President Trump has been busy imposing tariffs through the first 13 months of his presidency. Trump has started a trade war as he has placed heavy tariffs on countries such as India, China, Mexico, and Japan. These tariffs affect mainly imports and have shaken up the domestic and international economy. Although there are some benefits to the tariffs, such as bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US and raising revenue, they have ultimately hit American consumers with much of the price burden. This begs the question: how do these tariffs affect college students across the country?
Over the past few decades, the price of college has skyrocketed. Tuition prices have increased, and families and students increasingly struggle to afford higher education. Since Trump has disrupted the world’s economy with his tariffs, the price of college has worsened.
Universities have struggled with increased prices due to these tariffs. The cost of maintaining facilities, upgrading the campus and technology, and funding construction have risen. Universities are also heavily invested in the stock market and have struggled to maintain their endowments due to turbulence in the market. This piles onto the issue of rising costs, which are then relayed to college students. Finally, since tariffs have driven up inflation, and college tuition is already extremely responsive to inflation, economists warn that this inflation will spike tuition prices in the years to come. On top of the rising cost of simply attending college, tariffs have raised the price of basic goods necessary for success at school.
Tariffs on countries such as China, Mexico, and Canada have particularly led to an increase in prices of school supplies and necessary materials for students. Textbooks and paper, which are imported frequently from Canada and Mexico, will become more expensive, along with all education-related goods imported from China. Also, the tariffs have caused slow delivery and production, and applied pressure for universities to shift to digital methods of learning.
Many unseen costs of attending college have seen rising prices, such as food, groceries, clothes, shoes, and technology. In fact, the cost of typical back-to-school goods are up 7.3% this year, according to economists.
Trump has promised economic growth and security, increased tax revenue for the country, and gains in political power in the trade market through tariffs. In reality, these tariffs have placed financial burdens on families across the United States and have exacerbated the already extreme prices of attending college. It is important to ask: is the promise of future economic growth, increased revenue collection, and rising production worth more than the challenges many college students are facing?
