Comparison between Private and Public Learning Facilities

Introduction

With the high inflation and interest rate, the cost of education is often rather high. Parents are tasked with making the choice on whether to take their children to private or state universities. In most cases, the determining factors are the cost of tuition and the family’s financial stability. For those seeking a cheaper option, state universities always present an attractive alternative. Nonetheless, aside from tuition, there are other elements that need to be evaluated since they influence the rate of retention and recruitment. Among such components, the most important are the source of revenue and types of expenditure. To establish which type of learning institutions is the most popular choice, a comparison of tuition fees required by the Kentucky Wesleyan College and the University of Kentucky will be helpful.

University of Kentucky

The first university under review is the University of Kentucky. It was founded in the year 1865 by Browman John and is located in Lexington, Kentucky. It is founded on the motto, “United we stand, Divided we fall,” and its main color is blue. It is one of the largest universities in the state, with about 30,800 attendances in the year 2016. The US News and World Report placed it on the 133 position among national universities. The educational establishment is composed of about 15 campuses and runs a series of undergraduate, master’s and doctoral and other professional programs. The facility houses about 15 libraries. For the past several years, the focus of the university has been on the expansion of its reach (University of Kentucky, 2017). Furthermore, due to its focus on research, the university has been promoted to one of the top rated institutions.

Bowman John established it as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky which was its charter department supported by the Land-Grant Act in the year 1865. In the following three years, the college opened an Agricultural experimental station. The station’s researches focused on nutrition, water, soil and environment. The first women’s university residence hall known as Patterson Hall was established in 1904. In years 1916, the facility acquired its contemporary name, “The University of Kentucky.” Its financial evaluation showed that its sources of revenue included state provision, tuition, and the hospital enterprise. Some of its major expenses were related to scholarship, salaries, fixed expenses, staff promotion and capital. Accordingly, state funds numbered 39%, while tuition totaled 61% (University of Kentucky, 2017). Importantly, its financial records are published publicly and can be easily accessed.

Kentucky Wesleyan College

The second university to be evaluated is the Kentucky Wesleyan College. It is a private facility and is not mandated to receive any funds from the state. In fact, it is a college located in the city of Owensboro along the Ohio River, in Kentucky. Kentucky Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church established the college in the year 1858, and it was grounded on the motto, “Find Yourself.” The campus sits on 55 acres of land, along the southern bypass. Its main colors of representation are white and purple. The institution has become popular for its liberal arts programs. Kentucky Wesleyan provides operational programs and majors; it strives to ensure its student- faculty ratio is 9:1. The academic sector has been divided into four studies, namely social sciences, mathematics, humanities and social studies (Kentucky Wesleyan College, 2017). Talking about financial aid, it is offered to students that qualify.

The college commenced its operations in the year 1866. In the beginning, preachers used the institution as a facility for training. A few years later, liberal arts and business classes were included to the teaching courses. In the year 1890, the facility made a move to Winchester, which allowed it to admit women. Tuition forms a significant portion of the facility’s revenue. Tuition is charged according to the units taken per student. The cost of tuition is $23,100, and the institution offers various forms and levels of financial aid. According to the statistics, students within the facility have a median family income of $54,453, which is fair in comparison to other colleges (Kentucky Wesleyan College, 2017). As per college’s policy, students can pay their fees with loans acquired from the government.

Similarities between the Kentucky Wesleyan College and the University of Kentucky

There are some similarities between the two facilities. The first is that both offer scholarships and financial aid to students. Both facilities acknowledge that many students may have difficulties in meeting the stated tuition fees. Accordingly, the institutions may offer either full or partial scholarships. Moreover, scholarships are offered to high-performing students to motivate performance and boost other students’ performance. However, there is the difference in the number of scholarships that the learning facilities grant.

