Should College Be Cheaper?

Julia Schwartz
James Madison University

Introduction
I have done research on the topic of whether or not college should be made
cheaper. I am currently a college student who is realizing how truly
expensive college tuition, room and board, and books are. With the
presidential election coming up in the next year, the topic of possibly making
college more affordable has been front and center in the news. In order for
me to make an argument on whether or not college should be made
cheaper, I needed to do research on the topic that would give me information
of the logistics and possible plans and policies that could be put in place to
actually make college more affordable. The following sources that I will
evaluate have assisted me in the research on this topic and helped shape my
argument for my research.

Dannenberg, M. (2009). The truth about tuition: We shouldn't try to just

make college cheaper-- we should make sure its worth the money. Retrieved
October 25, 2015, from
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/AcademicJournalsDetailsPage/AcademicJournal
sDetailsWindow?
failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModule
s=&displayquery=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Journals&limiter=&u=viva_jmu&c
urrPage=&disableHighlight
In this article, Michael Dannenberg addresses the idea that with the help of
government support and plans, we can make college drastically more
affordable for the average family. Tuition prices have risen much faster than
the median family income, and with minimal Pell grants and loans from
private banks, student debt is also rising dramatically. The number one driver
for overall increase in cost of tuition is the decline of state funding for higher
education. Dannenberg addresses that with the help of the federal
government, we can increase the amount of Pell Grants as well as cut banks
out, so students would receive loans directly from the government.
Dannenberg also acknowledges the opposite side of this argument that many
families over-estimate college cost and under estimate financial aid
packages. He also proposes two options to help make college a more realistic
option for people who do not want to graduate already drowning in debt. The
first option is to have the government install a loan repayment plan that is
income based, the second option is to throw banks out of the loan process
and use the savings to cap loans at 5% of the students out of school income.
Both of these options could make college a more attainable idea for families
that do not have a lot of extra money for education.

This author of this article is credible because at the bottom we read

Michael Dannenberg is a senior fellow at the New American Foundation and
the founding director of its Education Policy Program (p. 23). This shows the
authors expertise in the area of education policies making him
knowledgeable and credible to make claims on the topic. The intended
audience is college students and their families as well as people who are
interested in public policy regarding education. This article is also scholarly
and can be hard to follow making it specifically aimed at people who have
some sort of education and can process the information presented. The
information in this article is reliable, it comes from Gale, a widely known and
respected research database that has many scholarly and reliable sources
for argument articles. This article does argue a particular side, push for
government loans and assistance, but Dannenberg also addresses the other
side, that families rarely pay school prices tags as a result of Pell Grants
and private loans and many people underestimate financial aid. The
information in the argument article is relevant because this is still an ongoing
social issue being argued in politics and will continue to be argued for years.
This article is useful to my research on if college should be cheaper in
many ways. First it presents two new options that the government could put
in place to help make college more affordable. It provides more facts and
information about how much college costs and tuition is increasing faster
than average household median income. This source like my other sources,
gives facts about the costs and benefits of a college education now a day,

but this source goes into great depth on how we can reduce the overall price
of secondary education. This source has influenced my ideas on this
argument because the options this article proposes are ethical and make
sense.

Davidson, A. (2015, September 12). Is College Tuition Really Too High?

Retrieved October 25, 2015, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/magazine/is-college-tuition-toohigh.html

In this article published by the NY Times, Adam Davidson addresses the

rising cost of higher education compared to average inflation. Median family
income has risen slightly, to about $64,000, while median home prices have
increased by about two-thirds with higher education costs being a major
outlier (p. 2). If we were to compare the cost of higher education now to the
cost of it forty years ago relative to median household income, education at
a public university should only cost around $2,500. Davidson points on that
higher education is an extreme outlier when it comes to inflation, while
everything has become more expensive higher education prices have risen
at a dramatically fast rate that is making it become almost unaffordable.
The overall purpose of Davidsons article is to inform us on the rising and
extreme costs of higher education compared to forty years ago. Davidson
uses real statistics to prove his points. This is a long article packed full of
information on all the logistics of reducing education costs.
I believe this source, although not scholarly, can be considered extremely
credible. This article comes from a well known prestigious newspaper read by
millions of people around the world so any information written in its articles
have been proofread and come from a reliable writer. The author of this
source is also credible, Adam Davidson is a founder of NPRs Planet Money

and a contributing writer for the magazine. (p.14). NPR is a well known
public radio broadcast that has experts speak on topics. The intended
audience of this article is people who are interested in the rising costs of
higher education, specifically college students and their parents, as well as
people who are interested in the political side of this topic. This article shows
no obvious bias because it is more a statement of fact rather than opinion,
but many times major newspapers tend to fall as more liberal or more
conservative, therefore the fact this comes from the NY Times makes this
article slightly more liberal. The information in this article is very relevant
because not only was the article published in 2015, but it is also a major
topic in politics right now and in the upcoming presidential elections.
I believe this source will be very useful in my research on if college
should be cheaper. This article provided me with important facts about how
the prices of higher education has increased, but in a more straight forward,
easy to understand compared to other sources. This article has showed me
how drastically the cost of education has gone up relative to median
household incomes, house prices, and car prices and is helping me to form
my decision on my argument. This has changed how I think about my topic
by providing key information that shows costs relative to average inflation.

