你的大学学费比的舍友贵?

Do You Pay Full Tuition As Your Roommate Pays Less? 你的大学学费比的舍友贵?

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

The problem

Congressional Research Services reports that over the past 25 years, college fees rose almost 2 percent faster than inflation every year.

This suggests that college has become expensive relative to the cost of living.

At the same time, a college education is increasingly valuable. College graduates earn more money and have better career prospects¹ than those who only have a high school degree.

How do colleges get money?

In the U.S., three main sources of money give revenue to colleges.

They are government appropriations³, gift and endowment revenue, and payments for tuitions and fees. If one source of revenue decreases, colleges often look to raise revenue in another place.

How do colleges determine prices?

When students talk about the price of college, they are usually referring to payments for tuition and fees.

Both public and private schools engage in price discrimination, which means charging different prices to different students.

Adam Davidson, writing in the New York Times, says that the rise of college prices is a sign of market competition in elite⁴ colleges. If colleges publish a high price, they can attract top students with financial aid. The greater the reduction in the tuition, the more likely schools may be in attracting successful students to build the school's reputation.

Davidson reports that colleges often use computer programs to give a price. The price reflects a student's willingness to pay, academic record, ethnicity, and the major that they are likely to choose.

While colleges publish one price, the “sticker price,” they really have many price points. Davidson says the price offered to students is based on how attractive the student is to the school.

One problem with this, says Congressional Research Services, is that it means that college costs are not transparent⁵. Students are not able to directly compare the cost of schools. 

Michael Leachman and Michael Mitchell are researchers at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. They write that the high sticker price of education may discourage poor students from applying to college.

Leachman and Mitchell write that poor students, and particularly poor minority students, benefit from enrolling⁶ in selective, expensive schools.

But many poor students may be unaware⁷ of the available financial aid. They are only aware of the sticker price. Many do not apply to colleges whose sticker price seems too high.

The impact of the Great Recession 

In general, states cut funding to higher education during economic recessions. The recession of 2007 through 2009 was no different. States collected less tax money, and appropriated less money for higher education.

In the U.S, states provide around 53 percent of the revenue used to support state schools.

When states appropriate less per student, schools raise fees to pay expenses.

Schools also cut other costs, such as the amount of financial aid given to students.

Michael Mitchell, an expert at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says: 

“One way that state schools have been looking to try to make up the difference is by actually offering smaller scholarship packages or smaller grant packages to wealthier students – students that can actually pay the rest of that tuition price – and moving away from larger grant packages to low income students.” 

What happens if students don't receive financial aid?

Even if a student receives a scholarship or grant, they may still need to borrow money to pay for school.

Student debt has become the largest source of household debt in the United States. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York estimates that student loans grew to almost $1.2 trillion dollars in 2014.

Many students cannot pay back the money they borrowed. They default on their loans. The U.S. Department of Education says that of the 4.7 million students who started repaying their student loans in 2011, almost 650,000, or 13.7 percent, defaulted before the end of 2013.

Should endowments pay for tuition?

Some, such as the Candidates for the Harvard Board of Overseers, suggest making endowments pay for college costs. Harvard, for example, has an endowment that is worth around $35.9 billion dollars. The University of Texas system, a public school system, has an endowment worth around $25.4 billion dollars.

Endowments are investment funds maintained for the benefit of a college. However, donors⁹ may restrict how schools spend their endowment money. Congressional Research Services says that almost 40 percent of permanent endowment money is donor⁸ restricted.

Jeff Neal, a spokesperson for Harvard, said that endowments are not like bank accounts, where money is easily deposited or withdrawn¹⁰.

Mitchell, at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, says that many schools have small endowments, or have no endowments at all. Those schools cannot use their endowment to pay expenses in an emergency.

“Only a very small segment [of schools] that can really look at endowment as a viable¹¹ safety net in that regard.” 

Words in This Story

fee – n. an amount of money that must be paid

revenue – n. money that is made by or paid to a business or an organization

tuition – n. money that is paid to a school for the right to study there

degree – n. an official document and title that is given to someone who has successfully completed a series of classes at a college or university

prospects – n. an opportunity for something to happen

appropriation² – n. an amount of money that is used or provided by a government for a specific purpose

appropriate – v. to get or save (money) for a specific use or purpose

endowment – n. a large amount of money that has been given to a school, hospital, etc. and that is used to pay for its creation and continuing support

price discrimination – n. the action of selling the same product at different prices to different buyers, in order to maximize sales and profits

sticker price – n. the stated price of something

selective – adj. careful to choose only the best people or things

scholarship – n. an amount of money that is given by a school, an organization, etc., to a student to help pay for the student's education

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

2 appropriation   

n.拨款，批准支出

参考例句：

• Our government made an appropriation for the project.我们的政府为那个工程拨出一笔款项。
• The council could note an annual appropriation for this service.议会可以为这项服务表决给他一笔常年经费。

3 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

4 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

5 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

6 enrolling   

v.招收( enrol的现在分词 )；吸收；入学；加入；[亦作enrol]( enroll的现在分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They lashed out at the university enrolling system. 他们猛烈抨击大学的招生制度。 来自辞典例句
• You're enrolling in a country club, Billy. 你是注册加入乡村俱乐部了，比利。 来自辞典例句

7 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

8 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

11 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。