Proposal for The Government Should Pay More on Higher Education.

The responsibility of running a university like a business can be a very hard task. Dr. Jenkins assigned his business students with the work of researching about what running a university entails. Each student was supposed to identify a topic of interest that concerns running a university and conduct research about the narrower topic. The students would then present their findings on the topic, and Dr. Jenkins would determine whether the topic qualifies to be researched further. The topic that I chose is ‘The government should pay more on higher education’.

The Primary objective of the proposal is to seek authorization from Dr Jenkins to conduct further research on the topic ‘The government should pay more on higher education’. I believe this is a major issue of concern, and I wish to make an oral presentation on the findings of the topic. The proposal will be presented to the students, professor, the administration of the university, and also interested parties in the running of the University business. The proposal also provides a detailed and very specific plan of action for further research.

The reason for choosing ‘The government should pay more on higher education’ as the narrower topic of discussion in the running of a university business is that I am an international finance student at the University of Tulsa. I also work part-time on campus. International students are in the front line of carrying the burden of very high tuition fee. I learnt about the issue and got more knowledge on how the problem can be solved. I would like to extend this knowledge by doing more research on the topic since that way more solutions can be obtained.

The further research on the topic is meant to help me draw conclusions and come up with ways that the government can ensure that it contributes more in the higher education sector. Therefore, data acquired must be exact and very correct. In this regard, I propose to use books and academic articles from credible sources to do the research. I will also rely on online sources such as websites that can be trusted and create questionnaires. Some of these sources have been used in preparing the proposal as I familiarized myself with the topic.

My proposal to Dr Jenkins is to consider my performance of the following two actions:

1. To be given an opportunity to present my findings in an oral presentation
2. To be granted permission to do more research on the topic ‘The government should pay more on higher education’.

Findings

Years ago, the government used to contribute three-quarters of the expenses used by the universities but today it only contributes half. The remaining quantity is gotten from learners. This burden is placed on the students’ thus making education very expensive and to others unaffordable (Blumenstyk, 2014). The state is slowly avoiding this business and has never shown such little participation since 1965. It is a very ironic scenario as in the year 1965 there were sixteen million fewer students as compared to now since the contribution ought to have risen. Thus with more students getting admitted to universities, the government ought to have increased the payments it makes to university education. The graph below shows how funding to higher education from the year 2008 to 2013 has been cut down.

It is a common concern that students who want to join higher learning in the US, often face challenges raising the much fees that the universities need. The administration of this school will agree with this research that the university cost for one student has risen to almost five times higher than inflation rate since 1983. Hence, it becomes very expensive for many people (see in the graph above).

Many students that desire to pursue post-secondary education in the US are left without an option than to give up their dreams. It is quite shocking that America ranks fifteenth in the world, for the proportion of the youth who have acquired a university education (Selingo, 2013). This is despite the fact that it is the top country that spends the largest proportion of its GDP on university education among all the other countries in the world. Those who are lucky to get to university find themselves with the burden of debt that might take their whole life to pay off. Studies show that the debt that students are to pay has increased by fifty percent over the last fifteen years (Blumenstyk, 2014). Even worse, the fees continue to rise, hence making it even harder for coming generations to pursue the university education.

The institutions themselves have been on a borrowing spree in an attempt to keep up with the high competition from other institutions. Therefore building more research labs, refurbishing old structures and formulating more new ways of maintain high standards of the institutions have become a trend (Altbach et al., 2011). In fact, according to the New York Times, studies show that there is a tendency of not growing much revenue by American Universities today. Compared to how they have been doing it over the last 20 years, the trend is drastically declining (Selingo, 2013). Financial experts submit that out of more than four thousand universities and colleges that are in the US, only five hundred of them are in a safe financial situation. The rest are facing intense pressure in the technology field, the demography of the institutions and also economic constraints. There is the lack of market power to raise their tuition fee significantly in a down economy. The cost of running the business continues to increase, and the staff expects an occasional pay raise (Blumenstyk, 2014). Such issues make the running of the university business extremely stressing. If the government does not come to the rescue of these prestigious higher learning institutions, they might end up closing down.

Solutions to these problems

With all these problems, the government has no choice but to provide more funding to the slowly drowning higher learning institutions. The reason it provides inadequate funds is that there is not enough money to fund all the state universities in the US according to their needs. However, if given the chance to do more research, much attention will be placed on ways that the government can raise money to finance higher education. Of course, the most obvious and logical way is to raise taxpayers’ money (Altbach et al., 2011). Most Americans would disagree with this technique and complain that they are being taxed more than enough money already. However, my research will further use questionnaires to inquire from a group of Americans, including my audience who are also taxpayers, some questions regarding the issue. Some of the questions are:

1. Would you be okay if the government increased the tax you pay so that it can fund higher education?
2. Would you be okay if some years to come to our prestigious universities, which are renowned all over the world, got closed down due to lack of funds?
3. Would you be okay if some years to come the number of graduates in America became miserably low just because students can no longer afford university education?

Of course, the answer to the first question will be no from most Americans. However, in the report that I will compile after the research, I will explain why it is so crucial for Americans to agree with the government’s plan to increase the tax. First, if the universities do not receive proper funding from the government, the crisis might lead to worst case scenario that is ultimate closure. If more universities continue to close down due to lack of funding, American higher education will start tarnishing its excellent reputation of having most of the best universities in the world, hence attract less international students.

Second, if the number of American students that go to the university continue declining, even in the job market companies would have to start importing more qualified graduates from other countries. That would be quite sad for the country (Blumenstyk, 2014). Nobody wants their country to be full of young people who cannot reach their full potential just because of an ignorant nation. All this can be avoided by sharing the cost of the students’ university education for a better and a brighter tomorrow. If every American agrees to contribute just one extra dollar, then the universities’ financial crisis would be evaded.

Conclusion

In conclusion, running a university can be a distress especially without adequate funds. The financial problem has become the most widespread problem that faces the University businesses in the US and many other institutions around the world. The problem is deeply rooted in many universities and extreme cases; some of them have been closed down. The government should, therefore, take up the role of looking for ways to avoid this crisis and contribute more to funding the universities. Also, Americans should know that the government is not punishing anyone by requesting for more tax but it is only doing so to make the young generation’s dreams come true. This proposal seeks approval from Dr Jenkins to conduct further research on the topic ‘The government should pay more on higher education’.

To conduct this research up to completion, I would require approximately two weeks of this month. I am also requesting the University administration to provide me with the paper and the printing services for the questionnaire copies. When I’m done with research work, I will prepare a report then present it to Dr. Jenkins. I am a student in this university doing finance major hence I feel I am the most appropriate student to do this research as it deals with finance matters. Since I have identified the problem, getting a chance to do more research on the topic to expound on the solution will be a great privilege.

References

Altbach, G.P., Gumport, J.P., & Berdahl O.R. (2011). American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political, and Economic Challenges (3rd ed.). USA: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Selingo, J.J. (2013). Colleges Struggling to Stay Afloat. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/education/edlife/many-colleges-and-universities-face-financial-problems.html?_r=0

Blumenstyk, G. (2014). American Higher Education in Crisis? : What Everyone Needs to Know (1 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.