The College Crisis: Fiscal Constraints, Increased Demand and President Obama’s Call to Action

Abstract

The U.S. higher education system is in a state of crisis. It is addressing what is called “the iron triangle,” which includes cost, access and quality. Cost includes rising tuition and proliferating student loan debt. A consequence of rising cost is that it decreases access for middle and lower income students. Fewer students can afford to pay for college. Of those low-income students who attend college only 25 percent graduate within six years. The third component is quality. In the 2011 book, Academically Adrift, authors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa argue that students do not get what they pay for in tuition; college courses do not increase student core competencies.