Universities Are Becoming Increasingly Expensive To Operate | Band 7.5 IELTS Essay Sample

Universities are becoming increasingly expensive to operate. In some countries, money from taxation has met these costs. However, this is not always enough to maintain the quality of universities. What are some ways universities could be funded in future?

Here is a band 7.5 IELTS essay on this topic written by one of our students. Need help with IELTS writing? Get your IELTS essays, letters and reports corrected by me.

Band 7.5 IELTS essay sample

Generally speaking, the government allocates a portion of the tax revenue to support the universities. However, some people argue that this approach is unsustainable in the long run as the cost of higher education has been increasing constantly. This essay will discuss how higher education should / can be financed.

To begin with, private support can potentially become a college’s / a university’s financial source. For example, organisations, or wealthy people may provide funds to universities as a way of contributing to the community. Besides this, rich organizations can offer scholarships to meritorious students. This will not only help them market their brands, but also benefit both the students and the university. In other words, private finance is a viable solution to be proposed as it benefits all supporters, students, and schools.

The second possible source of funding is to leverage the university’s infrastructure. This means parts of their estate can be leased to the public. External parties, for instance, can rent classrooms and auditoriums to conduct courses or events. Or the dormitory can become a hostel for tourists during school holidays. Likewise, for a fee their libraries, gyms, or swimming pools should offer membership to alumni and visitors. Another way of fundraising is to attract more international students, who pay more tuition fees than domestic students. Fee paid by students account for a large share of the funding pie for tertiary education. Lastly, a sizeable proportion of expenditures goes towards employees’ compensation, which can be reduced by deploying alternatives. Take robots as an example. A robotic camera can be deployed to take on the workload of a security officer, or an automatic vacuum robot can do part of the housekeeper’s job.

In conclusion, universities can raise funds from wealthy patrons and overseas students.  Additionally, the institutions should look into monetizing their properties, and cutting operational costs.