Rising College Costs

Senior English

Sean Nicholson

INTRODUCTION

As many of you are starting to make your plans for life after high school, attending a college or university is one of the most common paths. However, once students have made the decisions of where to go, the next question is, “How am I going to pay for this?” The rapidly rising cost of attending college has become prohibitive for many students seeking to further their education. In this project we are going to examine the cost of attending a postsecondary institution and come up with ways to defray the financial burdens associated with it.

To organize our work, we will be following the 6 steps of the PPA that we reviewed in class this week. An overview of each of the step is available here:

The 6 Steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA)

1. Define the Problem

2. Gather the Evidence

3. Identify the Causes

4. Evaluate an Existing Policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Select the Best Solution

TASK

You have been hired by Secretary of Education Miguel A. Cardona to investigate the rising costs of earning a college degree. You are being asked to create an oral presentation of your findings along with Google Slides. Each step of the PPA should be at least 1 slide for your presentation. The target audience for this presentation is a special committee comprised of educators and policy makers in the United States.

In your presentation you must:

● Teach your audience about what you have learned regarding the increasing cost of attending a post-secondary school, not only in terms of tuition.

● Explain to your audience why this is such a pressing issue for our country’s future.

● Develop and present specific, practical solutions that should be implemented in order to make attending college or university a more realistic financial option for students across the nation.

PROCESS/RESOURCES

Step 1: You will work together in groups of 4 (no more than 4 people per group) to conduct research, develop solutions, and present your work to the class. The roles within the group will be:

Facilitator: Organizes the group, keeps everyone on task, also takes on the lead role when presenting the project.

Researcher: Lead role for finding relevant resources on the topic.

Graphic Designer: Lead role for creating a visually engaging product for the Google Slides.

Writer: Lead role in writing the script for the oral presentation of the group’s work.

Step 2: Follow the steps of the PPA as you work to create the products for your presentation.

1. Define the Problem.

This step has already been done for you (see how nice I am!). The problem that your group is addressing is the rising cost of college and university.

2. Gather the Evidence.

Below is a list of resources for you to use when gathering evidence and collecting data for your presentation. Remember, while the researcher is taking the lead for this portion of the project, all members of the group should be active participants in this stage.

Education Data Initiative

U.S. Dept of Ed College Affordability and Transparency Center

College Board: College Costs

U.S. Dept of Ed College ScoreCard

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System

Why College is So Expensive in America (Video)

The Exploding Cost of College (Video)

Cost of Living Calculator

Inflation Calculator

3. Identify the Causes.

What reasons have colleges and universities given for their rapidly rising costs? Why has the cost of living (room and board) increased at such a large rate over the past decade?

4. Evaluate and Existing Policy.

Currently the United States government uses FAFSA to provide need-based financial support to postsecondary students. How effective is the current system with regards to keeping college affordable for students?

5. Develop Solutions.

This is the most important part of the project. It’s great to point out a problem, but it’s even better when we can find ways to address it head on. Create at least 3 different solutions that could be implemented in the United States right now to address the rising cost of a postsecondary education.

6. Select the Best Solution. (Feasibility vs. Effectiveness)

Using a format similar to the table below, chart your solutions based on their effectiveness (how well they would address the problem) and the feasibility (how easily they could be implemented).

		Feasibility
Effectiveness	HIGH	MEDIUM	LOW
HIGH
MEDIUM
LOW

EVALUATION

Google Slides and Oral Presentation Rubric

Note cards show you recorded information from four or less resources, did not find graphics or sounds, and ignored alternative points of view.

The introduction does not orient the audience to what will follow.

The sequencing is unclear and does not appear interesting or relevant to the audience.

The content lacks a clear point of view and logical sequence of information.

Includes little persuasive information and only one or two facts about the topic.

Information is incomplete, out of date and/or incorrect.

Sequencing of ideas is unclear.

The text is extremely difficult to read with long blocks of text and small point size of fonts, inappropriate contrasting colors, poor use of headings, subheadings, indentations, or bold formatting.

The layout is cluttered, confusing, and does not use spacing, headings and subheadings to enhance the readability.

No way to check validity of information.

The graphics, sounds, and/or animations are unrelated to the content.

Graphics do not enhance understanding of the content, or are distracting decorations that create a busy feeling and detract from the content.

Errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader, and major editing and revision is required.

