[ti:High Cost of College Raises Questions about Return on Investment] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]When it comes to higher education in the United States, [00:04.88]one of the biggest issues of discussion and concern in recent years has been cost. [00:12.76]Data from the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics [00:20.76]suggests the average cost of college doubled between 1989 and 2016. [00:30.88]The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports that average yearly earnings only rose about 8 percent in that time. [00:42.60]James Kvaal is the director of The Institute for College Access and Success. [00:49.80]He told VOA that one of the main reasons for the cost increase is reduced government support for colleges and universities. [01:01.52]This, in turn, has led schools to raise their prices. [01:06.48]Earlier this year, the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University [01:15.16]published a report on state spending on higher education. [01:20.48]The report found a five percent overall increase in proposed spending throughout the country. [01:29.00]That is the highest increase in eight years of growth. [01:34.92]But Kvaal argues this is still nowhere near the level it was 30 years ago -- or where it needs to be now. [01:45.48]He notes that a lot of students still depend on loans to help pay for their education. [01:54.24]To date, about 10 percent of student borrowers are in default. [02:00.44]In other words, they are failing to make the necessary payments towards their debt. [02:07.76]"As a result, it makes going to college riskier than it should be," Kvaal said. [02:15.16]"We know that can be the best investment you make over the course of your life... [02:22.72]But because of the cost of college, too often students aren't able [02:29.24]to complete [college] and they are left with debt they can't afford to repay." [02:36.96]Other groups and experts suggest the situation is not as severe as it may seem. [02:45.04]The College Board is a not-for-profit organization that works to expand higher education in the United States. [02:55.64]Last year, it published a look at changes in the average costs to attend American colleges and universities over the past 10 years. [03:08.08]It reported that up until 2013, yearly average cost increases of five percent were common. [03:18.20]But that is no longer the case. [03:22.12]"The point is that in recent years, tuition increases have slowed down considerably [03:30.36]as the economy recovered [from the 2008 recession]," noted Jerome White. [03:37.88]He is the director of media relations for the College Board. [03:42.96]Last November, Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce [03:50.36]published a study on return on investment in American higher education. [03:57.32]It compared how much money students spent on their education [04:02.68]at 4,500 different institutions to how much money they earned later in life. [04:11.40]Students who attended private colleges and universities [04:15.96]made an average of about $73,000 more over 40 years than those who attended public schools. [04:25.48]That was the case even after the cost of their education was subtracted from their career-long earnings. [04:35.24]Although while the immediate costs to attend a private U.S. university might be higher, [04:42.52]the increased cost might be worth it, notes Martin Van Der Werf. [04:48.72]He is associate director of the Georgetown center. [04:52.52]He says one reason these schools have better return on investment is their reputation. [04:59.92]Many employers see well-known, highly selective institutions as offering the highest quality education available. [05:11.20]This may not necessarily be true all the time, but it can make graduates of such schools seem more desirable. [05:20.76]In addition professional connections between former students and recent graduates are often especially strong at private schools. [05:32.32]This means graduates of such schools who enter the labor market may have more support during their job search. [05:42.04]The selectiveness that makes these schools so well known and well respected, however, [05:48.88]creates its own form of inequality, Van Der Werf says. [05:54.48]"These colleges pay off well if you can afford to go there and if you can get in. [06:01.88]But the fact ... is, the vast majority of people can't do either: they can't get in and they can't afford to pay for it," he said. [06:14.20]Some of the most costly private colleges in the U.S. do offer financial aid [06:22.24]or reduced tuition based on a student's level of need. [06:27.88]But Van Der Werf argues these schools still mainly serve wealthy white students more than they do any other group of people. [06:39.64]To improve equality, Kvaal and Van Der Werf say state officials [06:46.24]should aim to keep increasing financial support for public colleges and universities. [06:54.20]And they say people in charge of those schools should make greater efforts to help their graduates find good jobs and careers. [07:05.92]I'm Dorothy Gundy. [07:07.88]And I'm Pete Musto. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM