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News > World

Rising College Cost and Teacher Shortage Vexing for Americans

  • A woman attends an online lesson.

    A woman attends an online lesson. | Photo: Twitter/ @BNNUS

Published 1 September 2022
Opinion

School districts have teacher shortfalls ranging from hundreds to thousands. In some remote rural areas, schools only hold four days of classes per week, or go back to online learning.

The cost of a college education in the United States has risen exponentially over the last few decades. Data from College Board showed the average annual cost of public universities is US$22,690 for in-state students and US$39,510 for out-of-state students.

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That figure was only US$1,410 per year in 1971. The number for private universities is even more startling, rising from US$2,930 in 1971 to US$51,690 today.

"When my oldest daughter started at Baylor in 2016, tuition was around US$38,000 per academic year; however, when my youngest begins her first year this fall, tuition has risen to US$51,000," said Vincent Duran, a Baylor parent who lives in Plano, Texas.

Aside from rising college tuition, the country is also facing a growing shortage of primary and secondary school teachers. According to the Texas Education Agency, Texas employed 376,086 teachers for the 2021-2022 school year. But nearly 12 percent of them left the profession during that same year.

Texas is not alone. School districts across the country have teacher shortfalls ranging from hundreds to thousands. Some allow non-certified individuals to step into classrooms as an alternative to long-term substitutes while others have to raise the class sizes and reduce the course options.

In some remote rural areas, schools only hold four days of classes per week, or go back to online learning. Many school districts are willing to pay high resettlement allowances to teachers who have relocated from other areas to hire enough teachers. Nonetheless, it cannot fill the void.

"Over the last decade, there has been a significant decline in the number of degrees and certificates conferred in high-need specialties, including a 4 percent decrease in special education, a 27 percent decrease in science and mathematics education, and a 44 percent decrease in foreign language education," the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education said in a press release issued earlier this year.

Experts said that the shortage is due to a number of factors, including teacher exhaustion and low wages, as well as the effects of the escalating "culture war" in the country. Many educators complain that politicians and parents lack respect for them, and many regional regulations and legislation keep them silent. Furthermore, the coronavirus pandemic has been putting additional pressure on educators since it broke out in the country in early 2020.

"We face a looming crisis in losing educators at a time when our students need them most. This is a serious problem with potential effects for generations," said Becky Pringle, the President of National Education Association.

The pandemic has both immediate and long-term consequences for students, analysts said. Some students' grades may suffer in the short term, while others may lack the study skills necessary to succeed in college and the workforce in the long run.

There has been a significant drop in overall child achievement, as well as a historical widening of achievement gaps in terms of race and economic status, researchers have found. The pandemic poses challenges not only to students but also their teachers.

"Imagine the stress of having kids return after being away for a year and a half... Our teachers have struggled, especially coming back from COVID, because the kids haven't been at school in a long time, and they've forgotten how to behave at school," said Tracy Fisher, a school board member from Coppell, Texas.

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