Why is college so expensive?

[Hereford]

The explosion in college costs (which started in the 80s) is intimately tied to the student loan industry.  It is a long and complicated story but, in brief, the easy access to student loans gave colleges (especially private colleges) a green light to raise prices up and up and up.

You can read more about it here http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/05/05/collinge

Bear in mind there are legitimate costs to running a university: building & maintenance, recruiting and keeping faculty, staff, supplies, utilities, health insurance, etc.  These costs never go away and they are constantly going up.  Have you ever balked at your electric or water bill?  Imagine what the electric or water bill is like for an entire dormitory (where almost no one pays attention to conservation).  Now, imagine what the cost is for an entire campus with dozens of buildings from dorms, to libraries, to administration buildings! 

Good stuff.  Yep.

Free-flowing credit (which is really all student loans are) does little in the big picture than make everything more expensive for everybody.

It's basic economics. If a uni has 10000 people who can pay 3K/semester, tuition will be 3K. If they then have 20000 people who can pay 3K, and 10000 of those (thanks to student aid) are willing to pay 6K, guess what.... College tuition just went up 50%.  And nothing got better from the product side.

[Deicide]

Good stuff.  Yep.

Free-flowing credit (which is really all student loans are) does little in the big picture than make everything more expensive for everybody.

It's basic economics. If a uni has 10000 people who can pay 3K/semester, tuition will be 3K. If they then have 20000 people who can pay 3K, and 10000 of those are willing to pay 15K, guess what.... College tuition just went up 50%.  And nothing got better from the product side.

QFM

[JOHN MATRIX]

Because college is a BUSINESS...it is NOT about education. Tuitions have been on a furious rise for years, because the mindset in america is if you don't have a college education you will not get a job. Colleges looked at that mindset and said....We can raise our tuition to the sky, becasue the FEAR is without us their will be no career. So up the tuitions went without regard to student or parents income and with no option but to pay in order to go, students and parent were left with no option but to take out loans against their homes, student loans, work longer hours and hopefully get scholarships....

EDUCATION SHOULD NOT BE A BUSINESS

EXACTLY 100%!!!!

i DESPISE universities...just like insurance companies, they are simply businesses that people have no choice but to use. they are in a position that few other businesses are; they are assured of a huge number of customers that will increase year after year. because of this they do not need to worry about things like service or raising prices; they are accountable to nothing but themselves. they can inconvenience their customers any way they want, be careless and ignorant on a multitude of levels, and simply extort as much money out of their customers as they want because they know that no matter what people will still have to go there, and will pay whatever they ask and endure whatever inconveniences and hardships their actions may cause.

it should be a crime how badly they are exploiting kids and the community as a whole, absolutely swindling them at every turn- yet they are still largely viewed as these positive, benevolent institutions.

[The True Adonis]

Can you guys comment on this exchange regarding this VERY subject on college costs that I had with Doug_Steele Today?


I`d like to know your opinions.


Here is the link.  You may also want to go back a page and see the entire thing:
http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=278783.msg3945683#msg3945683

[Soul Crusher]

EXACTLY 100%!!!!

i DESPISE universities...just like insurance companies, they are simply businesses that people have no choice but to use. they are in a position that few other businesses are; they are assured of a huge number of customers that will increase year after year. because of this they do not need to worry about things like service or raising prices; they are accountable to nothing but themselves. they can inconvenience their customers any way they want, be careless and ignorant on a multitude of levels, and simply extort as much money out of their customers as they want because they know that no matter what people will still have to go there, and will pay whatever they ask and endure whatever inconveniences and hardships their actions may cause.

it should be a crime how badly they are exploiting kids and the community as a whole, absolutely swindling them at every turn- yet they are still largely viewed as these positive, benevolent institutions.

Good post.  Another issue is the costs of books that are charged.  Another ripp off.

[JOHN MATRIX]

Good post.  Another issue is the costs of books that are charged.  Another ripp off.

yes the books are an absolute atrocity. this is one subject that really gets me deeply angry, i could literally write a thesis paper on the exploitation that universities inflict on kids.

[The True Adonis]

yes the books are an absolute atrocity. this is one subject that really gets me deeply angry, i could literally write a thesis paper on the exploitation that universities inflict on kids.

Parking Tickets REALLY boil my blood. 

[Deicide]

Parking Tickets REALLY boil my blood. 

[MB_722]

Nice try, but we already spend more per capita per student for education and more per capita per person for Healthcare.  That renders the population size irrelevant as implementing a Universal System in both is projected to lower the per capita cost from what we are paying.

Your argument is meaningless.

seriously dude you are fucked.

Deicide is spot on

[The True Adonis]

seriously dude you are fucked.

Deicide is spot on

Again,

We spend more per capita per student and more per capita per person on healthcare, thus the population argument is completely meaningless.

Is this concept too difficult to understand?  If so, I will help you understand it. Let me know.

[BayGBM]

Another reason for the rise in costs is ego; everyone is playing the prestige game: students want to go to an "elite" private college.  A quality education can be had for a fraction of the cost at a public university.  In fact, if you are looking for a good value, skip the private colleges entirely and go to a highly ranked state institution (preferably one in your own state).  Here in California, the better UC campuses are just as good (if not better) than the name brand private schools everyone is familiar with.  UNC, U. Mass, U. of Michigan, U. of Maryland, UVA, are all examples of excellent state schools.  You can find plenty of great affordable state schools using U.S. News college rankings.

Someone of modest means who is trying to avoid big loans should go to a good community college and then finish at the state university.  Right there you’ve saved a ton of money!

There are lots of kids out there with big student loans holding degrees from name brand and generic private colleges and no marketable skills.  It's ridiculous!  The student loan industry has run amok and is abusing millions of students.  Executives are getting rich and the lives of young people are being destroyed.  Look at these testimonials http://www.studentloanjustice.org/victims.htm   

Buying a Lexus is fine if you have money to burn.  But why waste money you do not have (and go deep into debt) when you can buy a Toyota and get the same quality?

[Hereford]

Aren't Lexus and Toyota the same thing?

[BayGBM]

Aren't Lexus and Toyota the same thing?

My point exactly!

By the way, Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) borrowers in default on their loans are published quarterly by law. You can see them all listed by name, discipline, state, amount due and school.  These borrowers have

--had one or more default claims paid by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS);
--been excluded from the Medicare program as a result of his or her HEAL default; and
--not had the Medicare exclusion stayed, or lifted, by the Office of Inspector General as a result of entering a settlement agreement.

You can see your local borrowers in default here http://www.defaulteddocs.dhhs.gov/state.asp   

Here is one guy picked at random:

Last Name:      Borden
First Name:      Mark
Middle Initial: G
Amount Due: $619,398
City:    Santa Barbara
State:    CA
School:    LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
Discipline:    Dentistry
City:    CHICAGO
State:    IL
Graduation/Separation:    5/15/1982

I can guarantee you that someone you know is buried under student loan debt they cannot pay.  And unlike other debt, student loan debt cannot be discharged via bankruptcy.  Even if you are old and infirm, they can and will garnish portions of your social security.  Virtually the only way to escape student loan debt is to die!

Assuming you are not independently wealthy, how the hell are you supposed to make your way in life with student loan debts that have spiraled to $619K?

Suddenly, G4P isn't looking so bad. 

[The True Adonis]

Aren't Lexus and Toyota the same thing?

A fact will remain  the same whether it is taught or learned in a high school, in prison or at Harvard.

[Fury]

Another reason for the rise in costs is ego; everyone is playing the prestige game: students want to go to an "elite" private college.  A quality education can be had for a fraction of the cost at a public university.  In fact, if you are looking for a good value, skip the private colleges entirely and go to a highly ranked state institution (preferably one in your own state).  Here in California, the better UC campuses are just as good (if not better) than the name brand private schools everyone is familiar with.  UNC, U. Mass, U. of Michigan, U. of Maryland, UVA, are all examples of excellent state schools.  You can find plenty of great affordable state schools using U.S. News college rankings.

Someone of modest means who is trying to avoid big loans should go to a good community college and then finish at the state university.  Right there you’ve saved a ton of money!

There are lots of kids out there with big student loans holding degrees from name brand and generic private colleges and no marketable skills.  It's ridiculous!  The student loan industry has run amok and is abusing millions of students.  Executives are getting rich and the lives of young people are being destroyed.  Look at these testimonials http://www.studentloanjustice.org/victims.htm   

Buying a Lexus is fine if you have money to burn.  But why waste money you do not have (and go deep into debt) when you can buy a Toyota and get the same quality?

Multiple studies have shown that after roughly 10 years, the average salaries of those with an Ivy League degree and those from somewhere else pretty much converge. It's only in the beginning that they're generally higher. That said, I'll be taking a class at a top private school this summer to finish a requirement and probably do grad school at a private college. Should be interesting to see the difference.

Either way, you don't do undergrad or grad school at a top private school for the knowledge. You go for the connections.

[The Master]

Multiple studies have shown that after roughly 10 years, the average salaries of those with an Ivy League degree and those from somewhere else pretty much converge. It's only in the beginning that they're generally higher. That said, I'll be taking a class at a top private school this summer to finish a requirement and probably do grad school at a private college. Should be interesting to see the difference.

Either way, you don't do undergrad or grad school at a top private school for the knowledge. You go for the connections.

Except if you're into stuff like mathematics and physics and you want to get access to the best training possible (which usually = at the best private institutions).

[Bindare_Dundat]

seriously dude you are fucked.

QFT

[Fury]

Except if you're into stuff like mathematics and physics and you want to get access to the best training possible (which usually = at the best private institutions).

True. If I could do it again I would major in math/physics and minor in computer science.

[The Master]

True. If I could do it again I would major in math/physics and minor in computer science.

Outstanding!

[JOHN MATRIX]

Parking Tickets REALLY boil my blood. 

the most angry ive ever been in my whole life was dealing with these people.

[Soul Crusher]

the most angry ive ever been in my whole life was dealing with these people.

The books thing is a complete scam. These kids are captive to these thieves. 

[JOHN MATRIX]

its not just books either. for students living on campus, especially with those without cars, all the campus stores where you buy food/groceries/supplies know they basically have a captive audience, therefore they sell groceries around 2-3 times the normal retail price.

[Soul Crusher]

its not just books either. for students living on campus, especially with those without cars, all the campus stores where you buy food/groceries/supplies know they basically have a captive audience, therefore they sell groceries around 2-3 times the normal retail price.

I probably a lot cheaper to live off campus and rent a huge house with other people, but then, what type of living is that?. 

[Deicide]

Except if you're into stuff like mathematics and physics and you want to get access to the best training possible (which usually = at the best private institutions).

With (post)graduate studies it is the department that matters which is often an independent thing in relation to the rest of the university.

[JOHN MATRIX]

I probably a lot cheaper to live off campus and rent a huge house with other people, but then, what type of living is that?. 

alot of universities require first-year students live on campus. where you will pay an exhorbitant amount for a one-room hole to share with another human.