paper on the Rising Cost of College Education (Essay Sample)

Toulmin Argument Paper on the Rising Cost of College Education
Name
Institution
Toulmin Argument Paper on the Rising Cost of College Education
Introduction
Many students will soon drop out of college due to the constantly rising cost of higher education. Research shows that both the two-year and four-year education system in the U.S. has experienced a significant increase in college tuition over the last three decades. If this trend is allowed to go on unchallenged, the likelihood of most students being unable to meet the high cost will be very high in the coming years as there are already notable signs of this happening.
According to education expert Philips Elliot from the Christian Science Monitor (2013), the tuition cost for students attending the public two-year schools went up by 6% in 2012. This pushed the total cost of attending this program to nearly $10,000 per year. This rise is estimated to have been 24% over the overall inflation rate. The same case was replicated in the four-year category where the cost of tuition went up by 9%, bringing the total cost for this program to nearly $27,000 per year. The same costs were witnessed in the private learning institutions where the cost of attending college went up by an average of 14%. This brought the total cost to $42,000. The costs were even higher for students who chose to attend college outside their home states. The official records show that students in this category paid more than $31,000 to complete a four-year program signifying an 11% increase (Elliot, 2013).
Stakeholders from the education sector have given various reasons to justify this increase. One of the reasons for this has been the decline in government funding that has dropped significantly in the last ten years. According to financial expert William Baumol (2011), these cuts have been attributed to an increase in government spending on other important issues such as the fight on terrorism. In order to stay in operation, colleges have been left with no option, but to raise their tuition fees as a way of covering the funding shortfall. While many people have criticized this move, this has been a necessary step as it is impossible for these colleges to remain in operation without getting extra money from other sources (Baumol, 2011).
Another reason the high tuition cost is inevitable is due to the decision by learning institutions to invest in current technologies such as computers. According to educational researchers Oliff, et al, (2013), today, education has become globalized, and this has demanded that learning institutions invest in technologies that can connect the students from their schools with those from other parts of the world. This has led to huge investments in modern technologies, which is very expensive. Even after procuring such technologies, there is a need for money to service and pay those who run the technology, and this has necessitated the need to raise money to keep such technologies in operation. The quickest source of revenue for this task has been in raising tuition fees (Oliff, et al. 2013).
Another reason that has made the rise of college tuition inevitable has been the limitation in college space. According to Elliot (2013), as the number of those willing to attend college has been growing steadily, there has been a need to look for a way to put a limitation to this number. One way of achieving this objective has been raising the college tuition fees. This rise has also been necessary as the extra money has been used to hire the best tutors. This has ensured that the education offered in these learning institutions is of high quality (Elliot, 2013).
While it is evident that the continual rise in college education is warranted, this is bound to affect the college enrollment trend in the coming years. Even in the present day, there is enough evidence to show that the number of those attending colleges has dropped significantly over the last few years (Baumol, 2011). This drop has been linked to the high cost of the college education. Today, most students opt to pursue online education or take blended courses instead of attending physical classes as these are cheaper. Most students will also opt for the two-year courses which are relatively cheaper. This trend is bound to gain momentum in the coming days as the cost of college tuition keep on rising (Baumol, 2011).
According to Wall Street financial expert Douglas Belkin (2014), most individuals who pursue higher education do so out of the belief that good college education is the gateway to procuring a good job. However, this has not been the case as most college-educated students are currently out of employment. Baumol (2011) indicates that only 33% of college educated students find employment and this figure keeps on dropping. As the rate of unemployment keeps on growing, even those who can afford it will find it hard to invest their money in expensive education, which does not guarantee them good employment upon completion. This will lead to a trend where some colleges will be forced to do away with certain programs within their schools as a way of cutting down costs (Belkin, 2014).
As the cost of tuition keeps on going up and as more students keep away from colleges due to the high cost, most schools will be forced to lay off some of their teaching staff. Since good education is mostly dependent on the quality and quantity of the schools’ teaching staff, the layoff of the teaching personnel will erode the quality of education that is offered in these schools. What this means is that even those students who are willing to meet the high cost of tuition will find it hard to use their money to enroll in a program, which they deem to be substandard. This will force them to seek for education overseas, thus bringing a fur...