Another similar factor is that tuition provides significant income for both the Kentucky Wesleyan College and University of Kentucky. For the University of Kentucky, tuition fees total 31% of the income, while for the Kentucky Wesleyan College, tuition runs to 45% of the revenue. The portions may not be similar; nevertheless, both of them are reliant on tuition fee from students to address their day-to-day operation costs. Thus, both the University of Kentucky and Kentucky Wesleyan College are dependent on the enrollment numbers; the higher is the enrolment, the higher is the revenue.

Talking about both educational establishments, students can access credits. The facilities allow students to pay their fees through loans. The loan packages include maintenance loans as well as tuition fees. Students are still free to make applications for grants in the event that they are eligible or are in need of childcare expenses. The loan amounts will be dependent on the financial income of the family. Apparently, both institutions have similar patterns of expenditure. The income is spent on the daily operation of the business as well as the provision of services to students. The amount spent is reinvested and used to enhance the provision of high quality services. In fact, substantial sums of money are invested into the classes, research institutions, reimbursement, and capital expenses.

Differences between the Kentucky Wesleyan College and the University of Kentucky

There exist striking differences between the University of Kentucky and Kentucky Wesleyan College. Therefore, the source of funding occupies the top of the list. In fact, 54% of the University of Kentucky funds are provided by the state. However, much higher percentage of funds is obtained from the government, which is about $334M. For the Kentucky Wesleyan College, the financial structure is fueled by 95% of tuition. The fee and the tuition are almost similar to the maximum amount by the Pell Grant ($4,500). It is also an admission-fueled institution, which triggered graduation rate of only 30% (Startclass, 2017). In addition, the University of Kentucky has alternative sources of income. It has a university hospital that produces about 34% of its revenue. What is more, the university has other enterprises within Kentucky, which give it an additional 14% income (University of Kentucky, 2015). On the other hand, the Kentucky Wesleyan College does not acquire any revenue from its enterprises.

Tuition fees are also another stable source of income for both institutions. In regard to the University of Kentucky, tuition fee provides about 12% of its revenue (University of Kentucky, 2015). The residents are involved in subsidizing costs of the school. Tuition charges by the Kentucky Wesleyan College are higher since there are no subsidies from the state. Under some circumstances, the Kentucky Wesleyan College will offer scholarships, which allow it to attract students with higher qualifications. Evidently, the University of Kentucky rarely presents financial assistance or scholarships to the students.

The funds of the Kentucky Wesleyan College are regulated by a board of trustees and are not expected to receive any form of direct funding from the state. Nonetheless, the students enrolled are allowed to make payments from financial aid. Although the tuition is much higher, they are more likely to receive financial aid. There are more first-year students receiving financial aid within the facility, as opposed to public schools (Startclass, 2017). To reduce operational costs, the facility reduced its staff to student ratio compared to the University of Kentucky. Due to the overwhelming number of those studying at the University of Kentucky, a significant number of students may have difficulties in submitting their registrations on time.

Conclusion

The above factors are an indication of the fact that public universities are cheaper than the private ones. Private universities receive their main revenue from tuition. In turn, the facilities are focused on increasing student recruitment. The reason is that the institutions obtain more revenue if the level of recruitment is high. Compared to public universities, private educational establishments have lower student retention. Often, students may have difficulties in sustaining high tuition fees and may often abandon the studies to seek part-time jobs. Public universities are often state-funded and are not dependent on the recruitment. The universities focus on the retention of admitted students through the provision of subsidized services. Thus, each facility will choose either student recruitment or retention, and this choice is highly dependent on the source of finances.

When deciding which educational establishment to choose, parents pay their attention to such factors as the tuition fee as well as expenditure and sources of income. The above review has proven that state-funded universities often present a cheaper attentive. The University of Kentucky has lower tuition fees compared to the Kentucky Wesleyan College. Nonetheless, the Kentucky Wesleyan College is still an attractive variant since universities spend substantial funds on staff development and improvement of other services. On the other hand, the University of Kentucky has an upper hand due to state funds, which give it the possibility to sustain a high student to staff ratio. There are clear differences between the facilities, but the patterns of expenditure and sources of revenue give each of them a unique advantage over each other.