Is college too expensive?

[rrm15]

There was a story on CNN's website about a group of students in California protesting a recent tuition increase and it got me thinking: hell yeah, it is!

I know there are a lot of resources available through financial aid, but most incoming college students (especially those that are the first in their families to go to school) are unaware of them.

Thoughts?

[EvilMasterBetty, Esq.]

Yes. It is ridiculously expensive, especially for what you get in return. Very rarely do students ever benefit from the increased cost. Like in California. The increase is to help pay off California's budget to prevent the state from slipping into anarchy. Not to build new buildings or add better professors or to improve technology. But all students can do to protest is not go to school, which is like cutting off your head to spite your face.

While there are tons of resources out there for lower-class economically students, they generally don't come from school systems that have the resources to inform them of such programs or to motivate them to stick with school to take advantage of them.

[Koda, Master Crunchyroller]

It can be, but only if you care more about the where you go to rather than getting your degree as fast as possible.

Let's face it folks, a community college will give you just about the same level of education as an upper tier state university. ESPECIALLY in the core classes.

I would've liked to stay at the University of Oklahoma, but shit got too expensive, so I'm going to Oklahoma State University - Oklahoma City and aiming for an associate degree in Game Development.

Why? Well because OSU-OKC has a deal where if you pay for two semesters, you get a third one free, both books and tuition, and the best thing is, this school only has fees for books and tuition! Oh, and the fact that a semester here costs around $1,500-$2,000 compared to the $10,000-$15,000 cost of a semester at OU doesn't hurt either.

Point is, if you just want a degree, just going to a local in-city/community college. Much cheaper, easier, not as big a pressure, and overall, the same education.

College doesn't have to be expensive unless you make it be expensive.

[arrogantmodel]

Hell yeah. I'm paying loans back and stuff now and it's a bitch. Especially now when it's damn near impossible to get a job. My friend went to Penn State for engineering, he's working at Best Buy. Another friend went to Ohio State for journalism. She's working at JC Penny. You really need to just go out and work your way up from somewhere. I went to school for broadcasting. I work in a restaurant. I don't see it as worth it these days.

[Allie Kitsune]

Yes, yes it is. I don't know how I'll ever get enough money to get into a real school (I was academically expelled from HACC 10 years ago, and can't go back unless I take the exact same major and exact same classes, which I never wanted to take in the first place [and the frustration of being basically forced into it by my 'advisor' is part of why I eventually quit, and therefore got academically expelled for not going to class anymore]), and most places in my area that even pay around $8.50/hr (full-time) want a full 4 year degree before they hire anybody.

If a 4 year degree is becoming a requirement to even get a CRAP job that doesn't even pay enough to pay the bills, then there needs to be a way to get the uneducated and broke into college (that doesn't involve being sprayed with gunfire for at least 4 years. Nothing against the military at all, but I personally know that I do NOT have the stones to kill a man when it comes right down to it.).

[HMARK Center]

College is far, far, FAR too expensive. It's prohibitively expensive.

Worse, the student loan industry is crippling an entire generation of Americans who want to buy cars, own homes, and in general help out the economy, but are stuck repaying an ungodly sum.

Now, I live in New Jersey, where EVERYTHING is expensive, but I attended Rutgers, a state school, and I was given a number of scholarships and managed to save a lot that way. Meanwhile, however, I have friends who attended $40,000 a year schools with SOME financial help (it's rarely all that much) who will be in debt until God knows when.

I'm lucky; I have my degree, and no debt. But I know that will change; I want my advanced degrees, but I'd best be prepared to pay handsomely for them. Thankfully it's not as much as an undergrad program, but still.

[i.Sarita.com]

My college is free. And I get paid to go. I feel bad for you guys!

[tap]

Yes, and I live in Canada.

However, I was fortunate enough to have my schooling for my BA and MA covered because I have First Nations status. I received monthly stipends for a school year for my entire BA and MA (6 years total), plus tuition coverage for those 6 years, PLUS I had bursary/scholarship opportunities that would come up as well. As it stands right now, I have zero debt, but I know my experience isn't hardly the norm; it's actually the complete opposite.

[Alexander The So-so]

My thoughts on college can pretty much be summed up by this video, particularly 2:08-2:24:

[Jay Peas 42]

Basically, what you have to understand is that College in California was heavily subsidizied. Like UC Berkley, one of the best state colleges in the country, right? $9,748 for tutition and Fees this year. Without a state subsidy, The UC system is very expensive to maintain, and so while 32% may seem outrageous, it's merely the chickens coming home to roost.

The general problem is, Colleges have as much money to work with as they want to, because nobody directly pays for college. You can always get a bigger loan, after all. The government will always pay them more. So every college can raise tutition by 6% every year and have no sense of proportion, because they face no fiscal pressure to reduce costs. So the student loans that are designed to make college more affordable for college students, have really just transfered the costs.

[darbus alan]

Nov 21, 2009 15:25:41 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

I'm lucky; I have my degree, and no debt. But I know that will change; I want my advanced degrees, but I'd best be prepared to pay handsomely for them. Thankfully it's not as much as an undergrad program, but still.

Best way to do that is to find a job in the field you want to get your masters (or higher) in. A lot of employers will actually pay for your graduate school education, usually for some guarantee on your part (like working X years there after you complete your graduate degree).

