Chapter 1

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND RATINALE OF THE STUDY

Time spent at college is a fond memory and a happy experience for most,
college life is nothing without its rough patches and problems. While each persons
problems are unique to their current circumstances, we know that there are a few
problems that almost all college students deal with at least once during their time at
school.
According to surveys one of the most common problem college students
encounter is money. Tuition costs are rising at alarmingly high rates. College students
drop out of school each year because they cannot afford the tuition fee. Others are
forced to juggle full schedules with full time jobs to make ends meet. It is becoming
increasingly harder for students to graduate debt-free.

Purpose of the Study
Some of the students in the University are working students. Education is one of
the most important thing in every student or a person. Working students mainly work to
help their families and support their education. But due to economic crisis our country is
suffering today, many factors are affected by this and one of it is the tuition fee increase
in some of the universities here in the country.
The researchers purpose was to determine how the increase of tuition fee
affects the working students and how do they solve these kinds of financial problems.
The researchers expect that this study will help the students have perseverance and
determination to pursue their studies.

Research Questions
As we have observed, the working students in the University of Mindanao has
more than one problem. The researchers intention was to help the students in their
educational, financial, job depression and subject.
The researcher aims to answer the following questions:
How does tuition fee increase affects the working students?
Why does the increase of tuition fee leads to dropping out from school?
How do they encounter/solve this kind of problem?

Review of Related Literature
Presented in this chapter are review of related literature and studies where we
found accordant and significant to the present study, these are cited here to prove
insight and perspective on the present studies.
The cost of education is on rise and university, are in a competitive market for
qualified students. Many parents can no longer afford to pay for their childrens entire
education. Consequently, the student is put in a position of either getting a scholarship
or finding paid work to supplement his or her expenses. The findings in this study have
similar implications for all institutions of higher learning. Students are experiencing
increased demands on their time and the effect on their well-being must be a great
concern for all university administrators.
This study developed and tested a conceptual model of work-school conflict and
well-being. Past research on multiple roles in the work/family relationship guided the
theory because of the lack of theory among the common problems of the working
students. The depletion argument implied that opposing incompatible pressures from
work and school were detrimental to an individual and that role participation evoked
emotional strain. Past research had established that role-balance moderated this
relationship.

Theoretical Perspective
This study was anchored on the theory of the Higher Education Bubble.
The higher education bubble is a hypothesis that there is a speculative boom
and bust phenomenon in the field of higher education, particularly in the United States,
and that there is the risk of an economic bubble in higher education that could have
repercussions in the broader economy. Enrollment at more than 40 percent of private
colleges and universities declined during 2012, forcing the institutions to offer steep
tuition discounts to fill seats. President Obama nearly doubled the federal Pell Grant
Program, from $19 billion in 2009 to $36 billion for 2013.
According to the theory, while college tuition payments are rising, the rate of
return of a college degree is decreasing, and the soundness of the student loan industry
may be threatened by increasing default rates. According to the theory, while
college tuition payments are rising, the rate of return of a college degree is
decreasing, and the soundness of the student loan industry may be threatened by
increasing default rates.
Benjamin Ginsberg explains the connection between the increased ability to pay
tuition and the increase in services provided in his book The Fall of the
Faculty. According to Ginsberg, "there have been new sorts of demands for
administrative services that require more managers per student or faculty member than
was true in the past." The Goldwater Institute echoes this sentiment with its findings
that, "Between 1993 and 2007, the number of full-time administrators per 100 students
at Americas leading universities grew by 39 percent, while the number of employees
engaged in teaching, research or service only grew by 18 percent."
The "higher education bubble" is controversial and has been rejected by some
economists. Indeed, many Americans still believe in the value of a college education,
although they are unsure about its quality and affordability. Data shows that the wage
premiumthe difference between what those with a four-year college degree earn and
what those with only a high school education earnhas increased dramatically since
the 1970s, but so has the 'debt load' incurred by students due to the tuition inflation. The
data also suggests that, notwithstanding a slight increase in 20082009, student loan
default rates have declined since the mid-1980s and 1990s. Those with college degrees
are much less likely than those without to be unemployed, even though they are more
expensive to employ (they earn higher wages). The global management consulting
firm McKinsey and Company projects a shortage of college trained workers, and an
excess supply of workers without college degrees, which would cause the wage
premium to increase, and cause differences in unemployment rates to become even
more dramatic.
[15]
What is also interesting is that the cost of tuition over last 4 years
from 2009 -2012 has been increasing steadily over the years while wages have
remained stagnant. The inflation has been at really low levels in US in past 4 years and
there are no explainable reasons why Cost of Masters / Graduation is rising higher than
inflation.

