Loyola University of Chicago’s annual tuition is set at $56,930. For undergraduates, by the time they finish four years of college, it will add up to $227,720 for Loyola University of Chicago. To put into perspective, the average American spends roughly $136,000 in four years on both rent and groceries combined. College expenses should absolutely not be getting more expensive as the years go on, but first, why is this actually happening in the first place?
According to Bryce Peterson, the Chief Financial Officer for the American College of Education, “…In the past 20 years, public institutions have increased tuition and fees 141% (7% average increase annually). This reflects the astonishing rise of tuition from $3,501 in 2000 to $9,750 in 2022.” You can find the link to the article here.
Peterson highlights that there are many reasons why annual tuition has increased so heavily, some problems (at least what I believe to be) easier to tackle and help break the trend.
The first is overspending in areas and on employees and staff who do not actively teach or are involved in any kind of education, or are at the administrative level. These funds can go to the staff who actively teach, or to individuals who are involved in maintaining facilities (janitors and whatnot). The second issue is an increased amount of expansion in facilities and buildings all over campus that simply do not require or need the amount of funds given by the administration, or the facilities were simply never needed in the first place. The third and fourth issues are due to the decreased amount of state funding to colleges in the state and an increased demand for higher education among the newer generation.
While these problems are all important to address, I believe that the most important ones to address are to increase funding for the universities themselves, and address funding going to facilities that do not need expansion and staff that do not need a raise and do not contribute to the improvement of education within a place that is made for important educational purposes. If people are actively funding something that simply makes the place look more ‘professional’ and does not add to any educational element, why should it be added in the first place?
