Student loan debt is at an all-time high, reaching $1.75 trillion this year, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Forbes calculated that, between 1980 and 2022, the average tuition in America increased by a whopping 180%, to $28,775. But despite this massive price increase, many crucial faculty members find themselves with a stagnating or unlivable salary. How can students be paying more at the same time that professors are being paid less?
The most glaring flaw within postsecondary education is the exploitative loan system. According to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, 58% of postsecondary graduates leave school with a crushing debt load on their shoulders.
College is advertised as a kick-start — a way to get ahead in life. Colleges attract students by promising a better future, then send many of them off with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. Young adults who will grow to be crucial members of society are essentially forced into these vicious loans in order to learn vital skills.
The idea that having a higher education is the only way to live comfortably is a dangerous belief that is only now starting to be filtered out.
There are 17-year-olds who can’t even vote who are encouraged to take on massive loans that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Of course, student loans wouldn’t need to exist at such soaring rates if it weren’t for the sky-high tuition prices. For a four-year degree, students paying the average tuition will be forced to pay or find aid for $115,000.
That’s nearly as much as a starter house — all for a piece of paper.
So, what’s driving American tuition rates through the roof? The culprit is, unsurprisingly, greed. Unfortunately, modern universities are starting to look less like educational institutions and more like profit-driven corporations. There are now multiple instances of colleges investing in hedge funds and financial derivatives. How does playing the stock market help schools teach students? To make the money-grabbing even worse, the salary discrepancies within colleges are rising, as well.
The average salary for university presidents now exceeds $400,000, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. However, pay growth for other faculty has slowed considerably, even stagnating in some cases.
On average, university presidents are paid nearly 15 times the amount each of their students pays in tuition. While students struggle to pay back their loans, these executives sit back, enjoying spending university money on wasteful amenities such as hot tubs or movie theaters.
A better future for the generations after us starts with a better-educated populace today. That statement has been proven to be true over and over throughout history, and it’s still true today.
Education is considered a right from kindergarten through high school, so why should that right change when people graduate from high school?
America and society as a whole have nothing to gain from withholding education from people. The more educated people there are, the more advancements there are. The more advancements, the better we live.
Why shouldn’t we work toward a better future? It is the responsibility of everyone to ensure that the cost of education goes down — and that those who drove it up are held responsible. It’s important not just for us, but our children and our collective future.
Evan Zimmerman is in the 11th grade at Conestoga Valley High School.
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