Why Does College Cost So Much?

Indeed, why does college cost so much? Thousands of students all over the world eager to start a new chapter of their lives and their anxious parents would like to know. Students eagerly anticipate college for many reasons. Some are pursuing a dream that they have been nurturing since childhood to be doctors, writers, businessmen, politicians, engineers, scientists, and so on. The list of professions and occupations that they can take up after college are endless, and higher education in a university or college brings them closer to this dream.

If these students hope to graduate from a prestigious institution that offers high-quality facilities, faculty and opportunities to do research in partnership with corporate entities, they must secure a scholarship to help them defray the cost of college. Some are continuing their scholarships that they got out of having a specialised skills such as playing sports, a musical instrument, or engaging in theater. This group is by far luckier because they will not have to worry much about the high cost of tertiary education due to the financial assistance they receive.

So, why does college cost so much? In a way, the cost of higher education can be tied to the state of a country's economy, just like all other products and services being offered and sold in that particular country. Rising costs for college education can be attributed primarily to a dysfunctional university system. High tuition fees are due to practices that are expensive in itself, yet do not directly contribute to learning such as prestigious sports games among elite universities and gold plating of amenities for students. Add to this a lax culture characterised by inefficiency and a strong resistance to changing age-old practices in favor of innovation.

The sector of education also cannot benefit from the effects of technology that enables services to be mechanized because it is essentially an artisanal industry, meaning that all the progress in technology that we have achieved until the present still have not reduced the number of hours needed in order for the service to be given. Even with the advent of e-learning and the development of teaching aids such as computers, the Internet, powerpoint presentations, projectors, etc., the sight of students interacting directly in a class with their professors and fellow students still remains the benchmark by which quality education is viewed. It takes professors who have studied extensively for many years on a specific subject, and not many students have the patience or resources to go this route. Hence, the cost alone of acquiring talented and qualified teachers is already steep.