The Dark Side of The College System

by Jillian Wright

The college system is corrupt. Dropout rates are high, college tuition is rising, and depending on your economic stance and ethnicity, you have a lower chance of going to a good school and graduating. Additionally, the amount of interest a student shows in a college could decrease the amount of aid the school offers them. Unfortunately, the government doesn’t offer a large amount of equal opportunities for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic or ethnic backgrounds, to go to college and remain there. In today’s society there’s an increased pressure on kids to go to a good college, yet the government isn’t doing enough to make college more accessible to everyone or even to improve a student’s chances of succeeding throughout college. 

     Many students’ financial status affects their ability to attend and remain in college. Just applying to college is insanely expensive. Today, application fees range from as low as about $50 to as high as $90 (DeAmelio-Rafferty). While most colleges offer fee waivers, not everyone meets all the criteria to qualify for a fee waiver. You could essentially be spending hundreds or thousands of dollars applying to colleges you may or may not get accepted into. 

     Even though the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student) and CSS Profile are offered as ways to obtain financial aid, they can only help so much. Also, the FAFSA only considers your tax information, your current income, and your investments (“What Will I…”). The CSS Profile shows a more in depth analysis of your family’s finances because it collects information such as your most recently completed tax forms, your current income, bank statements, investments, bonds, savings, assets and more. The CSS Profile provides “a more thorough picture of your family's finances than the FAFSA allows,” accounts for “special circumstances that your family may be experiencing,” and through using the CSS Profile you can “gain access to a large source of funding that may not be available through FAFSA alone.” Opting just to submit the free FAFSA application is an option (though some colleges require the CSS Profile), however it can look like you make a lot of money on paper and it doesn’t take into account everything that you pay for and the CSS Profile does. On the other hand, not every school takes the CSS Profile and it costs $25 to send it to your first school and $16 for any additional schools. Since many students don’t apply to just 1 or 2 schools, the costs start to add up (“Why You Should…”).

     Additionally, many colleges require standardized testing, though there is more incentive to not take them into account in your application as much as they used to. It costs $49.50 to take the SAT and $50.50 to take the ACT and even more if you take the writing portion. Most students also take these tests multiple times. If you add up the numbers, you have to spend a couple hundred dollars to take either the ACT/SAT multiple times to get the score you want and to send your scores to the colleges you’re applying to. It costs $12 per school to send SAT scores and $13 per school to send ACT scores. They give you the option to send your scores to the first four schools for free, but only within a couple days after your testing date. Therefore, you wouldn’t know how you did before colleges saw your scores. You could end up sending a bad score to a college just because it was free. Unless you are very confident that you did the best you could, you probably would be better off waiting to send your scores until after you saw them first (Cheng). 

     Over the years, the price of attending college has increased tremendously and is still continuing to do so. By 2025 at the University of Chicago, “students...could expect to pay more than $100,000 per year, based on projections by The Hechinger Report using annual college cost growth rates from 2008 to 2018. That would likely make the University of Chicago the first college or university in the United States to break the six-figure mark” (D'Amato). Not only are you expected to pay all the fees to apply to college, you also have to find a way to pay for tuition costs that are growing each year.

     Furthermore, wages in the United States haven’t been increasing at the same rate as college tuition. Instead, the middle class wages have been leveling off instead of significantly increasing. “According to figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the average annual growth in wages was only 0.3% between January 1989 and January 2016. That’s right, the cost to attend a university increased nearly eight times faster than wages did. While the cost of a four-year degree exploded to $104,480, real median wages only went from $54,042 to $59,039 between 1989 and 2016” (Maldonado). Universities control the cost of attendance but the government isn’t reacting in a substantial way to make the increase in tuition prices in public and private institutions and wages proportional. There’s a large gap between wages and increasing college tuition prices that forces students to take out a lot of loans. 

     Any money you take out from loans you have to eventually pay back with interest. Currently the interest rate for student loans is about 4.53% (Nykiel). Though the rate did go down slightly for 2019-20, it’s still pretty high. Additionally, for the average undergraduate, “it takes just over 21 years to pay off his or her loans, research shows... 70% of new college graduates have student loan debt – and 44 million Americans owe a total of $1.5 trillion in student loan debt” (Cautero). Americans are also taking out more money in student loans than they used to as, “the average student loan borrower has $37,172 in student loans, a $20,000 increase from 13 years ago.” To put that into perspective, “borrowers could put a down payment on a home, purchase a new car or bootstrap their own business” with that money (Hess, Abigail). The way the college system currently works, you’re expected to pay for ACT/SATs (including Subject Tests) and sending the scores, application fees, sending the CSS Profile fees for financial aid, tuition, room and board, and to pay back the loans you took out. College is a massive expense not everyone can afford. 

