VOA标准英语2013--Soaring College Costs Prompt Concern From Students, Economists

 

Soaring College Costs Prompt Concern From Students, Economists²

 

Joshua Jordan earned a doctorate³ degree in physical therapy. He hopes to open his own practice someday, and says having the expensive graduate degree is good for his patients - but hard on his wallet.  

“I am currently in debt for $210,000,” he said.

Jordan's loans are eight times larger than those of the average student. He says it might take him 20 years to pay them off, and he sometimes has had to work two jobs concurrently⁴ to meet his bills.

For the past 30 years, college tuition has been going up at twice the rate of inflation, and private colleges now charge an average of more than $30,000 a year.   

Universities say they're caught between record-high enrollments, a workforce⁵ of professors who have the skills to find work elsewhere if they are not well paid, and falling financial support from state governments.

Terry Hartle speaks for The American Council on Education which represents thousands of colleges and universities across the United States.

"It’s a terrible conundrum⁶ that we face as a country. We want more and more post-secondary education. We want more focus on academic quality and graduation. At the same time, the funding sources for higher education have been diminishing for a generation," said Hartle.

While these students made it to graduation, experts worry the high cost of college makes it less likely that bright students from poor families will attend college, depriving the economy of some of the scientists, engineers and others who could help boost growth.  

And a survey shows that some students concerned about repaying thousands of dollars in loans are putting off marriage, children, and the major purchases that usually go along with forming a family.  

Peter Mazareas, who is with the College Savings⁷ Foundation, said, "These students will not contribute to the economy. They will go home and live at home. They won't buy cars. They won't invest in housing, so there is a real multiplier effect that is short term."

Georgetown University Labor⁸ Economist¹ Anthony Carnevale said the current system is unsustainable for families and cuts economic growth for the whole country.

"The effects on economic growth [of failing to produce post secondary talent] are substantial. If we had kept up with demand for post secondary talent, economists estimate that we would be at about $500 billion more per year in gross domestic product, that is people would have more money to spend. There would have been a higher productivity rate," said Carnevale.

Meanwhile, Jordan said his family is not wealthy and could not have paid for so many years in so many colleges on the way to a PhD.

“There would have been no way I could have created a career for myself that I wanted to do without the use of student loans,” he said.

So for him, it is worth it. 

 

1 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

2 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？

4 concurrently   

adv.同时地

参考例句：

• He was given two twelve month sentences to run concurrently. 他两罪均判12个月监禁，同期执行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was given two prison sentences, to run concurrently. 他两罪均判监禁，同期执行。 来自辞典例句

5 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

6 conundrum   

n.谜语；难题

参考例句：

• Let me give you some history about a conundrum.让我给你们一些关于谜题的历史。
• Scientists had focused on two explanations to solve this conundrum.科学家已锁定两种解释来解开这个难题。

7 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。