Problems of Contemporary Education in Perspective

Higher education is not only important in terms of job creation and academic research, it is a political advantage over many other nations. People’s of the world venture to the United States in order to study at some of the most prestigious universities and colleges in the world which are situated on American soil. Thus, cuts to higher education do not work in America’s favor. Both domestically and internationally. Education, especially higher education is the lifeline to our prosperous nation. It gives degrees to those living the American dream and offers massive services to our students trying to further their educations and futures.

Accountability is something that is misused and often misinterpreted when it comes to education. More often than not, it hurts rather than helps our schools. Incentive based programs, I believe can only help a school so much before it starts to hurt them.

I believe that more educational institutions of higher education need to be opened up across the country to make bachelor and associate degrees more readily available to our citizens because without these degrees, out citizens will be unable to attain professional jobs. Yes, many Americans cannot afford higher education and many do not need these degrees for their line of work but there is no reason why higher education cannot be made available to all Americans, not just the rich ones. Rich is clearly not an indicator of intelligence. We are a free country with equal opportunity for every race, class and gender. Lets open up our classroom doors to all and see what happens.

As we all know, one of the biggest problems Americans are facing is the budget crisis. As a result, many schools are not receiving funds because the government are running out of money to give. This is causing the education system to have a down fall. One of the main focuses these articles talks about is whether students can continue to receive higher education. This poses a problem because the demand of higher education has increased over the past couple of years.  However, since the government has limited amount of money left, it enables children to go beyond high school. By cutting higher education, this will effect the economy greatly.

In today’s economy, the level of education has changed and demand for jobs has increased because jobs are limited. Therefore, the only way to stand out is to see the level of education one is in. If the students who rely on the government to provide college tuition are not doing so anymore , then they are at a disadvantage compared to other students when it comes to surviving. Also, problems such as poverty, crime rate and drop out rate will continue to rise. As a result, U.S will end up in a deeper “hole” than it is already in.

One of the problems that led up to the budget crisis was the fact that tax payers refused to contribute their money to education. In my opinion, these people are not setting their priorities correctly. They do not see the importance education has towards the future. Children are the people who will be in charge of what is going to happen in the next few decades. Therefore, if children are not receiving the education they need, it will only harm the country. If we take a look at other countries, we can see that the countries that were falling behind are now ahead of us. It’s only a matter of time that they will take over the power that we once gained. To find the person who can possibly solve our financial crisis will be someone who is intelligent and well rounded through the years of his or her living. However, how will that be possible if they are being denied for an education? As I said before, one will need a higher education in order to compete against others who are qualified. Do you think low paid jobs will become popular to those who might be over qualified for them but under qualified for business positions?

Aside from the internal problems that U.S are going to face, one must consider the threat that other countries are gonna have against us in the future. It might not hit everyone that the problems are getting more serious. However, it is to those countries who are advancing at a faster pace. U.S being one of the “powerful” countries might be taken advantage of such as foreign trade and other aspects in running the country. One of the obvious example is the trade between China and the U.S. Since everything is pretty much made in China, China has a large share of the U.S currency. Aside from that, other countries’ education such as china is much more ahead compared to U.S. These problems are slowly shifting America’s power. I understand that there are many more problems aside from the education aspect. However, I think if we start by improving the flaws the education system has, then we will be able to attack other areas as well in the future. Do you think that by putting more money in higher education, it will benefit the economy in some way in the future?

I found these articles interesting as it discussed the life of school beyond high school. It is relevant to us as college students because it feels as if it was just yesterday when i was trying to make my decision to which college i wanted to attend. One of my main reasons for choosing baruch was its high quality of education and low cost of schooling. I thought to myself why go away to an expensive private college when i can get a high quality education real close to home which is affordable and flexible with attaining a job close by. After reading these articles about the cuts in public higher education funding it was a big disappointment. I remember hearing when baruch was a free college. Now i look at my semester bill and almost every semester the bill is rising. I understand times change but it is becoming more and more difficult for students to afford college which makes it even harder for them to complete. It was interesting to learn that many of these funding problems come from the state.

When it comes to budget cuts in education, are there any wiser alternatives anyone can think of to help the education system overall ?

It seems as if this is just the start to the rise in cost of public education, do you feel as if this is a time to panic or is this just temporary ?

The cost of attending college is definitely a huge concern for many people. Whether its high school students deciding how they will afford a college education or current college students witnessing their tuition gradually increase, the cost of attending college is on everyone’s mind. Public Universities have always been seen as the economical choice when it comes to attending college. Many middle class families who aren’t able to send their children to private universities often rely on public universities to offer an affordable quality education. As the articles point out, the cost of attending Public Universities such as the ones in the CUNY system are going up and it is becoming increasingly more difficult for States to fund Public Higher Education. This is of course a real shame as public colleges and universities are a real important part of our country. As it becomes more expensive, it will become more difficult for many Americans to obtain a college degree which would definitely set us back in being able to keep up with other countries academically and in being able to compete in the global market.