     While the FAFSA form is used to calculate how much financial aid you qualify for, some colleges may also be using it against you. When filling out the FAFSA, you can choose to share your information with up to ten schools. Colleges have figured out that the order students list the colleges they’re applying to correlates with the order in which colleges students would like to attend. Some colleges think that if they’re placed farther down the list, the student isn’t that interested in their school and therefore may use their position on the list as a factor in their decision to defer a student or even deny them acceptance (Rivard). “Besides turning away students who put their institution further down the list, some college officials may also be offering smaller aid packages to students who list their institution highly, according to several prominent higher education consultants who advise institutions across the country on enrollment practices.” If your financial aid package and chance of acceptance could be affected no matter where you place a college on the FAFSA list, then what are you supposed to do? According to Todd Johnson, a private college consultant, if you’re going to use the FAFSA you should, “list colleges in alphabetical order to avoid having the list be used against [you]” (Rivard). The problem with these methods is that it’s unfair to the student, it isn’t right, and colleges aren’t telling people they’re doing this. If it was made public, they would be criticised and lose money. After all, college is a business. 

     Why isn’t the government doing anything to stop this? “Some outsiders suggested the Department of Education’s current practice is easier on the department -- otherwise, it would have to find a way to scrub each and every one of the FAFSAs of the names of other institutions” (Rivard). It’s cheaper and easier to just ignore it. 

     You may also believe that showing a lot of interest in colleges that track it can’t hurt you. However, economist Robert Kelchen stated, “There are some pretty sophisticated algorithms that — based on the financial information, academics, how much interest you’ve shown in the college — will give you a pretty good idea of what someone is willing to pay...Are you emailing them? Are you visiting them? Colleges are trying to get a sense of, OK, if you’re really interested they may need to offer you less money” (D'Amato). Schools try to figure out that sweet spot of how much money they have to offer you in order for you to attend. They know that if they’re your top school, you’re most likely willing to go there no matter how much it costs. Though these aren’t tactics used by every college, it’s still something to be aware of when applying.

     Community college is certainly a less expensive choice. It gives people the opportunity to still get a college education and a degree if they can't afford college or don't have the grades to get into many schools. If you didn’t do well in high school, you can go to a community college and transfer to another school after two years. The colleges you apply to after community college will only look at the grades you got at community college and your high school transcript will be essentially wiped out. However, “at public two-year colleges, only about 26% of full-time, first-time students complete their degree within three years” (Hess, Frederick). Though it seems like the better option, the retention rate isn’t much better than public/private institutions. 

    Paying for college isn’t the only problem students have to worry about. They also have to worry about making it to graduation. “According to College Atlas, 70% of Americans will study at a four-year college, but less than two-thirds will graduate with a degree, and 30% of first-year students drop out after their first year of school” (Lake). 

     Minority races generally have a lesser chance of going to and graduating from a good school with little debt. According to the Education Department, “Seventy-two percent of black students go into debt to pay for their educations, compared to 56 percent of white students.” Also, the Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce reports, “Enrollment in the 468 best-funded and most selective four-year institutions is 77 percent white…[and] enrollment at the 3,250 lowest-funded community colleges and four-year universities is 43 percent black and Hispanic.” Race shouldn’t be a factor that affects your quality of education, especially in a society that’s trying to push for more people to be educated at the college level (Marcus).  

     Not only are Hispanic and black students more likely to go to a low-funded college and leave with more debt than white students, they’re also less likely to graduate as, “nearly 72 percent of white students finish a four-year degree within six years, compared to 56 percent of Hispanic and 46 percent of black students, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center says” (Marcus).

      It’s shocking that, “the percentage of U.S. college students who eventually earn degrees has been about the same since the 1970s” (Colvin). Though this isn’t necessarily bad, it isn’t necessarily good either because that means as the world has continued to expand access to information, advance our technology and become more sophisticated, the amount of people who graduate with degrees in the US has barely changed in decades. Also, it would be beneficial to the US economy to help every student graduate college and lower dropout rates. “Advocates with the Boston-based Jobs for the Future argues that the nation needs to double the number of low-income high school graduates who earn a college degree. Doing so... would add several hundred billion dollars to the nation's economic output and tens of billions in tax revenues” (Colvin). So why not push for more uniform standards of education that will help to ensure equal opportunities and preparedness for everyone, despite race or economic status? 