[thwak is T.hawk]

considering that my uncle (or great uncle, he's the brother to my grandma so I guess that would make him great uncle?) was briefly on the board of directors for columbia college (the chicago one, not the new york one) and he said it was getting to expensive, I tend to agree with him.

and the sad thing is, it's going to the point where even student loans are getting outrageous, so much so that it's discouraging people from going to college. Moreso considering that some colleges aren't excepting community college classes.

[laughytaffy]

College is more expensive and degrees aren't worth as much...

Yeah I can see why people wouldn't want to go.

[rrm15]

Worse, the student loan industry is crippling an entire generation of Americans who want to buy cars, own homes, and in general help out the economy, but are stuck repaying an ungodly sum.

Oh God, don't even get me started. Every semester when I'm dealing with the financial aid stuff it gives me nightmares. I'm gonna have so much debt. Ugh.

[Professor Chaos]

Yes.... I'm paying 250 a month for 10 years to repay mine. I'd have bought a new car if not for that hanging over my head.

[H-Fist]

Yes.

I went to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and took a BA in 4 years. I had a National Merit Scholarship that gave me $1,000/semester for 8 semesters and another Illinois State Scholar award for $500/semester for 2 semesters. I still have some small loans, but luckily U of I was pretty affordable. I can't find my old rates, but the in-state annual base rate for 2004-05 freshmen class is $7700.

Here are the 2009-10 estimated expenses:
Room and Board with 20 meals per week (only 2 on Sunday): $9,284
Books, Supplies, and Internet: $1,200
Tuition: $9,484

So despite a recession that has made even food a luxury for many families, tuition is now 23% higher than it was 5 years ago.

Now, I never lived in the dorms so I didn't have that automatic price-gouging built into my tuition budget. Living in Champaign and Urbana was very cheap. I had a 3-bedroom apartment with two other roommates that was about $800/month total, so $270 each for 12 months, and eating decently wasn't expensive, either, since I knew how to cook real food. That was a good decision on my part. My living expenses were about 20% lower than in the dorm for a higher quality of life, plus I didn't have to consider school breaks.

...

That being said, a major issue is that people in charge of universities seem to think they always have to expand, expand, expand. They instead should focus their efforts on improving the quality of existing facilities and subsequently determining where they still fall short (campus recreation facilities, computer labs, etc.). They would lessen the major investments of capital that draw on state, federal and individual sources. They would be less beholden to economic problems. And they would be able to provide a higher quality of education.

Instead, programs are diluted because of a desire to admit more and more students into the evolving Ponzi scheme of higher education. Pay into the system, receive these grades to show you the investment is paying off, receive the diploma to show that the investment is matured, and then you are out of there and they don't care about you. You have a diploma that means nothing because everyone has the same piece of paper that supposedly meant they had accomplished something.

I understand the plight of people who are worse off because they lack that piece of paper and are seen by HR departments as non-candidates. But I also know first hand that a diploma is not really worth much at all.

College is made into something bigger than it is here ("look how many more grads we have than Europe! look at how few grads we have compared to Japan!") in large part because we don't have room for those tens of thousands of 18-year-olds who would otherwise enter the workforce. College is a largely a racket to keep young people out of the workforce for 3-5 years. It is becoming just another *thing* we do.

[Error]

Way too expensive. After 12 hours tuition, books and supplies, I am looking at $6,000 for a junior college. If you have to get a computer and include Internet access since it is all but mandatory now, I would be looking at $10,000.

[tap]

Mind you, what goes unsaid in this debate, because it's assumed to be a given (as it is in most aspects) is that when you run something for-profit (or when profit is built into the economic mechanisms that includes/relies upon subsidies), the need (or desire) for profit will always increase.

If you can squeeze people for a 5% increase and they don't complain, why not squeeze them for 10%? Again, no complaints, shoot for 20%. Whenever profit accumulation is introduced, the disparity between services provided and costs will increase (not to mention other factors no doubt, but I'm generalizing for a reason). Thus, the economic-educational system is always inefficient (in terms of substantive results, short-term and long-term) so that the maximization of profits can occur. Because if the system could produce results at a bare minimum cost, people would demand even greater efficiency for a lower cost. But there's no money to be made from that.

And this doesn't even account for research-for-profit takes priority for many schools. Here in Canada, SSHRC (the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) which funds MA and PhD students has begun to shift its focus from Humanities and Arts students (like myself) to goal/profit-oriented students and programs (mostly from Business). The demand to see something "useful" (in strictly monetary terms) with this funding trumps the purpose of post-secondary education, 'higher learning'. 'What is art? philosophy? love? life? and why?' are no longer meaningful questions, but instead how many people can be fit into a classroom to make the most money from them while giving them the most rudimentary form of education, so that degrees are ground out like hamburger in a job market that fetishizes a piece of paper.

[ani]

I get Financial Aid but Binghamton just raised the tuition again for the 2nd year and it's going to mess up the financial aid a bit.

Thankfully, by the time that takes place (Fall 201) I'll be at the college I want to transfer.

[The OP]

Oh hell yes. I'd like to go back and finish college, but I already have unpaid loans that I can't afford and I'm afraid I'll bury myself in debt. On the other hand, I'm afraid that if I don't go back I might never have the kind of job that will help me climb out of the financial hole I'm already in. I feel like I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.