College

=AP English Language and Composition Exam =

Question 1
(Suggested time: reading time—15 minutes; writing—40 minutes. This question counts as one-third of the total essay section score.)

**Directions**: The following prompt is based on the accompanying eight sources

The question requires you to integrate a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. Refer to the sources to support your position; avoid mere paraphrase or summary. Your argument should be central; the sources should support this argument.

Remember to attribute both direct and indirect citations.

__**INTRODUCTION **__

College tuition in the United States is among the most expensive in the world. While public universities like UC-Berkeley receive state and federal aid, students still need to pay tuition and fees for public education. Private colleges like Harvard and Yale charge higher tuition rates to account for the lack of public funding. In contrast, European universities require low tuition payments from students. Public universities are held in higher esteem than private institutions because of their commitment to higher education as an inalienable right. While some universities are funded through income taxes, schools in France and Germany have adopted student fees in the last five years to account for budget shortfalls.

__**ASSIGNMENT **__

Read the following sources carefully. Then, in an essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources for support, take a position that defends or challenges the claim that the students should have to pay out of pocket for college tuition.

Refer to the sources as Source A, Source B, etc.; descriptions in parentheses are included for you convenience.

Source A (Zoepf) Source B (Mississippi Business Journal) Source C (Pacifica Consultants) Source D (Glater) Source E (U.S. News and World Report) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Source F (Talley) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Source G (Reed) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Source H (NEA)

** Source A ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Zoepf, Katherine. "Across Europe, an Outcry Over Paying for College." New York Times 4 Feb. 2004: B9. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 4 Jan. 2011.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The following excerpt from the New York Times article "Across Europe, an Outcry Over Paying for College," published February 4, 2004, describes the European response to proposals to require students to pay tuition to attend college

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The issues differ by country. But in Europe, where higher education is seen as a public good with free or nominal tuition -- usually accompanied by government stipends to cover living costs -- the idea of asking students or their families to contribute to the costs of their studies has provoked a public outcry. The Higher Education Bill, which includes the provision to raise tuition, was passed in Parliament last week. But student groups say that the bill still has far to go before becoming law and that their fight is far from over. The National Union of Students is organizing a student strike on Feb. 25, with hundreds of thousands of British students walking out of classes to protest increased tuition, Ms. Telford said.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">There's going to be a shutdown of all higher education, said Ms. Telford, a recent graduate of the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. ''Obviously there is a university funding crisis, but we think the government should go back to the drawing board and figure out how to get the money through more progressive taxation. Students shouldn't contribute in any way.''

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Some student leaders support a university financing plan proposed by the Liberal Democratic Party that would raise taxes to 50 percent for incomes over $:100,000 (about $184,000. If you get a well-paid job after you graduate, you'll pay more through your taxes, Ms. Telford said.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">It is a sentiment echoed by Johan Almqvist, 26, a fourth-year computer science student at Lund University in Sweden and the chairman of the executive committee of ESIB, a Brussels-based umbrella organization that represents Europe's national student unions. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">There needs to be more investment in higher education all over Europe to keep it competitive at a world level, Mr. Almqvist said. But there should be no fees charged for students in any way at all.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Chris Piper, a student at the University of London and the president of its student union, said that as the first person in his family to attend a university, he might have been deterred from higher education if it had meant taking on loans or drawing on his parents' savings.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Elliot Simmons, the president of the students' union at the London School of Economics, said the idea of saving or going into debt to pay for higher education just isn't part of the culture in Europe. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Will Garton, a history student at Edinburgh University and the president of its students' association, summed up the general dismay: You should get higher education based on your academic abilities and not based on your ability to pay.

** Source B ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">"College Tuition." Cartoon. Mississippi Business Journal. Com. The Mississippi Business Journal, 8 Feb. 2010. Web. <http://msbusiness.com/files/2010/02/mbj_02-08-10_cartoon.jpg>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 0px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">

** Source C ** " <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Comparison of Tuition Costs of Higher Education around the World” « Pacifica Consultants. Pacifica Consultants. Web. 05 Jan. 2011. <http://pacificaconsultants.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/comparison-of-tuition-costs-of-higher-education-around-the-world/>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The following excerpt from the article "Comparison of Tuition Costs of Higher Education around the World” compares the cost and quality of education in the United States and Europe

