Topic 18 Should Universities
Charge High Tuition Fees?
Nowadays,
most universities require students to
pay for their education,
and the tuition fees have been staying very high.
Some people take the development
of the universities
into consideration and support the high fees;
while others think the high cost of
university education is a heavy burden
for many families.
As far as I am concerned,
universities are not institutions for profits,
they are places for excellent students
to learn and further study equally,
so they should not charge high tuition fees
that some families cannot afford.
In the first place,
the high tuition fees make the families
save money for the children instead of consuming.
A university student will need 12,000 yuan
each year on average,
which is almost the income of a couple
who are wage earners. In other words,
a family with an average income
will spend their long-term hard-earned savings,
or they will be indebted. What’s worse,
most families’ incomes in our country are
below the average level.
The high fees make the people save money
for the children’s education even before they are born.
In the second place,
the high tuition fees will
deprive the children from poor families of
their right of education. Entering universities
on their abilities is the only hope
for the poor students to change their destiny.
But the increasingly higher tuition fees make it impossible.
The statistic shows that there were 60%～70% students
coming from the country areas when the charging system
was not introduced.
But now the percentage is only 30% or so.
The universities will become the paradise of children
from rich families,
and the poor students will be forced to leave.
Finally,
it will be much more difficult for
the graduates to find jobs.
Driven by the profits of high tuition fees,
universities recruit more and more students year by year.
The outcome of expansion
leads to the low standard of enrollment
and low quality of education.
The supply exceeds demand;
there are not so many jobs for the graduates,
so most of them can not find jobs when getting out of school.
All in all,
high tuition fees in the universities will
influence the development of the society
and harm the interests of students.
The universities should charge reasonable tuition fees,
provide equal opportunities for students
and take the responsibility
of molding the future of our nation.