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School costs are really out of control.

Martin

Lifer
http://blog.jamtoday.org/post/...on-bubble-finally-pops


One thing that really irritates me is when old people say things like "kids these days have it so easy", then following up with some stupid anecdote about them moving out at 18 and supporting themselves yada yada. Yet, they never faced problems like kids today - in the vast majority of cases, you need a post-secondary education to get a decent job and every year that education becomes more and more unaffordable, forcing people to drop out, drown in debt, live at home, attend sub-par schools, or (for the lucky ones) beg their parents for money.
 
Originally posted by: Martin
http://blog.jamtoday.org/post/...on-bubble-finally-pops


One thing that really irritates me is when old people say things like "kids these days have it so easy", then following up with some stupid anecdote about them moving out at 18 and supporting themselves yada yada. Yet, they never faced problems like kids today - in the vast majority of cases, you need a post-secondary education to get a decent job and every year that education becomes more and more affordable, forcing people to drop out, drown in debt, live at home, attend sub-par schools, or (for the lucky ones) beg their parents for money.

😕
 
State legislatures have abandoned the universities. University regents responded by screwing the students instead of controlling costs. Tenured faculty have cut nontenured faculty for dead.
 
Originally posted by: Martin
and every year that education becomes more and more affordable, forcing people to drop out, drown in debt, live at home, attend sub-par schools, or (for the lucky ones) beg their parents for money.

I think you meant to say either "less and less affordable" or "more and more expensive".

Also, I have read that while the "sticker" price of college has risen at 7+%/year, the price after financial aid has not risen nearly as quickly. Now if they are counting loans as financial aid, as opposed to grants and/or scholarships then that really doesn't help a whole lot.

 
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: Martin
and every year that education becomes more and more affordable, forcing people to drop out, drown in debt, live at home, attend sub-par schools, or (for the lucky ones) beg their parents for money.

I think you meant to say either "less and less affordable" or "more and more expensive".

Also, I have read that while the "sticker" price of college has risen at 7+%/year, the price after financial aid has not risen nearly as quickly. Now if they are counting loans as financial aid, as opposed to grants and/or scholarships then that really doesn't help a whole lot.

And there is the fact that all federal loans are now ~6.8%, NOT!!!!!!!! the ~3% everyone used to get.
 
If available, go to an in-state school unless you plan to attend a top 10 school.

Education is costing more because more people are going to colleges, versus 30 years ago. That means, for public schools, the state's budget to subsidize in-state student tuition is not enough to cover the rising number of students, therefore the tuition is raised.
 
It is just like health insurance. You keep paying it so they keep raising it. All the available financial aide money these days, which was not 20 years ago, has inflated the price. People are willing to go into debt for a mediocre education so they keep raising the price....yet people don't stop. The best thing that could happen would be for all the financial aid money and all the student loans to dry up overnight. Not many people would then be able to afford school and you would see the price drop immensely. There is no justification for the huge increase in price other than people keep going into massive debt to pay it.
 
More people are going to colleges, it's supply and demand. It gets even higher when low income students get scholarships. This means higher demand and justifies a higher tuition rate. Just because a university has special funds set aside for scholarships doesn't mean it isn't costing the regular student money.
 
Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Originally posted by: Special K
Originally posted by: Martin
and every year that education becomes more and more affordable, forcing people to drop out, drown in debt, live at home, attend sub-par schools, or (for the lucky ones) beg their parents for money.

I think you meant to say either "less and less affordable" or "more and more expensive".

Also, I have read that while the "sticker" price of college has risen at 7+%/year, the price after financial aid has not risen nearly as quickly. Now if they are counting loans as financial aid, as opposed to grants and/or scholarships then that really doesn't help a whole lot.

And there is the fact that all federal loans are now ~6.8%, NOT!!!!!!!! the ~3% everyone used to get.

A bad typo, but that was supposed to be 'unaffordable'
 
Originally posted by: ironwing
State legislatures have abandoned the universities. University regents responded by screwing the students instead of controlling costs. Tenured faculty have cut nontenured faculty for dead.

Its getting more and more expensive to lure high profile research professionals to universities. Its also getting more and more expensive to have a campus thats on the leading edge of research. I worked for the University of Michigan for a while and while I was there they spent $10 million dollars on building renovation projects alone. And believe me, they weren't throwing money around. We had meeting after meeting to try and decide how we would meet the researcher's needs in a facility while staying within a shoe string budget
 
There are other rewards of having a professional job. You don't have to kill your knees stocking shelves at a department store, dealing with idiot customers all the time, asking you stupid questions about toasters or laundry baskets. You don't have to labor in a filthy warehouse where the temperature can pretty nearly match that of the outdoors. You don't need to ask a few hundred people each day if they'd like to try a Value Meal.
You can enjoy your clean, climate-controlled office job, where you must wear your button-down shirt and silly tie (because ties make people important:roll🙂, and help boost the overall productivity of the country more than you ever could working some menial, labor-intensive job.

 
It has little to do with more people going to college, it has a lot to do with people blindly believing a more expensive college is a better college.

Read a story about a college - Hendrix College in Arkansas - that raised its tuition 29% in 2005. Would you think that would drive people to other schools? No, they got 40% more applicants. Same college, higher price = more students.

College does not have to be so expensive. Princeton did not need to build a $135 million dorm featuring leaded glass windows with mahogany trim, nor did Boston U need to install hot tubs that hold 15 people. On average, less than half of what colleges spend to run the school is tied directly to classroom instruction (faculty, equipment, etc.) and since the consumers keep paying the rising costs, they have no incentive to control spending.

If a college with great classroom facilities and faculty didn't have air-conditioned dorms with laundry facilities on every floor, 5 restaurants on campus and state-of-the-art fitness centers, for 30% less cost than other schools, would anyone go?

Until consumers push back by refusing to sink into massive debt to get a degree, expect more of the same. The default rate is already 20% across all graduates who have $15K or more in student loans. I can only wonder what it is for grads with $50K or more in loans.
 
Originally posted by: Ronstang
It is just like health insurance. You keep paying it so they keep raising it. All the available financial aide money these days, which was not 20 years ago, has inflated the price. People are willing to go into debt for a mediocre education so they keep raising the price....yet people don't stop. The best thing that could happen would be for all the financial aid money and all the student loans to dry up overnight. Not many people would then be able to afford school and you would see the price drop immensely. There is no justification for the huge increase in price other than people keep going into massive debt to pay it.

this is my take on it, as well. they're charging the outrageous money because

1) they can .. people keep paying it
2) i think it's a competition between schools. they see other competing schools raise tuition, so they go up, too. if it's more expensive, it must be better, right?
 
Originally posted by: Martin
http://blog.jamtoday.org/post/...on-bubble-finally-pops


One thing that really irritates me is when old people say things like "kids these days have it so easy", then following up with some stupid anecdote about them moving out at 18 and supporting themselves yada yada. Yet, they never faced problems like kids today - in the vast majority of cases, you need a post-secondary education to get a decent job and every year that education becomes more and more unaffordable, forcing people to drop out, drown in debt, live at home, attend sub-par schools, or (for the lucky ones) beg their parents for money.

In case you don't realize it the "Yet, they never faced problems like kids today" whine is about as cliche as the "kids these days have it so easy" whine.
 
Originally posted by: nkgreen
Originally posted by: MoPHo
State schools FTW!

this

*pounds some PBR*

While i agree that state schools are FTW and are generally cheaper but depending on where you live its still not that cheap


SUNY schools range anywhere from 12-25k a year depending on which one you go to and its a "State School"
 
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