Davis, J., & Lewin, T. (2015, January 8). Obama Plan Would Help Many Go to
Community College Free. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/09/us/politics/obama-proposes-freecommunity-college-education-for-some-students.html

This article from the New York times, informs us about President Obamas
plan to discuss and possibly put in place a plan that would making
community college free for two years. The main claim of this article is that
this plan would be a tough sell to the Republicans who would not be eager to
spend on this lofty plan. The plan that Obama would introduce is to cover
college costs for students who maintain about a 2.5 GPA not only at
community colleges but at four year universities as well. Obamas plan, if put
in place, would save families about $4,000 a year.
The author of this source is credible. While we do not see actual
reference to author credibility in the article, this source comes from two
authors, Julie Hirschfeld Davis reported from Washington, and Tamar Lewin
from New York. Peter Baker contributed reporting from Washington (p.20).
The fact this is from two authors makes the source more credible because
this follows two peoples opinions and thoughts instead of just one. The
intended audience is people interested in public policy regarding education
as well as college students and their families. The information in this does
not appear biased but comes from the NY Times making this slightly liberal.
The information in this article is relevant because it comes from 2015 and is
still a current topic being argued in politics today.
This source is different from the other sources that Ive read in that it
discusses a new plan that would make community college free and help
lower tuition costs at four year universities. This article helps shape my
argument by giving me another possible option I can consider in the logistics

of how college would be made cheaper. The source has not dramatically
changed how I think about the topic in that it did not present a side to the
argument but rather stated facts and informed me on a new possible way to
make college cheaper.

Douglas-Gabriel, D. (2015, January 30). Going to a public college isn't as

affordable as it used to be. Retrieved October 25, 2015, from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/going-to-a-public-collegeisnt-as-affordable-as-it-used-to-be/2015/01/30/813b3eda-9b7b-11e4-96cce858eba91ced_story.html
This article from the Washington Post starts by telling the story of a young
man who attends a public university and years ago would have graduated
with little to no debt. Now a days however, even attending a public, instate
university with academic grants, this young man will still graduate with a
tremendous amount of debt that will take years to pay back. This source is
intended to inform its audience on the difference between college prices now
and then and we can see the tremendous inflation is higher education prices.
The main claim in this article is that colleges, even public colleges, have
become almost unaffordable for the average middle class family, and even
with grants students will still graduate with loads of debt from student loans.
The author uses the story of the college student to help make his claim and
support his ideas.
This article comes from a credible source, The Washington Post, which is a
well known newspaper that is read by thousands of people. The intended

audience of this article would be college students and their parents who are
interested in the inflation of higher education prices. I believe this article has
little bias, but because all newspapers have some form of bias I would say
this article leans more towards being liberal than conservative. This article is
relevant because it deals directly with my topic that college has become very
expensive, even cheap public universities. This article is also from 2015 so
it is up to date with its statistics and facts.
This source is much like my source from The New York times where it
highlights how expensive college has become by giving real life situational
examples. This source was easy to read and interesting so it did not confuse
me or use language that was hard to understand and comprehend. I will use
this in my project by using this real life example to prove points on how
expensive college is. This source has changed how I feel about my topic
because it used pathos and gave me a real life example that made me feel
bad for young people that have to pay for their own secondary education.

Klein, A. (2006, October 11). Democrats Hope to Seize Higher Ed. Issue;
Minority party says it would boost Pell Grants, focus on affordability.
Retrieved October 25, 2015.
In this position article, Alyson Klein writes about different acts and bills that
the federal government can put in place to help add Pell Grants that will
make college more affordable. Klein explains to us a possible measure that
could be used to help make college more affordable. This would be to set a

cap on federal student-loan payments at 15 percent of the students current

income and after 25 years the unpaid loans will be excused. Klein highlights
that college affordability is rising to the top of political arguments and later
could be one of the major themes of elections. This source is mostly used to
inform us on the political side of making college cheaper and how the two
major political parties are taking sides. Klein is not trying to persuade us to
think a certain way but rather informing the audience on the political issues
of making college cheaper.
We can assume credibility because of where this source was found. This
source was found on the Gale research database which is well-known and
can be used to find many scholarly and credible argument articles. The
intended audience of this article is people who are interested in the politics
that back up the idea of making college more affordable for families
Democratic lawmakers and candidates seeking to regain a majority in
Congress are working to convince voters that they would do more to help
students pay for college than the Republicans, highlighting proposals to
increase Pell Grants and make college loans cheaper for student borrowers.
(p.1). This shows us that there must be a lot of work done by Congress if we
want to put in place more Pell Grants. I believe this source is reliable because
it comes from a well known research database, however the information in
this article is dated and therefore might not still be valid because policies
and bills in the government are ever-changing.

This source provided me with useful background information about the

issues that surround making college cheaper. This source does not help me
decide which side to take on the argument but rather gives me information
on how difficult and how many policies would have to put in place to actually
make these plans plausible. I can use this in my research project by using the
policies that are proposed in this article to support my argument on why or
why not college should be cheaper. This source has not changed how I feel
about my topic because it mainly just provided me with background
information and logistics.

Images (general or specific, location if known):

I plan to put an image of money at the topic of my infographic to
highlight the idea that my research revolves around money
Design (background color, font style, special effects):
The color will be green to engrave a compliment the idea of money
Sounds (music, sound effects): there will be no sounds or music effects in
my infographic
Narration/Text (the actual text that you would record to accompany this slide):
Should college be cheaper?
the main things that I learned in my research were college prices
have out risen median household income, even instate public
universities are unaffordable for the average middle class family,
and tuition and college costs can only be lowered with help from
federal and state government.