EDITORIAL: Yearly tuition increases not doing college students any favors
When the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees approved a 2.47-percent tuition increase Thursday, it hardly came as a surprise.
After all, the trend over the past several years has been to see CMU, and virtually every university in Michigan and the nation, increase tuition rates as state funding falls.
To University President George Ross' credit, he has been able to keep tuition hikes relatively low during his term compared to those of other public universities in the state, despite low funding coming from Lansing.
But this is still yet another jump in a seemingly endless string of tuition hikes, and that leaves us wondering if getting a degree is worth the huge costs and stifling debt that comes along with it.
If loans are taken out to cover each and every expense involved with attending a university for four years, we don't think college is worthwhile.
That's because college is all about making connections and building skills outside of the classroom – as cliche as that sounds.
But this cliche is true, because it's highly unlikely that anyone will land their dream job immediately following graduation.
It is more likely, however, that a recent college graduate will work a job they are mostly all right with, that will help debunk some of the sting associated with the mass of student debt they've accumulated.
But what if you can make these connections without worrying about tuition hikes and the prices of what it takes to make a grilled cheese?
Four years at an employer who was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt after graduation might be more likely to promote you more quickly than a recent college graduate who is about as awkward and socially as inept as the next.
Because experience is valuable. Society has passed a time where college was seemingly more worthwhile than working your way up a job, but that time has passed, and we are currently sitting in a lame duck period of uncertainty.
Unfortunately, our society has become very degree-driven. Without a degree, it's hard to get a sustainable job with benefits that will support you and your family. However, if the cost of higher education continues to rise, college probably won't be a viable option for a lot of people.
That means society is going to change.
If earning a degree becomes unrealistic for a majority of people, society won't value a degree as much. One person won't be viewed as better or more prepared than the other, because we'll all be in the same, degree-less boat.
Whether that's a good or bad thing is debatable, but, for now, something needs to be done about the continuing rising costs of education, and it needs to happen soon.
