I just figured out that I need to save $1000 per month for the next 16 years to send my kids to college. Tuition has been rising at an 8.4% rate for the last 10 years, 8.2% for the last 20 years (reference: College Illinois). This means that if current annual tuition is $15,000 (e.g., at the University of Illinois), then in 11 years when Ben starts college, annual tuition will be $36,426. Four years of college tuition for Ben will cost $165,000. For Anna, the first year is $46,398 and all four years will cost $210,000.
These numbers are so outrageous, it might seem like they are made up. I assure you the calculations are correct. And that doesn't even include the cost of books, room, and board (currently another $10,000 per year). That adds on another 2/3 of the cost. So the cost of sending my kids to college could be $625,000. And that's if they graduate in four years or don't go to graduate school. The average student is taking more than 6 years to graduate from college, according to the article College Tuition Keeps Rising from US News.
Why is the cost of tuition rising? University officials said one reason they were raising sticker prices was to counterbalance reductions in the subsidies governments (in other words, taxpayers) provide for higher education. The Pennsylvania State University's main campus, for example, received the same state grant this year that it received five years ago, said spokesperson Bill Mahon. So the school raised tuition 5.6 percent this year to cover increased salaries, benefits, energy, and other operating costs, he said. according to the US News article.
And there's more. Finally, many colleges say they are raising tuition to generate more money to hand back to students as financial aid, in part to make up for the federal government's reductions in programs like the Pell grant. But the College Board said that even after subtracting financial aid, the net cost of college has risen at least 2 percentage points faster than inflation over the past decade.
Thank you, state and local governments. It's a pretty simple formula. Politicians make the decisions. They are (almost all) rich. They can afford college tuition regardless, and will probably send their kids to private schools. And they decide how much money will go to education. I can hear the thought process now. "Hmmm, we can give the rich a tax break, or we can give more money to the colleges. I vote for the tax break." The result? Fewer middle and lower class people will get a college education. And that's just what the rich elite want. If you're scared and uneducated, you'll just keep falling for their same old tricks.
The sad part is that we continue to vote for these politicians. They are supposed to represent us, but really they just represent themselves. They make every election about one or two issues. Ignore the man behind the curtain.
Personally, I think education benefits everyone, not just the person receiving the education. We would be a better country if people were more educated. I don't know the root of the problems in this country, but it wouldn't surprise me if poor education was one of them.
- schneid
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I can talk about the increasing rate of higher education - being part of the machine myself. Part is financial aid you discuss - part of it is the consumer arms race for better facilities and residences...and if these parents don't get a grip, part of it will be my hospital bill from the looney bin. I heard one speaker discuss how the project the need for prisons: They look at the literacy rate of 4th graders. More and more students are opting, wisely, for the community college then the four year school. To be honest, the community colleges are offering a better experience in the classroom than what most students get on a big campus as an undergrad.
We can talk financial aid formulas when I get home for the holidays...
Your other option is to start working at a university. Damn. I have no kids but all these great tuition benefits...
I hate to remind you that you left the following things out of your budget: beer money and the cost of the flying car that your kids most definitely will ask for.
I must disagree with the reasons you posted for outrageous costs of college tuition.
If you follow annually how much financial aid has been available to students, whether it is in the form of grants, federally backed student loans or scholarships, you will see that as the amount of financial aid goes up, tuition goes up. In other words, as the "buying" power of students goes up, colleges raise their tuition rates because they know there will be enough buyers.
This is exactly what happened with real estate, as people were able to afford higher mortgages, house values magically "went up".
I am angry at the fact that universities receive millions of dollars per year to fund their projects, from both federal and state governments, and they still charge their students 40k per year in tuition.
I think Universities should either lose their non-profit statuses or regulations have to be put in place to make things fairer - this might even include making it easier to form a university of your own.
Post a Comment