Positive Comments: The Rationality of University Tuition Adjustment and the Opportunity to Optimize the Educational Ecosystem
The collective tuition increase of many universities in 2025 may seem on the surface to be just a “tuition hike,” but in fact, it is a profound adjustment of the higher education cost and resource allocation mechanism. Analyzed from the perspective of educational economics, this change is not simply a “price increase.” Instead, it is a correction of the long – imbalanced education cost – sharing mechanism, and it also provides a potential opportunity to optimize the educational ecosystem.
First of all, the tuition adjustment is a reasonable response to the operating costs of universities. As mentioned in the news, more than 60% of the funds of public universities in China rely on government financial allocations, and tuition fees have not increased for 20 years, far lower than the actual cultivation cost. This data reveals a long – standing contradiction: with the expansion of the scale of higher education (for example, the college enrollment rate of 18 – year – olds reached 59% in 2020), universities’ investment in teaching staff, laboratories, campus facilities, etc. has been continuously increasing, while the growth rate of financial allocations can hardly keep up. Take East China University of Science and Technology in 2023 as an example. The tuition fees for science and engineering majors increased by 54%, and those for science and engineering majors at Shanghai University of Electric Power increased by 40%. Essentially, these adjustments are attempts by universities to make up for the funding gap through market – based means. If tuition fees remain lower than the cultivation cost for a long time, universities may be forced to cut back on teaching resources due to insufficient funds (such as reducing the update of experimental equipment and restricting the recruitment of teaching staff), which will ultimately damage the quality of students’ education. Therefore, a moderate tuition adjustment is a necessary means to maintain the sustainable development of higher education.
Secondly, the differentiation of tuition fees helps to guide the optimal allocation of educational resources. This tuition increase shows the characteristics of “private universities having higher tuition than public ones, art majors having higher tuition than general majors, and Sino – foreign cooperative programs having higher tuition than domestic majors.” For example, the annual tuition for art undergraduate majors at Shanghai Zhongqiao Vocational and Technical University increased from 35,000 yuan to 43,000 yuan, while the tuition for liberal arts majors at Yunnan Normal University only increased by 800 yuan. This differential pricing conforms to the principle of “those who benefit should pay.” Majors such as art and Sino – foreign cooperative programs usually require higher costs for equipment, teaching staff, or international cooperation. Having the beneficiaries (students’ families) bear part of the costs can prevent using public finance to subsidize a small number of high – cost majors, so that limited financial funds can be more invested in basic disciplines and public service – oriented majors (such as teacher education and medicine), achieving a more efficient allocation of educational resources.
Finally, the tuition increase may force universities to improve the quality of education. Against the backdrop of the declining birth rate and the transformation of higher education from “elitist” to “popular,” the competition for students among universities will become more intense. If a university raises its tuition but fails to improve its teaching quality and employment services simultaneously, it may face difficulties in enrollment. On the contrary, if a university uses the additional funds from the tuition increase to improve teaching facilities (such as building digital laboratories), strengthen school – enterprise cooperation (such as adding internship bases), and enhance employment guidance (such as introducing corporate mentors), it can form a positive cycle of “high investment – high output – high reputation.” For example, some private universities may attract more students who value practical abilities by raising tuition to improve the campus environment and introduce dual – qualified teachers, which is of positive significance for breaking the “degree – only theory” and promoting the development of applied education.
Negative Comments: Challenges to Educational Equity and Family Investment Confidence Behind the Tuition Increase
Although the tuition adjustment has its rationality, this “collective tuition increase” also exposes deep – seated contradictions in the field of higher education, especially the impact on educational equity and the weakening of family investment confidence in education. We need to be vigilant about its possible social chain reactions.
First and foremost, the educational burden on low – income families has increased. As mentioned in the news, “for every 1,000 – yuan increase in tuition, the rural enrollment rate drops by 1.2 percentage points.” In 2024, the per – capita disposable income of rural residents was only 19,605 yuan. If a student’s annual tuition reaches 10,000 yuan (some public universities’ science and engineering majors are already close to this level), it will account for more than 50% of the family’s annual income. The tuition for private or art majors may even exceed the annual income of rural families, which may lead to an increase in the phenomenon of “dropping out of school due to poverty.” More seriously, educational equity is an important channel for social class mobility. If children from rural and low – income families are blocked from entering universities due to tuition fees, it may solidify class differences, which runs counter to the policy goal of “universal education.”