     College students are constantly under pressure and have to balance their time between a job, athletics, clubs, and their academics. “It’s been reported that about 70 to 80 percent of college students are active in the labor market while enrolled in college,” and “about 40 percent of undergraduates work at least 30 hours a week” (Scholastica). It’s difficult to delegate all the different responsibilities students have in college. “Some, especially Latinos and those who live at home, will succumb to the tug of family obligations...loneliness will overcome many...plenty of motivated, hardworking students will simply be unable to overcome the despair of stepping onto campus and feeling as if they've entered a black-tie ball wearing a thrift-store T-shirt. These are the students who met every high school requirement, scoring higher grades than most of their classmates in courses the academic establishment said would prepare them for the future” (Colvin). Students in high school often aren’t given the tools to prepare for college. Not every school offers AP or IB classes and not every student is academically prepared for the rigors of college level classes. Many high schools also don’t help to develop students’ time management skills or healthy coping skills. “They won't comprehend what they read in college well enough to jump into classroom discussions. They can't write analytically. They'll find college-level math over their heads” (Colvin). Because they weren’t prepared, college courses become overwhelming and degrees seem achievable. 

     “In practice the needs of the population are always underestimated, with the result that there is a chronic shortage of half the necessities of life.” (Orwell 191) The government isn’t addressing the issues in society that are causing these high dropout rates and that are making it harder for students to attend college in the first place. The needs of students are being neglected for profit by colleges and the government. In Orwell’s 1984, The Party determines everyone’s place in society from birth. People’s lives are predetermined. Their jobs, wealth, freedoms, and qualities of life are chosen by The Party. This is similar to how kids today are being steered into the college path and you’re seen as inferior for not having a college degree. However, the government isn’t doing enough to create equal opportunities for education, make college more accessible to everyone or to increase success in college. If society wants to push more kids to get a college education, then they have to give them the tools to obtain that degree. There’s no doubt that the system needs an upgrade. 

Works Cited

Cautero, Rachel Morgan. “How Long Does It Take to Pay Off Student Loans?” The Balance, The Balance, 25 June 2019, https://www.thebalance.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-pay-off-student-loans-4588027. 

Cheng, Allen. “SAT Cost, ACT Cost, and How to Save Money.” SAT Cost, ACT Cost, and How to Save Money, 14 July 2019, https://blog.prepscholar.com/sat-cost-act-cost-and-how-to-save-money.

Colvin, Richard Lee. “Congratulations! You're About to Fail.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2005, http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-op-dropouts2jan02,1,6056187.story.    

D'Amato, Pete. “University of Chicago Projected to Be the First U.S. University to Charge $100,000 a Year.” The Hechinger Report, 7 Nov. 2019, https://hechingerreport.org/university-of-chicago-projected-to-be-the-first-u-s-university-to-charge-100000-a-year/. 

DeAmelio-Rafferty, Lynne. “How Much Do College Applications Cost?” Edmit, https://www.edmit.me/blog/how-much-do-college-applications-cost. 

Hess, Abigail. “Here's How Much the Average Student Loan Borrower Owes When They Graduate.” CNBC, CNBC, 15 Feb. 2018, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/heres-how-much-the-average-student-loan-borrower-owes-when-they-graduate.html. 

Hess, Frederick. “The College Dropout Problem.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 6 June 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickhess/2018/06/06/the-college-dropout-problem/#f9fa4af5fd24. 

Lake, Rebecca. “Dropping out of College Could Cost Students in More Ways Than One.” The Balance, The Balance, 1 Oct. 2019, https://www.thebalance.com/the-cost-of-college-dropout-4174303. 

Maldonado, Camilo. “Price Of College Increasing Almost 8 Times Faster Than Wages.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 25 July 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilomaldonado/2018/07/24/price-of-college-increasing-almost-8-times-faster-than-wages/#7bd9ff3466c1. 

Marcus, Jon. “Facts about Race and College Admission.” The Hechinger Report, 14 Apr. 2019, https://hechingerreport.org/facts-about-race-and-college-admission/. 

Nykiel, Teddy. Student Loan Interest Rates: Federal, Private, Refinancing. 1 Nov. 2019, https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/student-loan-interest-rates/. 

Orwell, George. 1984. Signet Classics, 1950.

Rivard, Ry. “Colleges Use FAFSA Information to Reject Students and Potentially Lower Financial Aid Packages.” Colleges Use FAFSA Information to Reject Students and Potentially Lower Financial Aid Packages, 28 Oct. 2013, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/28/colleges-use-fafsa-information-reject-students-and-potentially-lower-financial-aid. 

Scholastica, The College of St. “Working While in College: Weighing the Pros & Cons.” The College of St. Scholastica, 21 May 2018, http://www.css.edu/the-sentinel-blog/working-while-in-college-weighing-the-pros-and-cons.html.

“What Will I Need to Fill out the FAFSA?” What Will I Need to Fill out the FAFSA?, https://fafsa.ed.gov/help/before003.htm. 

“Why You Should Apply for Financial Aid with the CSS ProfileTM.” CSS Profile™ Overview, CollegeBoard, https://learn.collegeboard.org/css-profile-overview/4/.