The pressing issue that most college students deals with is the cost. Here I am studying at one of the nationally recognized institutions in America and yet I am constantly having thoughts if I should've gone for a cheaper route - live at home with my parents and take cheap classes at my local community college. I chose Davis because it was indeed a well-recognized school and having Filipino parents who wanted the best for me would likely have pursued me anyway to go to any UC Schools in the state. Finance experts quoted many times in their debt seminars that having loans for school is deemed as good debt and anything that has no return in your investment is considered bad debt. Sure, if Mr. Financial Adviser tells me that incurring loan debt for school is good, then I am okay with that, but if institutions keep high jacking their tuition fees can I just back out and go for the cheaper route? Many public and private scholarly institutions are heavily funded by corporations who allocate funds for more research infrastructures. Schools would see this as an investment on their rankings - any higher institutions who are participating in various research is seen to be as superior to their counterparts. A college that gains revenues on these research clearly favors corporations who keep funneling monies to the coffers of the university and additional investments on the advancement of these research are passed on to debt-burden students. It is a never-ending cycle of corporatization and privatization of some of the important branches of the universities and it has been a system where students are dragged on to "invest" in their future and offer their pennies or whatever is leftover in their bank accounts.
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| Many college graduates are returning back to their parent's home with having debt more than the national average - debt as the result of tuition hikes across the United States. (Political Cartoon by Jeff Parker of Florida Today) |
Any higher institutions who choose to increase their tuition fees should deeply take into consideration and most especially empathized with students who barely have nutritious meals in their bellies or shelter over their heads. If a system is filled with people who divert monies into some sketchy accounts then I think we have every right to point out this corruption and hear out what the students and faculties say. These institutions won't exist if it wasn't for students and faculties who work and educate themselves on behalf of the universities' trust-bearing pillars. We owe our trust, training, and work to the university and I hope they realize that they wouldn't rank or even excel if it wasn't for the students and faculties. It is such a shame that universities have completely put a blind-eye on the issues surrounding student's physicality, mentality, and financial stability. We are in this day and age where we fully realize our rights and abilities to go against the evils in the system. No matter how the university exploits their infinite resources the truth will always prevail. They may think they have won their battles, but I believe karma is always and will always be a b***h.
While I do look up to the school administration for their vision of making the UC's as one of the top-tier schools in the United States, an occasional issue of money laundering or embezzlement often happens in every UC school. It makes me wonder if there are special audit committee that checks on faculties or higher ups that are in charge of grants or any money-related expenses at school? They should also have background checks if the people sitting on the throne have any association outside the university.
References:
Joy, A.B. (2015). Ethics and “Breaking Bad:" Developing and Practicing Ethical Skills.
Joy, A.B. (2010). Whistleblower: Police.
Markow, A. (2011, December) A Tale of Two Campuses Berkeley and Davis respond to Occupy movements.
Parker, J. (2005). Five Figure Student Loan Debt.
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