(more than five errors)

ELEMENT	You Got It!	Almost There	Only Way is Up	POINTS
Research and Note Taking	3 points	2 points	1 point	__/3
Research and Note Taking	Note cards indicate you accurately researched a variety of information sources, recorded and interpreted significant facts, meaningful graphics, accurate sounds and evaluated alternative points of view.	Note cards show you recorded relevant information from multiple sources of information, evaluated and synthesized relevant information.	Note cards show you misinterpreted statements, graphics and questions and failed to identify relevant arguments.	__/3
Introduction
Introduction	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
The introduction presents the overall topic and draws the audience into the presentation with compelling questions or by relating to the audience's interests or goals.	The introduction is clear and coherent and relates to the topic.	The introduction shows some structure but does not create a strong sense of what is to follow. May be overly detailed or incomplete and is somewhat appealing to the audience.		___/3
Content
Content	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
The content is written clearly and concisely with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. The project includes motivating questions and advanced organizers. The project gives the audience a clear sense of the main idea. *Information is accurate, current and comes mainly from primary sources.**	The content is written with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information. Includes persuasive information from reliable sources.	The content is vague in conveying a point of view and does not create a strong sense of purpose. Includes some persuasive information with few facts. Some of the information may not seem to fit. Sources used appear unreliable.		___/3
Text
Text	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
The fonts are easy to read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text. Use of italics, bold, and indentations enhances readability. Text is appropriate in length for the target audience and to the point. The background and colors enhance the readability of text.	Sometimes the fonts are easy to read, but in a few places the use of fonts, italics, bold, long paragraphs, color or busy background detracts and does not enhance readability.	Overall readability is difficult with lengthy paragraphs, too many different fonts, dark or busy background, overuse of bold or lack of appropriate indentations of text.		___/3
Layout
Layout	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
The layout is visually pleasing and contributes to the overall message with appropriate use of headings, subheadings and white space.	The layout uses horizontal and vertical white space appropriately.	The layout shows some structure, but appears cluttered and busy or distracting with large gaps of white space or uses a distracting background.		___/3
Citations
Citations	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
Sources of information are properly cited and the audience can determine the credibility and authority of the information presented. All sources of information are clearly identified and credited using appropriate citation format.	Most sources of information use proper citation format, and sources are documented to make it possible to check on the accuracy of information.	Sometimes copyright guidelines are followed and some information, photos and graphics do not include proper citation format.		___/3
Graphics, Sound and/or Animation
Graphics, Sound and/or Animation	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
The graphics, sound and/or animation assist in presenting an overall theme and enhance understanding of concept, ideas and relationships. Original images are created using proper size and resolution, and all images enhance the content. There is a consistent visual theme.	The graphics, sound/and or animation visually depict material and assist the audience in understanding the flow of information or content. Original images are used. Images are proper size, resolution.	Some of the graphics, sounds, and/or animations seem unrelated to the topic/theme and do not enhance the overall concepts. Most images are clip art or recycled from the internet. Images are too large/small in size. Images are poorly cropped or the color/resolution is fuzzy.		___/3
Oral Presentation
3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
	The delivery, information provided, and enthusiasm keep the audience engaged and demonstrate in depth knowledge of the topic. The script is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.	The delivery, information provided, and enthusiasm keep the audience mostly engaged and demonstrate knowledge of the topic. The script is clearly written with little or no editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	The delivery, information provided, and enthusiasm fail to keep the audience engaged and demonstrate little to no knowledge of the topic.
Writing Mechanics	3 points	2 points	1 point	___/3
Writing Mechanics	The text is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.	The text is clearly written with little or no editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors distract or impair readability. (three or more errors)	___/3
TOTAL POINTS
___ /27

* Primary sources can include original letters and diaries, personal observations, interviews, first-hand accounts, newspaper articles, magazine articles, journal articles, Web pages, audio recordings, video productions and photography.

CONCLUSION

CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have completed your Web Quest study on the problem of rising college costs and its impact on students across the nation. The committee will review your findings and make a determination of whether or not to implement your suggested solution.

Not only have you succeeded in your task of becoming socially aware of this issue, you have raised awareness of this problem in your school community and have also discovered possible solutions to improve it. In the process, you have simultaneously learned and implemented the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) Tool to evaluate civics, citizenship, and governmental systems in order to become a public policy creator, consultant, or lobbyist. GREAT JOB!

STANDARDS

RH1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the source as a whole.

RH3: Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.

RST6: Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, identifying important issues that remain unresolved. Synthesize information from a range of sources (e.g., texts, experiments, simulations) into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information when possible.

11-12W2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

WHST5: Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), analyze a topic, or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

11-12SL4: Present claims, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective; alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed; organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.