OPINION: Major-specific tuition rates would provide incentive and opportunity for students

Many universities are beginning to adopt tuition rates that vary depending on a student’s major, and it would be in Kennesaw State’s best interest to follow suit. Public universities should practice adjusted tuition rates to reflect the career demands of their communities and proportionately cover the cost of more expensive programs of study.

The concept of charging varying tuition prices between majors is not a new one. According to Pew Research, 60 percent of public research universities already practice an adjusted tuition rate. The students sharing these campuses all pay very different amounts depending on their choice of study, which allows universities to positively influence the success of their students.

Universities, with the practice of adjusted tuition rates, have the opportunity to provide an incentive for students to pursue career paths our community requires.

If KSU decided to charge students less for in-demand careers such as nursing, computer science and education — which according to research by Zippia, are among the top 30 most in-demand careers in Georgia — students may be influenced to pursue them in favor of other majors.

This practice would provide the workforce with more of the qualified future employees that they need, and also provides a bit of job security for students.

Consider the low-income student as well. Given the opportunity of a less-expensive field of higher education, they may be more inclined to enroll, when previously that was impossible.

While many students cannot afford the $15,000 yearly cost of KSU tuition, room, board and fees, the influence of a lesser price in a high-demand field seems more appealing.

In addition to an adjusted tuition rate influencing career choices, tuition should also reflect how much it costs the universities to provide such programs. Atlantic journalist Jordan Weissmann compares the flat-rate tuition prices to a restaurant menu.

“Imagine opening a restaurant menu and finding that every dish, from the steak frites to the frisse salad, costs $14.99,” Weissmann said. “It would seem odd, right? After all, buying and cooking a ribeye is more expensive than throwing some lettuce in a bowl. Charging the same for each wouldn’t make sense. Yet, that’s pretty much how most colleges price their majors.”

It is unfair that an English major whose program — according to an article by Market Watch — costs universities roughly $199 per credit hour, pays the same as an electrical engineer major, whose classes cost the university $434 per credit hour.

An adjusted tuition rate would reflect these varying costs, providing students exactly what they pay for.

The goal of adjusted tuition rates is not to eradicate less in-demand majors such as many liberal arts studies, but to reinstate a push towards careers that our community needs — resulting in a potentially high employment rate for students after graduation.

It is in both the student’s and the university’s best interest to begin a policy of adjusted tuition based on major. By changing students’ tuition bills according to how much their desired program costs, and also considering how in-demand their major is, students are given opportunities otherwise not recognized.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *