Cost of College
By bobmnu
@bobmnu (8157)
United States
March 27, 2007 10:16am CST
It was mentioned on the radio that the cost of college is rising faster than Health Insurance and Health Care Costs. I think that part of the increase is that Colleges are paying professors to take a leave to study and write. The professor writes a text book while being paid by the College and then requires his students to purchase the book for his classes. The professor is being paid twice for the book, once to write it and once in royalities he/she receives each time the book is sold.
Another reason is that students are encourage to take 12 credits per semester to start and slowly increase the number. If you devide 136 credits, required for a BS degree, by 12 you will see that you would have to go 6 years to complete the degree. If you take 12 a semester your freshman year and 18 credits a semster until you graduate you would be in school for a total of 4.5 years.
When you look at all the extra services that the colleges are offering and requiring students to paqrticipate in. One example is to have all Freshmenread a certain book and discuss it in classwhenthe professors have not even heard of the book.
One final thought is that with the increase in State and Federal Financial Aid the costs of college has gone up and required moer people to process the forms. My daughter was in a class and the students were talking about working and she was working three jobs and receiving no financial aid. She was said to be wealthy and could afford to pay. At the time my wife and I were making right around, $100,000, combined. Our tax bill, (state, federal, real Estate and Social Security) was about $35,000. Between my house, retirement and some savings we were making too much money to qualify for any financial aid. I knew a small business man and a farmer who were making better money than I was yet their children were getting a free ride to school and I was paying for their children too. I have noticed that ss fiancial aid goes up by 5% the cost of college goes up by 9%. This is another reason costs have increased, more government money if your costs go up.
What do you think is driving up the cost of colleges and what can be done about it?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
27 Mar 07
Well, you have pretty much nailed it in general as to the costs going up. What can be done about it?
The market place is going to solve the problem. More and more people are finding it is not economically feasible to go to college unless it is in prepration for a specific field that requires a degree. Future engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and etc will still go to college in the future.
Others, who just want a degree and then a general job in some company are going to stop going to college because of the cost. Business will still find qualified people no matter what. Colleges, if they want to keep students, will get their costs under control. This is the way things work. Charge too much, lose your customers (students).
@aso322 (75)
• United States
27 Mar 07
I think it will be a slow process if and when colleges start losing students. It seems to me that the pressure on people to go to college is higher than ever. I, personally, was taught in school that I would go nowhere if I didn't further my education after high school. I'm not saying I agree with it or that it's right, but a lot of schools and families are stressing to students the importance of a college education, to the point where they will go no matter what the cost and how many loans they need to take out.
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
27 Mar 07
Yes, the propaganda to go to college is intense. It will be awhile before the number of students begins to drop off. However, either colleges start offering a better deal for the money and time spent attending or the number of students will drop off.
@cyberfluf (4996)
• Netherlands
6 Jul 08
In the Netherlands cost of college are rising aswell. The cost of one year higher education (college cost only, no books or readers or anything) is 1513 euros per year. This will be raised yearly until it's over 2000 euros are the plans of our ministers. It only raises slight each year so you are tricked into thinking it's not that bad. 1513 euros is about 2375 USD. Books are about 700 euros per year (which is about 1100 USD), so it adds up to 3475 USD before the college cost is even raised. Otherwise you can start adding up again....
$12.000 for a complete higher education in 4 years is what we are heading too, or even more that is. Less and less people will be able to afford it and once again learning will only be possible for kids from wealthier homes, who get scolarships because they have great talent or the ones who take a chance and take on heavy loanes (and some of those will only end up miserable and the rest of their live trying to pay of their big loan).
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
27 Mar 07
I would think that we can be sure that kids get a better education in high school so that they are ready to carry a full load in college, they would also then be able to get rid of those 99 level courses and so much of the support services. It is one thing if a kid has a learning disability to require additional support, but most kids getting out of high school can not write a decent sentence.
We can stop book publishers from publish a new book every year or two...face it algebra does not change all that much. A new cover and re-arranging chapters does not justify the cost of buying new books vs used.
I have taken college classes where i have had no background in the field, many of the students had at least a year in the same subject in high school, yet, after being out of high school for over 30 years, I was able to Ace the class and many of them failed or dropped the class.
You are right about the professor writing the book and what is worse, then so many of the profs get tenure, and the don't teach. Instead graduate studens teach. And anyone who teaches should have a mastery of the language they are teaching in. I have taken courses and dropped them, because I could not understand the 'English' that was spoken by the grad student who was from another country.
We can fully utilize the buildings, it amazes me when I go to a class and so many of the classrooms are standing empty....Use them!
I never planned on financial aid for my son, and then he did not go on to college so I was lucky there.
@bobmnu (8157)
• United States
27 Mar 07
My brother married a lady from Russia and she has two children and the younger boy is getting almost all A & B in High School because he said it is a reivew of elementary school. If we are going to compete in the global world our children need to be challenged early on and often or we will find ourselves a country of people who feel good about being dumb.