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">United States <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The tuition cost in USA varies from $5000 to $30000 per year. About $9000 for residential students and $20000 for international students. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Europe <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In recent years, the high-tax Europe has been considering reforming higher education and moving towards a system that charges users. Austria is intensely debating university tuition in the parliament. Six German states call on the parliament to terminate the piece of legislation that exempts college students from paying tuition. In addition, universities in Belgium are beginning to charge an enrolment fee of 500 euros which is same for EU and non-EU students (non-EU students are charged additional 500 euros for social security), while Holland and Italy charge an enrolment fee of 1,000-1,500 euros. Dutch universities charge students of certain departments such as business departments tuition as much as 5,000 euros and students of graduate schools tuition as much as 8,000 euros. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">France <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">France has 82 universities, teaching 1.5m students. All are public; none charges tuition fees; undergraduate enrolment charges are a tiny €165. All lecturers are civil servants. Universities cannot select students, who can apply only to ones near them. The results speak for themselves. Not a single French university makes it into the world’s top 40 universities.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In France, there is no difference in tuition fees between European and Non-European students. Therefore, policies officially search to improve the quality of the foreign students they receive, making a selection based on excellence and discipline of study. They intend to avoid a “mass phenomenon” of unwanted students in French universities who are not highly motivated and who mainly seek to obtain a visa and to stay in France. In Britain, there is a will to attract a large number of overseas students who pay high tuition fees and who supply important funding to British higher education.

** Source D ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Glater, Jonathan D. "Weighing the Cost in Public vs. Private Colleges." The New York Times.com. The New York Times, 13 Dec. 2006. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/13/education/13voices.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In the following excerpt from the New York Times article, "Weighing the Cost in Public vs. Private Colleges," the President of Muhlenberg College, Peyton Randolph Helm, compares publicly funded colleges to privately funded colleges <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">There are certain things that most public colleges and universities cannot offer, said Mr. Helm, explaining why he thinks a private education, even at a small institution like Muhlenberg, in Allentown, Pa., is worth the cost. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“What private liberal arts colleges provide is very high quality and high sticker price,” Mr. Helm said, adding that “the sticker price is not necessarily the cost and it’s not necessarily the value” because of financial aid. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mr. Helm stressed nonfinancial benefits, too. “The better, the more prestigious the institution, the more you have small classes and you have direct interaction with your professors,” he said. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Many private institutions have large classes, but Mr. Helm described a classics course he teaches with just 10 students. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“Some of them have been brilliant from Day 1, and there’s one of them whom I could barely get to open his mouth who came out with something brilliant” in the last days of the term, Mr. Helm said. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“If I had a class of 150 people, or 500 people, or 800 people, that isn’t going to happen,” he said. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Students may more easily get into courses they want at private colleges, Mr. Helm said. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“If you’re not going to graduate in four years because you’re not going to get the courses,” then a public education may not be the best choice.

** Source E ** " <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">World's Best Universities: Top 400 - US News and World Report." US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. Web. 05 Jan. 2011. <http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/worlds-best-universities/2010/09/21/worlds-best-universities-top-400-.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The following lists the top 15 colleges in the world in 2011 according to US News and World Report, which ranks the top colleges in the world yearly.


 * ** Rank ** ||  ||
 * ** 1 ** || ** [|University of Cambridge] **
 * // United Kingdom //** ||
 * ** 2 ** || ** [|Harvard University] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 3 ** || ** [|Yale University] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 4 ** || ** [|UCL (University College London)] **
 * // United Kingdom //** ||
 * ** 5 ** || ** [|Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 6 ** || ** [|University of Oxford] **
 * // United Kingdom //** ||
 * ** 7 ** || ** [|Imperial College London] **
 * // United Kingdom //** ||
 * ** 8 ** || ** [|University of Chicago] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 9 ** || ** [|California Institute of Technology (Caltech)] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 10 ** || ** [|Princeton University] **
 * // United States //** ||


 * ** 11 ** || ** [|Columbia University] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 12 ** || ** [|University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 13 ** || ** [|Stanford University] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 14 ** || ** [|Duke University] **
 * // United States //** ||
 * ** 15 ** || ** [|University of Michigan] **
 * // United States //** ||