The fact that States are not adequately funding Public higher education comes as no surprise given the financial situation that many States are in. It is difficult for them to continue supporting schools as they have in the past and this has resulted in increased tuition, a reduction in programs and services, and a reduction in financial aid which is another huge blow to middle and lower income families. I personally see this continuing for the next several years given the financial state of the country and given the fact that politicians and our elected representatives don’t seem to want to work together in ensuring that this issue is addressed. There doesn’t seem to be much emphasis and value being placed in Public higher education.

Karp discussed about AYP or “adequate yearly progress” which is the formula to measure the progress of the schools and students basis on the application of standardized test in order to improve education and to charge more liability to all schools, thus the schools receiving federal funds are forced to require for all students to take the standardized test and the basis of the students’ test scores evaluate the schools their progress of each year. Indeed, if any schools do not follow this mandated testing, they face a series of sanctions even possible school closure.

In my opinion it is completely wrong to evaluate the schools and the students how they are well-educated only depend on the standardized test scores because only basis on the test cannot measure the potential capacities of each student. So I emphasize that each school should be evaluated depending on how the educational system is well organized to help the students to find out their capacities for their future careers. Thus, the responsibility of school is contributing the enough resources therefore students are able to challenge their interests to discover and improve their potential capacities. But if the evaluation of schools are concentrated basis of the students’ standardized test scores, the schools become obsessed with test scores for being evaluated as the high prestige of school, indeed the teaching method will be concentrated more on the test taking skills and very limited of the teachers’ ability to serve the classes and increasing more students who become the disinterest of the study because of the pressure of the excessive tests. Also the students take more the method of learning by memorizing than understanding the subjects to pass the tests.

Are you agree that the students can be evaluated their success or fail in school only basis on the standardized test?

Meier discussed that big schools are not always better than small schools only because big schools can offer more specialized programs and protecting the minorities. The costs are higher than small schools and even big schools are created by kids their own small schools which are hold together by same classes or races. I agree that big schools are not always better. I think both have positive and negative side however, the most of parents prefer to send their kids to the big schools because they think that their kids are able to learn more because of the specialized programs that big schools offer them. But I cannot see any differences between the students who graduated in small or big schools. Indeed, I feel small schools have more connection between teachers and students so the teachers easily perceive the students’ concerns and their needs. Therefore, the students can easily follow the classes and adapt the environment of schools.

The decreased state funding for public higher institutions was sad to read about because the “American way” includes education and with the lack of funding education will draw bigger gaps between the haves and the have nots which it has already been doing from day one. I say this because higher education is already expensive and with the steady increased lack of funding everything always has to come out of pocket for potential college attendees,which I believe is not fair. I understand the state of the economy and the problems that the government has with allocating funding but every minute all the cuts are towards education but we still want our students to be highly competitive with college educations that for many people are to expensive to afford.

I did not know actually that alot of the funding for public higher education comes from the state. I thought everything was controlled by the federal government, though I still do not understand the major differences between the governments and their types of funding, I can definitely understand the concept of budget cut and reduced funding. In one of the articles it discussed the idea that because of the heavy demands for medicaid  from the government the cuts could be a result of this. If everything else were getting cut as well I could really understand that but everytime there is a money shortage it always seems to come from education on all levels. They increase tuition for college students and still want everyone to be happy in a sense that it wasn’t worse, I dont really understand what is going on with the state government or the federal government for that matter because everything just seems very disorganized.  Then they all complain about accountability but every level does not want to take responsibility for what they are doing and this argument will continue to progress as tuition increases and eventually becomes so high that only the rich majority will be able to go to college.

 Is the alternative to budget cuts in education cutting the funding for certain government insurances like medicare and medicaid? What other countries can American look to if any for ideas about how to wisely allocate money instead of always cutting education?

The reading focused on the budget cuts in higher education.

As all of us who read these are students attending a public university’s this truly hits home for us. Many of us who have been at baruch for a couple of years have defiantly seen the jump in our school tuition.

For many students who are starting to apply to college this may seem like a deterrent because they cannot afford the schooling. This semester alone I have seen many of my friends complaining that their PAL or TAPP was cut and that they had to pay for a lot more school than they could afford. One of my friends mentioned that her freshman year she was paying about 200$ for a semester and for the spring semester she was only given 200$ in financial aid.

Something that I realize is that while the rise in tuition and lose in aid may be a deterrent for students entering college it can also shatter dreams of those in college who can longer afford their tuition.

We are also paying more for less class time, when registering for classes I noticed that statistics will now be offered with an online class portion. As a student I understand that people think “great less time in Baruch” what they don’t realize is that they are paying for the same three credits and losing out on professor involvement as well as a professor (usually an adjunct getting paid per class) is losing out on money.

While public universities are still a bargain compared to private schools the bargain is starting to come with a price.

This is a particularly important topic for students our age. Everyone, rich or poor, is concerned with the cost of education. As the readings show their is a trend toward more expensive higher education, more high school graduates, and less funding. This is a bad combination because it means public universities are expected to provide more for less… State financial aid and other initiatives to make higher education affordable are also failing to do so. Different things contributed to this such as the general economy not doing well and as stated in one of the readings, the lack of accountability. I found the accountability topic interesting when discussing the price and accessibility of higher education, because I normally only think of accountability in terms of quality, and not cost. The Accountability triangle that discussed state priorities (political), Academic Concerns (professional), and Market forces seemed very logical to me. I was wondering what the class thinks could be the easiest, or most feasible area of accountability to correct in order to make a better functioning system.

