Business 310 Proposal - Cut Down the Academic Tuition for Students at University of San Francisco

Purpose

The purpose of our proposal is to cut down the academic tuition for students at University of San Francisco. Specifically, we intend to find out a possible solution/recommendation for decreasing USF tuition, and aim to convince the treasury department at USF to reduce tuition fees.

Summary

           Beginning in the 1990s and continuing through modern day, college tuition within the United States has steadily increased over the years. While public institutions are generally cheaper to attend than private universities, both have seen price inflations. Of course, because the quality of education in the states is highly regarded, students from all over the world view the US as a prime destination for continuing education. With all the influx of potential students, colleges might choose to bump up the cost of attendance, simply due to the high demand of a quality education. However, the increasingly lofty price tag also has the affect of turning away students who cannot afford tuition rates.

               During the 2015 and 2016 academic year, the tuition cost for the University of San Francisco stood at 62% more expensive than the national average private college tuition. Though USF offers financial aid and scholarships, awards can be hard to come by, especially for students who do not fall under appropriate income categories or who do not go into popular fields of study. Since private school is more costly than public, students that attend a private institution are the most likely to need grants or scholarships to, at least partly, cover tuition and other expenses. But, with the limited number of scholarships and the selective process of federal aid, students cannot depend upon outside financial help in order to afford attendance at a university such as USF.

               The recent movement to make tuition free at four-year colleges has seen mixed responses. For now, free tuition plans seem to be constrained at the state and municipal level, with noted success within states such as Michigan, which saw more than 90 percent of eligible students go on to college since the plan’s fruition in 2006. The opposition to these programs comes from taxpayers unwilling to pay more, in the form of taxes, in order to allow for more affordable college tuition nationwide.

               A less radical solution arises in the form of online courses. Online education increases student accessibility to course material and lecture, while at the same time, cuts back on costs on the university’s part. Between 2006 and 2013, researchers found that an increase in available online courses led to the lowering of tuition fees, because of the university’s decreased labor expenses. Cutting back on different areas of the school’s budget, such as labor expenses, can help relieve some of the financial strain in other places, like tuition costs. With the current rate of tuition at USF, and the likely rise in tuition in the coming years, the school needs to alter some aspect, so that the university can house students from all different financial backgrounds and all sorts of historical experiences. Diversity and inclusion are what make USF the school that it is.