The Impact of Rising College Tuition in the United States on Students from Low-Income Families

This paper examines the multifaceted economic,social,and psychological impacts of the rising cost of college tuition in the United States,with a particular focus on students from low-income families.The escalating tuition fees have far-reaching implications,including increased student loan debt,delayed social mobility,and psychological stress among students.The paper explores the barriers to higher education imposed by financial constraints and the systemic challenges that exacerbate income inequality in access to quality education.Case studies highlight the resilience of students who overcome these obstacles,as well as the struggles of those who face significant setbacks.The paper concludes with policy implications and recommendations for future research,emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to address the financial barriers in higher education.It advocates for policy interventions that increase financial aid,reform educational funding,and promote innovative and affordable educational models to ensure equitable access to higher education.

The goals for regulating college tuition

Regulation refers to governmental restrictions over enterprise in order to protect public interest.Research on governmental regulation in China primarily focuses on public utility,and inadequate attention has been paid to regulating college tuition.Currently,although the educational administrative agencies have successfully kept college tuition at the level of the year 2000,the governmental regulation on tuition has not achieved the effects expected because it has not been able to lower college tuition to the level that the public is willing to accept,and it has not established any internal scientific management system in colleges.The ultimate goal of college regulation should be establishing a healthy order among various social groups.After tuition is capped,the priority for constructing a scientific college management system is to define the goals for governmental regulation on college tuition.A feasible option for now is to replace cost analysis with intervention institutions and to improve the situation of asymmetric information.

Tuition Fees for Higher Education and Intergenerational Mobility in China

This paper studies the impact of an increase in higher education tuition on intergenerational mobility in China.We develop a theoretical model for the parental decision about the investment on education of children to illustrate the impact from the perspective of borrowing constraint.We consider the Chinese college tuition and subsidy reform around 1986 as a quasi-natural experiment for identifying the policy effect of the reform on intergenerational educational mobility by using the data from the census of 2000 and the China Family Panel Studies(CFPS).We find that an increase in the education burden induced by the reform of college tuition has reduced intergenerational educational mobility,and it is more noticeable in regions with a relatively higher increment in the tuition fee.Our results are robust with consideration of the co-residence bias,government investment in elementary education,and the higher education expansion.