Secondly, the contradiction between “degree devaluation” and “tuition increase” has weakened the confidence in educational investment. News data shows that in 2022, the human capital premium of college students was only 30%, far lower than 150% in 1982, while tuition fees have been continuously rising. This means that the ratio of the educational cost (tuition + time) invested by families to the return (employment salary, social status) has deteriorated. For ordinary families, the traditional logic of “sparing no expense to send children to college” is facing challenges. If the salary after graduation is only 30% higher than that of those who do not go to college, and the tuition may exhaust the family’s savings over the years, some families may turn to “early employment” or “skill training,” which will have a long – term negative impact on the social recognition of higher education.
In addition, some universities may fall into a vicious cycle of “tuition increase – no improvement in quality.” If universities use the additional tuition funds for non – teaching areas (such as excessive campus expansion and administrative expenses) instead of improving teaching quality or employment services, it will intensify the contradiction between students and the school. For example, if the tuition for an art major at a university increases to 43,000 yuan per year, but the curriculum still focuses on theoretical teaching and lacks practical projects in line with the industry, students will face difficulties in finding jobs after graduation, which will directly lead to a negative reputation of “high tuition – low return” and ultimately damage the long – term development of the university.
Suggestions for Entrepreneurs: Seize Business Opportunities in the Changes of Education Costs and Skill Demands
Facing the dual trends of rising university tuition and the employment market’s emphasis on skills over degrees, entrepreneurs can explore opportunities in the following directions:
Vocational education and skill training track: As the news points out, in the future employment market, “there will be no college students, only labor forces.” Enterprises value practical skills to solve problems (such as new media operation, intelligent manufacturing, and data analysis) more. Entrepreneurs can develop a dual – track training model of “degree + skills” according to this demand. For example, they can cooperate with universities to offer training programs of “professional courses + enterprise certification” or launch “short – term skill training camps” (such as AI tool application and cross – border e – commerce operation) to help students accumulate marketable skills during their college years and shorten the recovery period of education costs.
Educational inclusive service platform: To address the tuition pressure on low – income families, entrepreneurs can integrate resources such as government financial aid policies, enterprise scholarships, and public welfare funds to build a “one – stop educational assistance service platform” that provides services such as guidance on applying for student loans, matching of scholarships and grants, and connection of part – time jobs, reducing the family’s cost of information acquisition and alleviating the problem of “dropping out of school due to poverty.” In addition, they can also explore the “education installment payment” model (in cooperation with financial institutions), allowing families to repay the tuition according to semesters or a certain proportion of their post – employment income, thus reducing the short – term financial pressure.
Service provider for optimizing university resources: As universities need to improve the quality of education due to the tuition increase, entrepreneurs can provide targeted solutions. For example, they can develop a “teaching cost accounting system” for universities to help them accurately evaluate the cultivation cost of each major and avoid blind tuition increases; or provide a “digital platform for school – enterprise cooperation” to connect universities with enterprises, assist universities in introducing corporate mentors and building internship bases, and transform the increased tuition into an improvement in students’ employment competitiveness.
Educational investment consulting service: To address the problem of “lack of confidence in educational investment” among families, entrepreneurs can launch an “educational investment decision – making tool.” Through big – data analysis of the tuition cost, employment salary, and career development path of different majors (such as the average tuition of computer majors, the salary three years after graduation, and the promotion cycle), it can help families rationally choose universities and majors and avoid the decision of “high investment – low return” caused by information asymmetry.
In short, the increase in university tuition is both a challenge and an opportunity. Entrepreneurs need to seize the core contradictions of “rationalization of education costs” and “upgrading of skill demands,” relieve the family burden, improve the quality of education, and meet market demands through innovative service models, and realize commercial value while promoting the optimization of the educational ecosystem.
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