Blog Post #3 Spending Inequality in Colleges Has Risen

Spending inequality between rich and poor colleges have risen in the recent years. The educated related spending increased for private universities which enroll 1.1 million students, while the education related spending for public community colleges which enroll around 6.7 million students pretty much stayed the same only seeing a minimal raise. As per student spending was increasing in public and private institutions, it was decreasing for community college students all while tuition was being increased for students everywhere. Experts say that it will be difficult for the nation to have the best educated work force if the community colleges that educate the majority of the population continue to be the worst financed sector.

This is a social problem because it is jeopardizing the workforce in America. There needs to be a more equal spending between rich and poor colleges. Experts don’t expect a quick turnaround in spending for community colleges but are aware that this is a social problem that needs to be addressed. In order to save many community colleges, local and state leaders are going to have to eventually come up with a different funding model. What also makes this a social problem is that when school districts are faced with having to choose between contributing to k-12 education or local community colleges they choose k-12. This is rightfully so, but community colleges need more funding too and school districts should not have to choose. Although results show that more people are earning degrees using less credit hours, it is mostly happening in public institutions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/education/14delta.html?_r=1&ref=education