Photo by Carla Besos on her 6/11/2010 blog entry, "Secret to losing weight? GO BROKE!!!" where she describes her unintentional weight loss due to being a broke college student.
Paying for college isn’t easy. Some students take it upon themselves to pay for their own college tuition, while others relay on their parents to fork the bill. However, even relying on mom and dad to pay your tuition doesn’t always cut it.
According to the Dallas News, a study that appeared in the Journal of Family Issues (JFI) found that compared to married parents, divorced parents and remarried parents are more likely to shift the burden of paying for college onto their children.
The study took place between 2006 and 2007 and showed that divorced parents and married parents were less likely to contribute their income (6% and 5% vs. 8%) and meet their children’s financial needs (42% and 53% vs. 77%) than student’s whose parents were married.
“Once a parent has been through the financial fallout of a divorce, “both the professional fees and the splitting of the marital estate, they naturally become more cautious about retaining what assets they have,” said [Joanna] Jadlow, who often serves as the financial expert in divorce cases.”
“”This means that contributing to the cost of their child’s college education may not feel as comfortable as it did prior to the divorce,” she said.”
Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters/File as seen in The Christian Science Monitor under the article, "College tuition too high? Tune in, drop out, and learn!"
Despite the potential connection between tuition and the martial status of the students’ parents, others like the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), question the quality of higher education.
According to Education-Portal.com, the ACTA, which announced on WhatWillTheyLearn.com, their ratings of colleges “based on the schools’ curricula rather than reputation or self-reported data,” found that most schools were failing to teach the students the seven fundamentals for a well-balanced education: composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. History, economics, mathematics and science, and that as the cost of tuition rose, teaching the fundamentals became less and less enforced.
Not only are some schools failing to address the fundamentals, but they’re also trying to catch up with students today who are more familiar with, and have the desire, to work with computers and technology.
Youtube videos such as “A Vision of Students Today” and “A Vision of K-12 Students Today,” also depict the struggles of trying to learn in a traditional way when it’s becoming an increasingly technological driven society where there is a price tag for everything, and educators today are struggling to integrate more technology into the classroom setting.
To fight the burden of paying for college, some people have taken to the streets or have demonstrated small acts of defiance.
Last year, on November 10, 2010, upon hearing Prime Minister David Cameron’s government plans to triple the university tuition to 9,000 pounds ($14,000) a year, approximately 50,000 students, lecturers and supporters protested in London in front of the headquarters of the Conservative Party, according to Salon.
A similar act of defiance occurred a month ago on January 18, 2011, when sophomore Nic Ramos paid his $14,309.51 out-of-state tuition at the University of Colorado with $1 bills and some change.
According to Daily Camera, it took three employees at the college’s bursar’s office 55 minutes each to count the spring semester payment that was presented in a duffel bag that weighed 33 pounds. A spokesperson of the school said that the act resembled a previous demonstration in the 1980s where another student paid his tuition in coins.
Although acts like these may be considered courageous and righteous, they are unlikely to change the fact that a majority of college students will be graduating with hefty loans that will take years to pay back.
On top of the loans, some may leave with few marketable skills and very little work place experience, which is why some people like hedge fund manager Peter Theil, encourages young people to pursue skills outside the classroom.
According to Business Insider, Theil plans to pay twenty individuals under the age of 20, up to $100,000 in his two year “20 Under 20” program, in order for young people today to pursue entrepreneurship.
Dropping out, pursuing a non-degree program, or going for a degree -whatever decision an individual makes, try to make a choice that fits well with you because whether you pay for it now or later, in the end you will have to pay for it, but it may not always be financially.
glazedtelescope 