Significance of the Study
This study will be a significant endeavour in promoting programs for the working
students that will help them support their education. This study will also be beneficial to
the University for they will know what the increase of tuition fee can cause problems to
the students especially to those who are working.

Limitation and Delimitation
This study was limited only to the working students in the University of Mindanao
for the academic year 2014-2015. The study was primarily concerned on the effects of
the tuition fee increase on the working students in the university.






Chapter 2
METHODS
Presented in this chapter are the discussions of the research design, research
participants, data sources, and data collection procedure, role of the researchers,
trustworthiness of the study, ethical consideration, and data analysis.

Research Design
This research was based on qualitative research. Qualitative research, as
defined by John D. Anderson (2003), is collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data by
observing what people do and say. These studies show that there is no definitive pattern
regarding how the rise in tuition fees affects student participation. The study can also
ascertain the significant difference among group of students.
Furthermore, this research design obtained information on the present situation
of increasing tuition fee.

Research Respondents
The respondents of this study are working students who were currently enrolled in
the University of Mindanao. Two working students came from other departments were
selected to be the respondents. The time that were given to us to interview these
respondents was a big honour and help to us as researchers.



Data Sources
Sources of the data that were important for the research were from first hand
experiences of the research respondents. Data were gathered and verified through
interviews and detailed descriptions.

Data Collection Procedure
It wasnt easy to find respondents for the study and because of this, the research
only had two (2) chosen participants so that we could gather different pieces of
information about the problems they encountered regarding the increase of tuition fee.
We interviewed the participants personally.

Role of the Researchers
According to Stake (1995) in qualitative research the researcher is intended to
achieve this principles consisted of some distinct phases, which were as follows:
Interpretive, making observations, subjective judgment, analyzing and synthesizing and
realizing. This was perform throughout the gathering or collecting data process.
We as researchers interpret the objective of the research by setting our mindset
to their situation and having the collected data result. We made observations to the
subject through interviews and provide judgment in evaluating their answers. As a final
point of the study, analyzing, synthesizing and realizing were at last made during the
come up of all the gathered data. To acknowledge the presence of the board we are
ready to give the details of our report.
Trustworthiness of the study
The study will not be possible if the participants werent participative. According
to A.K. Shenton (2004) there are four strategies to ensuring trustworthiness in
qualitative research specifically the credibility (in preference to internal validity);
transferability (in preference to external validity/generalisability); dependability (in
preference to reliability); conrmability (in preference to objectivity).
We made sure for the integrity of the research to be credible by having prolonged
engagement and persistent observations to the major subject. We convey the collected
data that came from our respective respondents to accomplish the study. In order to
address the dependability issue, we give the impression of being attentive to the data,
such as the focus group and individual interview. The processes within the study should
be reported in details. Finally, we now go into the perception of the data in a broad
manner.

Ethical Consideration
To avoid difficulties that the respondents may occur we made sure that their
identities were remained unknown. Throughout the entire process we did not required
them to give us informational background, which has nothing to do with the issue. It is
important to remember that the aim is not to generalize beyond their personal lives but
to scrutinize to the main issue.
Our respondents guaranteed as that they are willing to be interviewed and
answered questions sincerely. In signing the papers they were genuine and civil.
Data Analysis
The data was completely evaluated and confirmed through the findings of the
conducted interview. We were able to distinguish the resemblance and the different
significance of the gathered data, which was based on the answers of the participants.
After the deliberation we go into a conclusion, that the majority of working
students has a common perspective about the tuition-hike in the university. We were
convinced that our investigation have aim the accurate reactions or answers. Even
though there were minor errors or insignificant to their answers. Thus, the significant
level has the great sense.