How Luxurious Amenities Are Making Higher Education Expensive

Let’s face it. Higher education is really expensive. Are you curious to know the real reasons why it is so expensive? You as a student are not only paying for your classes but you are also paying for extra services that contribute to the additional cost that is incurred. 

A Home Away From Home

 

Everyone misses home when they are away from it. To recreate the ambience or to compensate for what one is leaving behind, colleges try to include facilities that are attractive and recreational. The number of additional facilities you get from a college, the greater will its demand be among aspiring students. This is the general trend in the twenty-first century. These services are not free of cost. Here lies the irony. 

The Truth About Living Away From Home

 

The cost of renting a room and paying for the three meals a day is reasonable since it is difficult for anyone to avail these on their own. But some of the other benefits are not that essential. 

Source: bit.ly/1rx4JDG

Is there any need to have a spa, tanning salon, beach volleyball courts, drug and alcohol committees, multi-cultural affairs departmental office, an indoor pool, Jacuzzis or other unnecessary student attracting offers? 

What You As A Student Require

 

What is essential is that the students need basic amenities and a good library with catalogued books. If there are facilities like a multi-gym or a pool, a student should be given the choice to select the recreation of his choice and pay for that service alone. 

Recent Survey

 

According to a recent survey by Azwan Azhar at Iowa State Daily, at the University of Iowa student services cost $188.20 per year, or $509.80 if you include “recreation” as a part of student services. Over 4 years, the costs from recreation and student services are $2,039.20. As a student you are taking a loan and paying for services that you have never even availed. 

You must have seen how millions of students like you are encountering these problems when they are trying their best to get a college degree. There are many steps that students are presently taking to avoid such expenses when they are still employed in low-wage jobs or are entirely unemployed since they are studying on a full time basis. 

• You can start off by comparing your housing options. You can book a room in a students’ hostel or stay as a paying guest at someone’s residence.

• If you have close friends, you can rent an apartment and live as roommates to cut down on residential costs.

• While you are in high school speak to your guidance counsellor and gain credit so that you can pay for fewer credits when you get an admission in a college. At least you can save some money and spend less time worrying about the courses.

• Instead of buying new textbooks, go to a library or better yet get them on a discount from graduates from your college.

• Avoid using credit cards. Leave your car at home since that involves high maintenance. You need to pay for gas and other things.

• You can find employment at college as an RA. (Resident Advisor). You can work on the campus and study at the same time.

• You can also consider distance education. You will not have to move away from home. You can gain access to e-books, learning modules online and you can study whenever it is convenient for you.

There are so many measures that you can adopt to help you gain a degree from the college of your choice. You just need to be practical in your approach and you need to believe in simplicity. Graduating will be a pleasant experience for you in the long-run.

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