Another thing that was shocking to me is the graph of student state funding in the “Challenges for Financing Public Higher Education” reading. I could not understand the general trend toward less per pupil funding in higher education (specifically between 2001 and 2004). I would have thought that during such times people would put more emphasis on making education affordable, but it seems the opposite. I do not know if this is due to a lack of budgeting interest in terms of how state money is allocated, or if it is due to the higher number of high school graduates who are now utilizing this budget… I wonder if their is any more appropriate way to allocate these funds. Do you think that financial aid should be solely based on financial need, or also on grades, ethnicity, the school you go to, or any other factors that could make the system more “Fair.”

Personally, this reading was interesting because I never really realized the importance nation wide in the decline of higher education moneys. I have heard recently many stories of colleges doing poorly. For instance my friend at a College in Santa Fe actually had to finish school elsewhere because the college just one day closed due to funding, also I heard that Iona College recently filed for bankruptcy… Then I saw the numbers in this reading saying places like Nevada have lost up to 60% of their funding. This is apparently a huge trend which I was not really aware of, and should probably be made more public in order to have people begin to attempt and correct this problem. I know even the small changes in my financial aid here at CUNY Baruch are a big concern to me, so it would probably be wise on students, educators, and universities parts to attempt to work on these issues together in some way.

As more and more students graduate from high schools, there is a higher demenad for college degrees.However, higher education faces issues.After working at another CUNY community college for over a year, I have gotten different opinions from students who attend the school.Due to the fact senior colleges, four year colleges are higher in cost, most students transfer(from a four year to a two year school)/attend a two year school(before entering a four year).For the simple fact that tuition rates are less, with the same coursework available.In a way the cuts made towards education, and the highering of tuition rates have/will continue to affect students.

“No country has ever improved the quality and scope of its educational system by persistently reducing its budget,” Mr. Lingenfelter wrote in his recent essay on state finance. “While some may wish this were possible, it is not. Nor can colleges and universities improve their scope and quality without focusing on essential priorities and increasing productivity and efficiency, most especially when resources are limited.”

I agree with this excerpt from one of the readings.As we are told everyday, an education is vital in the process of becoming successful.Budget cuts wont solve the problem.If you browse through employment oppurtunity websites, Bachelors/Masters degrees are necessary for better quality, higher paying jobs.If students(working with students,often times, I am often aproached with “Word of mouth” questions) are aware of the downfall in funding for CUNY schools, would the graduation rate at CUNY schools decrease?

Would students who still attend school receive a better quality education,since professors are aware of the budget cuts and how it can affect the student population?

The community that I currently work at, I feel SOME students, dont take their education as serious as they could.Do you think information sessions should be set up, for students to understand the importance of what average oppurtunities they have available, such as financial aid, etc?(Maybe that would ensure better focus in the classroom and less carelessness)

Since we’re starting to register for new classes for the summer and fall semesters, I’m pretty sure we can relate to the financial aspect of higher education. I have noticed, and as mentioned in the article, that college is getting more expensive, yet the government is still cutting its financial aid. This makes it really hard to for students because a majority of people who attend college attend a public college, hoping to get free and quality education. Over 75 percent of students in college choose to attend public colleges like CUNYs. It seems to be a very great alternative to private schools because because of various factors but most importantly, it is a lot cheaper. I can relate to this because I basically chose to stay in the city rather than to live upstate or out of state because I’m basically getting paid to go to school. However between 2001 and 2002, tuition has increased about 20 percent! That’s insane because those who are hoping to get similar education to that of private schools for free are now in jeopardy of being in debt for choosing to get higher education. The government encourages people to go to college and is trying to help them in every which way possible, covering as much fee and tuition as possible, but as we witness, once there’s a budget cut schools– elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and college– are the ones who get hit the hardest. Even though the cuts are drastic, I still believe that public colleges are still going to be in better business than private schools. If one can choose to pay in full or in part, it is quite obvious what he will choose. But it would be great if the government figured out how to increase financial aid to parallel the increase of tuition in schools.

In a different article, it stated that students were actually deterred from entering college because of the tuition raises. In recent students, tuition rose about 30 percent! This just goes to show that the socioeconomic status of a majority of the United States is made up of lower to middle classmen who can’t afford higher education. This is a big problem because if all these people are getting turned off by the price for education, America will be falling behind even more compared to other countries’ academics. There is always the option to take out loans, but who wants to be like tens of thousands of dollars in debt when they come out of college? And many people are well off without going to school because they have very good communication and networking skills. With a huge amount of students turning away from college and drop out rates, colleges will be in jeopardy of losing their business. Similar to how elementary, middle, and high schools have to get shut down because of low performance, colleges will have to do the same because of a lack of attendees. So do you believe the government will put more money towards education now that so many people are shying away from higher education in order to make America’s academic levels rise? and what other solutions can help aid this dilemma?