Paper Example. Current Issue Analysis

The United States higher education offers a rich and extensive field of choices for the United States students, and international students. As such, the majority of the individuals, especially the working class, have been drawn to enrolling in local colleges in the hope of elevating their lives or career levels. This thirst for knowledge has led to an increase in the number of for-profit colleges to tap this potential. However, various factors, are forcing some of these colleges to halt their services, plunging the lives of many students and families into unexpected crises. This paper will be analyzing the growing trends in college closures and their effects on students.

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Financial Difficulties

According to Vasquez & Bauman (2019), federal data shows that in the past five years, about 1,200 campuses have been closed, leading to a displacement of over half a million students. That translates to an average of 5 campuses per month. According to the article, a majority of these students live paycheck to paycheck and other low-income populations with the hope of elevating their lives. Students drawn from this category might be facing difficulties in covering their school fees, leading to the campuses being unable to meet their running expenses. To affirm this, it is very unlikely for any profitable business to cease its operations.

Spreading Oneself Too Thin

Campus education is demanding because a majority of the units that could take an average of two years are compressed to one year. Education is also expensive, meaning most individuals have to work and study around 15 to 28 units plus extra-curricular activities. These two combined might be extremely difficult, leading to people opting out of one. For people like Kendrick Harrison, cited in the article, quitting the job to concentrate on education was the best alternative since, as a veteran and disabled, he qualified for grants (Vasquez & Bauman, 2019). However, to a majority of other students, quitting their jobs might not be an option since they largely depend on them to afford a life. As such, they might opt out of college deeply eroding the college's going concern, an issue that leads to their closure, affecting even people like Harrison.

Growing Number of Online Courses

According to the article, not all displaced students drop out of college. Some colleges absorb them in their robust online programs so they can continue with their programs. The advantage of this is students can study from wherever they are and with convenience. This means that the working class can follow up on their units as they take on their tight jobs schedule. Indeed, this s a relief (Vasquez & Bauman, 2019). However, the majority of the students feel shortchanged because they are not receiving the services they signed for or the terms they wanted in the first place.

Depression

Tight working schedules, inability to afford necessities, demands from home, the rising cost of living is already a problem. When education comes into play, depression levels are likely to escalate. To make matters worse, the closure of programs that someone like Lisa La More, a single parent, is pursuing might lead to trauma. La More claims to have completed most of her studies, and only her project was remaining (Vasquez & Bauman, 2019). Before she could present the project, the college went out of business, and her instructors failed to account for her grades which left her confused, depressed, and the reality that she will not graduate after investing all that time and money. On the other hand, beneficiaries of state grants like Kendrick Harrison, a disabled person, are deeply affected because they depend entirely on the grants for school and livelihood. Following the closure of his former college, his grants were withheld, meaning that he could not afford even the rent, rendering him homeless (Vasquez & Bauman, 2019). These are the risk factors of depression and might lead to other health and physical problems.

Conclusion

Higher education is a resolve that every individual wants to pursue to better their lives, particularly career-wise. Having the papers is the pride that is indistinguishable as it improves a person's social standing as well as widening their net for more opportunities. However, recent trends have made this endeavor fruitless as a majority of colleges are running out of business because of various factors like finances, students' schedules, and digital trends. The closure has left many students depressed, confused, financially broken, and hopeless.

Reference

Vasquez, M., & Bauman, D. (2019, April 4). How America’s College-Closure Crisis Leaves Families Devastated. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20190404-ForProfit‌