The United States of America has reportedly accumulated about $1 trillion of student loan debt. This has been a cause of alarm for several families in the nation, especially those who have students in university.
It was previously reported that paying for college last year took an average of $19,548. Financial advisers speculate that that figure will continue to rise up every year.
Politicians have weighed in on the issue as well. Democrat vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine has been vocal about how he and presidential aspirant Hillary Clinton are planning to make higher education more affordable.
He assured college students that he and Clinton understand the situation and that they are aiming to do better. Their team "is fully committed to sending every child in this country to world-class schools with great teachers, no matter where they come from."
According to Demos, a lot of people have recognized the threat to the country's future economic growth that comes with the rising cost of college education. However, the focus has been on minor contributors to the problem such as increased administrative costs and spending on school amenities.
The publication noted that the major cause of rising tuition at public colleges are cuts to state higher education funding. It was revealed that state funding cuts have caused about a third of the rise in tuition at state universities over the last 15 years.
The state funding cuts caused a 79 percent increase at public research universities while a 78 percent increase was found at all other 4-year public universities. Higher instruction costs only accounted for about 9 or 11 percent of increase while increased administrative and construction costs each accounted for about 5 to 6 percent.
This means that, to slow down the rising cost of tuition, the federal government would need to bring its focus back to prioritizing higher education in terms of funding. It would make more sense to see it on a national level than state-wide because it is affecting everyone in the country.