** Source F ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Talley, Simeon. "Why Aren't US Students Rioting Over Crazy Tuition Hikes Like College Kids in Europe? | | AlterNet." Home | AlterNet. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. <http://www.alternet.org/story/149398/why_aren't_us_students_rioting_over_crazy_tuition_hikes_like_college_kids_in_europe>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The following excerpt comes from the article “Why Aren't US Students Rioting Over Crazy Tuition Hikes Like College Kids in Europe?”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">While London has been rocked by student protests over proposed tuition hikes, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">United States college campuses have been largely quiet. Why?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What best explains the dormancy on many college campuses is rooted in a national condition. The social value placed on universally accessible higher education has declined. College used to be dramatically less expensive because it was heavily subsidized by the state. The past few decades have seen “massive disinvestment”. In the accompanying time, the burden of financing higher education has shifted to the individual.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Or as Tom Hayden, one of the co-founders of Students for a Democratic Society, told me “The question for today’s student is not whether they can read Zinn, Anais Nin or Noam Chomsky, but whether they can afford to.”

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Hayden added:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The challenges they (students) face on their campuses are far different than the past and perhaps more profound. Tuition costs at UM in 1960 were one hundred dollars, and I can’t remember if that was for a semester or an entire year. So I could obtain my degree, edit the paper, go south to the civil rights movement for two years, return and enter graduate school, and never feel I was falling behind in the competitive economic rat-race…A student today falls tens of thousands of dollars in debt, even after holding two part-time jobs, a burden which limits their career choices. Dropping out for social activism brings competitive disadvantage.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Public higher education is no longer seen as serving the broader social good. And if you can afford college—likely through high indebtedness—the four, five, or six years you’re there are spent making yourself more employable. Colleges aren’t enabling greater democratic citizenship anymore, they’re producing wage earners. There is a trend towards privatization and commoditization that’s quite troubling.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In 2009 the University of Virginia received a mere 8 percent of its funding from the state of Virginia, down from nearly 30 percent from a quarter century ago. At the University of Wisconsin, only 19 percent comes from state dollars also down from 30 percent a decade ago. And at the University of Iowa, state appropriations have dropped by 35 percentage points since 1980. For comparison, since 1982 college tuition in the US has increased by 439 percent, more than four times the rate of inflation. Healthcare costs have risen 250 percent during the same period.

** Source G ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Reed Jr., Adolph L. "Majoring in Debt." The Progressive Jan. 2004. Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The following is an excerpt from Adolph Reed’s article, “Majoring in Debt,” from <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">the January 2004 issue of The Progressive:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Financial aid is not picking up the slack. Three decades ago, the financial aid <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">system, with Pell grants as the backbone, guaranteed access to public colleges for <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">primarily low- and moderate-income students. Millions of Americans earned college <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">degrees as a result. In 1975, the maximum Pell grant covered 84 percent of costs at a <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">four-year public college. Now, the grant covers only 42 percent of costs at four-year <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">public colleges and only 16 percent of costs at four-year private colleges.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Meanwhile, colleges are shifting away from grants and toward loans. A decade <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">ago, 50 percent of student aid was in the form of grants and 47 percent was in the form <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">of loans. Today, grants are down to 39 percent of total aid; loans have increased to 54 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">percent.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">What's worse, many of these loans are irrespective of need. In 1992, Washington <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">decided to further help out the wealthier by making unsubsidized loans available to all <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">students, changing the definition of need, and increasing the limits for subsidized loans. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Now unsubsidized loans, although the most expensive, account for more than half of all <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">federal loan monies.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">In a bureaucratic maneuver, the Bush Administration recently changed the federal <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">needs formula that determines how much of a family's income is really discretionary--and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">therefore fair game for covering college costs. A report by the Congressional Research <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Service states that the new financial formula will reduce Pell grants by $270 million, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">disqualify 84,000 students from receiving any Pell grants, and reduce the amount of Pell <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">grants for hundreds of thousands more students.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Skyrocketing tuition and reliance on interest-carrying loans force some students to <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">forgo college altogether, while others drop out or delay graduation.

** Source H **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Federal Pell Grants: Maximum Awards & Total College Costs. Digital image. NEA.org. National Education Association, 2008. Web. 06 Jan. 2011. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"><http://www.nea.org/home/29988.htm>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Pell Grants are federally-funded financial aid, intended to subsidize the cost of college tuition for low- and moderate- income students. This chart shows the growth of the maximum possible grant, a limit on the amount one person can receive as set by <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Congress, and the total coast of attending college, from 1976 to 2008.