Following the signing of the budget that cuts the funding of California State University, many changes have been witnessed. The idea was introduced only three years ago, but tremendous changes have been experienced in the systems of education in this country, especially in the California State University.
According to McMahon (84), California State University is the largest system that offers higher education to both the residents and the non-residents in the country. The university is widely known for the quality teaching it offers to its learners. The education in this university is affordable and diversified to meet the daily changing needs of the people of California. The university has over twenty campuses which support over 400, 000 learners.
Geiger (52) says that, apart from offering learning opportunities to many, the university also offers many employment opportunities.
Initially, the university was funded by the state, but since the year 2011, following the final decision by Governor Brown, Funding of the California State University has been left in the hands of the University administration. This research paper seeks to explore the merits and demerits of lowering the tuition in the California State University.
According to Hernon (43), following ‘the baby boom’, the education sector has been experiencing challenges due to the increased number of learners. The California State University is one of the education systems that have seriously experienced an increased number of learners. Lowering tuition is very important to a nation that aims at offering learning opportunities for all.
This idea will allow both the rich and the poor to acquire equal education opportunities. According to Hoffman and Randal (76), lowering the tuition eliminates the avenues of social discrimination as it provides a picture of where both the poor and the rich dine in the same table.
This will consequently solve any social discrimination-related problems in the country. Equal learning opportunities lead to equal employment opportunities. This implies that the job employment positions that used to be dominated by the rich learned individuals can also be occupied by the poor but learned individuals with the same or better qualifications than the rich.
Lowering of the tuition will help the university meet its financial needs. This is so because; lowered tuition will allow many people to enroll in the University hence generating more cash for the university. The availability of a continuous flow of money for this university will help it pay its employees and meet other expenses since the funding by the state is no more. Although the lowering of tuition has several advantages, it also has its demerits.
According to O’Brien (54), the increased number of people increases the number of learners in this university. This is so because lowering tuition makes it easier for many to afford education in this university. Managing large populations in an education institution may not only be tiresome, but it is also difficult and challenging for the management of this University.
A large population of learners may make the University compromise the quality of education it offers. As Ehrenberg (67) puts it, lowering the tuition makes the education irrelevant since everyone can afford. This, in turn, floods the country with incompetent graduates.
This affects the country economically because of poor human resource. It also affects the social life of the learners who graduate and fail to secure employment opportunities due to their incompetence in the job market.
Hernon (69) argues that since the funding of the university activities by the state has been cut, the university should come up with ways to generate its revenues. Lowering the tuition may lead to the university not being in a position to fund its projects, including the payment of its employees, and this may result in the closure of the university.
The failure of this university can cost the nation a lot. Unequal education opportunities also cost the nation equally. Hence it is advisable to weigh the two options between lowering and hiking the tuition to come up with a sustainable option.
Works Cited
Ehrenberg, Ronald. What’s Happening to Public Higher Education? The Shifting Financial Burden. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. Print.
Geiger, Roger. Knowledge and Money: Research Universities and the Paradox of the Marketplace. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2004. Print.
Hernon, Peter. Higher Education Outcomes Assessment for the Twenty-First Century. , 2013. Print.
Hoffman, Allan, and Randal Summers. Managing Colleges and Universities: Issues for Leadership. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey, 2000. Print.
McMahon, Walter. Higher Learning, Greater Good: The Private and Social Benefits of Higher Education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009. Internet resource.
O’Brien, George. All the Essential Half-Truths about Higher Education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Print.