Should Universities Increase Their Tuition Per Year?Tuition is a critical source of revenue for every university to expand and execute its operations. Universities often impose tuition rates while enrolling students to cater for various needs including salaries and other facilities. Nevertheless, despite that tuition is important for universities; these institutions usually capitalize on tuition charges by increasing its rates every year whenever students are enrolled for different courses. For instance, 64 out of 122 institutions in England are planning to increase the average tuition costs to as much as 900 per student. These charges usually suppress the students budget plan and their financial potential to sustain the cost of university education. In most cases, the students take more time before they graduate, borrow loans, and engage in different part-time jobs to get income. At the same time, students lose class hours in major subjects while involving in other jobs to raise money for tuition. The fact that increasing tuition charges by universities strain students and their financial supporters; compel students to engage in part-time jobs to sustain themselves financially and cater for tuition fees; and results into poor academic performance due to time loss justifies that universities should not increase tuitions.Universities have continued to increase their tuition rates every year for varied reasons. First, the continued increase in the rate of inflation causes the average tuition increase because of the high costs required to sustain and run the university. For instance, Universities UK often increase their tuition rates in-line with inflation because of the fact that the total income generated from fees often do not sustain the outreach, retention, and various programs that these intuitions are supposed to support for successful operation. This is because increases in the inflation rates often suppress the financial budget of the universities. Typically the universities are mandated to collect fees to finance its projects without expecting support from the government. However, in the case where the institutions are not able to full finance their budgets using the fees, they are usually compelled to push the cost to the students through tuition. At the same time, most universities also increase their tuition charges because of insufficient funding from the government. This is due to the reduced budget allocation for the universities from the governments treasury. For instance, the San Francisco State Universitys (SFSU) administration hiked its tuition rates due to reduced government funding into the public universities. Based on this assertion, it is evident that the government does not fully subsidize the cost of education that is meant to help the students enroll into the universities as it might be perceived. Therefore universities are further compelled to increase their tuition rates in order to balance the books and run efficiently without interruption. This balancing of accounts is what is broadly referred to as the technique of harmonizing the credit and debit column of the books of accounts at the end of the accounting period. In most cases, the debit column of books of account tends to be higher than the credit column. Owing to the imbalance between the debit and credit side of the books of accounts, the universities often bridge the gap between the two sides into equilibrium by increasing the tuition rates every year irrespective its impacts on the students.Ironically, these tuition increases by the university are often made without incorporating the students view. As such, the increments in the tuition rates are often met with opposition from the students and the parents because of the perceived strain that such increment would pose to the students financial capacity as well as academic performance. The increased tuition fees mostly force the parents to borrow loans in order to sustain their childrens university education. Nevertheless, borrowing loans have led to foreclosures and lying off parents from jobs. At the same time, students from poor families often have the option of pursuing part-time jobs and loans to sustain their education and family demands as a result of increased tuition rates on frequent basis. For instance, Rebeka Phillips (a student at SFSU) entirely relied on three loans and two jobs to pay for a half of the whole year fee and not other basic needs despite the cost of paying off such loans. Students can sacrifice to such extent in a bid to access education; this is because education is perceived to be the most significant aspect that most students give first priority especially if a student is coming from poor background. Since the tuition rates increase could be projected to go up more in the future, the students would be forced to transfer from universities to colleges that they perceive to be cost effective. For example, Rebeka Phillips changed from SFSU to community college because her family could not afford the increasing tuition rates at the university. Therefore, students often make hard decisions to continue with work and studies, rather than stop working and continue with their studies.There are varied strategies that can be employed to offer solutions to students and parents. The governments should reform the education system to incorporate the poor and most needy students to pursue their studies. In other words, the government should offer more loans, grants, and bursaries for those from poorer families at low interest rates. This would a significant step because it will help cushion the parents from financial burden caused by the increased tuition rates. On the other hand, reforming the education system at the university will help the students to study at the universities of their choice without changing. The financial aid program can also benefit countries because they are able to retain and nurture potential talents that students possess thus improving the reputation of such countries. The second solution is to educate parents and students to establish a financial plan without assuming a tuition-rate increase by the universities on regular basis. This suggestion is important because it would assist the parents and students to prepare for the future. For instance, the parents could save some money for their children in order to cater for their university studies in the future rather than waiting to borrow loans to pay for anticipated increased tuition rates.At the same time, it is prudent for the parents to research the tuition rates of varied universities before enrolling their children to any of them. This would particularly act as a measure and precaution to parents and guardians thus ensure that they choose and enroll their child in universities charging favorable tuition fees without regular increments. Finally, the universities can also help reduce the tuition rates through the creation of programs, which support the needy and bright students. For instance, scholarships can help to retain more students with financial difficulties into the university programs irrespective of their inability to pay the increased tuition fee. Unlike loans, students do not repay back scholarships and therefore, would not be strained in the entire educational life. The use of bursaries and scholarships would also reduce the effect of tuition inflation especially when the scholarship programs are full grants.In conclusion, universities should not increase their tuition rates because it impacts the students learning process, compel students to engage in part-time jobs at the expense of academics and strains the students and parents financially. Universities often increase tuition because of various issues including, but not limited to inflation, insufficient funding from the government, and the need to balance the books of accounts. Tuition increments are often met with opposition through the parents and parents often end-up borrowing loans, doing part time jobs, and changing universities to continue with their quest for education. Nonetheless, the idea of increasing tuition and imposing burden on poor families can be emanated by education reform, financial planning, and scholarships. These measures will benefit parents, students, and countries because it would reduce the burden of increased tuition rates thereby allowing a nation to nurture potential talents and improve their reputation. Nonetheless, tuition fees is not unethical issues, increasing it is what should be discouraged.BibliographyAmador, V. Paul ProQuest, 2007.Caldwell, Tanya. Current College Struggle to Survive Rising Tuitions. 15 February 2012.Liu, Chunfeng, Jincai, Chang, and Aimin Yang. . Berlin [etc.]: Springer, 2011.Paton, Graeme. Most universities to raise student tuition fees in 2013. 13 January 2013.Bottom of FormGraeme Paton, Most universities to raise student tuition fees in 2013 ( 13 January 2013), para. 1Tanya Caldwell, Current College Struggle to Survive Rising Tuitions (15 February 2012), para. 11Paton, para. 17Chunfeng Liu, Chang Jincai, and Yang Aimin, (Berlin [etc.]: Springer, 2011), p. 687.Caldwell, para. 10Ibid, para. 3Caldwell, para. 13Ibid, para. 13Paton, para. 22Caldwell, para. 17Paul V. Amador, (ProQuest, 2007), p.2