College Tuition Rising

[Dr.Vendetta]

I tired doing research on the topic, but I cant find a whole lot on the actual reason why tuition is increasing so much. As a person who is about to go to college, I am fairly concerned about the price. Some of the prices I have seen, especially for private colleges, have been seemingly ridiculous. Can anyway explain to me why they are so high?

[phoenix_fire]

I would posit that there is an increase in demand. More and more jobs are requiring a college education. Further, as colleges get bigger, scientific instrumentation becomes pricier, classrooms and facilities (stadiums, etc.) strive to keep up with tech upgrades, etc. the college's overhead increases. Colleges find themselves having to build new buildings and buy laser pointers, projectors, jumbotrons, campus-wide internet service, electron microscopes, usage credentials for expensive software and online research libraries, clean rooms, etc. and they pass the cost along to you. Then there is the cost of scholarships. Scholarships help decent schools compete for good students. Many schools have obscene football scholarships. My school has obscene chess scholarships. The final reason is "because they can". They're like hurricane price gougers.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Dr.Vendetta I tired doing research on the topic, but I cant find a whole lot on the actual reason why tuition is increasing so much. As a person who is about to go to college, I am fairly concerned about the price. Some of the prices I have seen, especially for private colleges, have been seemingly ridiculous. Can anyway explain to me why they are so high?

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this source but if it is accurate then the rate at which college tuition is increasing is actually decreasing.

College Tuition Over Time - Swivel

I downloaded the CSV they have for the last 30 years of data and ran the percent increase for the decades 1977-1987, 1987-1997, and 1997-2007 for the category "Private 4-Year College."

1977-1987 was a 37.5% increase in cost.
1987-1997 was a 37% increase in cost.
1997-2007 was a 32% increase in cost.

The retail inflation calculator here shows that if standard retail inflation is applied to the $9001 cost of "Private 4-Year College" tuition in 1977 you will end up with a 92% increase in cost by 1987.

Tom's Inflation Calculator

College seems expensive but in relation to everything else it actually isn't that bad.

My parents bought their house 20 years ago for $60,000. The neighborhood has gone to crap since then and the house would still easily sell for $200,000. A 230% increase in value in 20 years would mean that a young buyer would have to chuck out nearly half a million for the same house 20 years from now.

Get ready for nothing but sticker shock as you go to college and enter the work force. College is definitely one of the larger expenses you will incur but if you go the community college route the first two years, go to public university for the rest, work part time, and take out student loans for the remainder then you set yourself up for an easier time later on.

Oh, and don't spend all your cash on beer. :) Alcohol in education is counterproductive and the price of beer most likely follows the standard retail inflation rate, meaning that your college may cost 32% more ten years from now but your beer will cost 92% more.

[GHook93]

Quote by: Dr.Vendetta I tired doing research on the topic, but I cant find a whole lot on the actual reason why tuition is increasing so much. As a person who is about to go to college, I am fairly concerned about the price. Some of the prices I have seen, especially for private colleges, have been seemingly ridiculous. Can anyway explain to me why they are so high?

I got to law school. First semester I believe it was $900 a credit hour. 2 years later its $1,080. That is only 2 years. It has increased every semester.

[Chaossaber314]

It doesn't urk me so much that tuition in general is going up, but the fact that tuition in general is going up AND they keep doing this bullshit with hidden fees.

For instance, my uni has a policy that everyone has to live on campus for their first two years unless they can prove they're living with a parent or immediate relative.

So you have the initial housing fee. Well when you sign up to live in the dorms you're required to pay for a meal plan. The meal plans range from either all you can sh*t at the dorm cafeteria (I'm not being a smartass. I'm being quite literal in my use of "sh*t"), to our University Center which has things like Chick-Fil-A but you can't exceed $4.50 for a meal. Every meal at the University Center costs well over $4.50 and particularly combos, like one would get for an actual meal. So in addition to the number of meals you pay for you're allocated "Red Bucks". These are somewhat multipurpose in that you can use them in the UC or you can use them in the Mini-Starbucks next door, but god forbid you use them in the bookstore...

Anyway, the point I'm getting at is that in order to eat any food that won't shoot through your digestive track in an hour, you end up milking into your Red Bucks while wasting meals at the same time.

Then they start the increasingly fun business of dictating when you can use your alloted meals that you paid for.

Say I go through the line once and use my meal on $3.00 of food at lunch time. That counts as my meal for the lunch time period. I am unable to go back through the line and use another meal that I skipped (say breakfast or another lunch when I was busy) to get a few sodas or something to bring back to my dorm room.

On top of this, they begin having inconsistent hours. The dorm cafeteria would close constantly. 3 weekends out of 4 it would be inexplicably closed and not open at the alloted times.

The University Center was even worse. Each individual store would close randomly set aside from each other. Some days certain mini-restaurants wouldn't open at all.

...and none of this would be a problem if you weren't required to live on campus. AND this is only the financial burdens associated with living in the dorms. I'm not even getting into the egregious loss of rights you suffer as a result of not owning a place but not technically or legally qualifying as a renter with renter's rights either.




Colleges have a lot to answer for prior to them jacking up their tuition. When they increase tuition additionally to all the other underhanded sh*t they pull, it's completely unacceptable.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 It doesn't urk me so much that tuition in general is going up, but the fact that tuition in general is going up AND they keep doing this bullshit with hidden fees. For instance, my uni has a policy that everyone has to live on campus for their first two years unless they can prove they're living with a parent or immediate relative.

Businesses seem to love hidden fees and expenses. I base this not on flat opinion but experience.
The "immediate relative" thing is nonsense.

Grandpa h.

[Chaossaber314]

Quote by: grandpa Businesses seem to love hidden fees and expenses. I base this not on flat opinion but experience. The "immediate relative" thing is nonsense. Grandpa h.

It's ridiculous. You end up paying more through these games than you're actually paying for the education itself.

[improvident]

Ive always said.. the only way to get money.. is to have money.. and the only way to have money.. is to borrow money..

College essentially is spending tons of money so that you may, after you graduate, enter the work force hopefully making more than 7 bucks an hour as you would without a college education.. However the amount of money you are forced to spend is absolutely ridiculous.

The local university around here isnt really that expensive.. (around 2k a semester as a full time student) I tried to get in for this spring semester but was unable because of financial aid technicalities from when i withdrew 2 years ago. ( but thats another story for another time) But my girlfriend is currently attending there, and because of the scholarships she received she was forced to live on campus for her 1st year which ends up costing her around 2500 dollars per school year. Around here 2500 a year is enough to rent a good apartment and if your not retarded about it pay all of your utility bills.

I stay in her dorm with her here and there on some weekends.. so i can personally vouch that the dorms are not worth 2500 per year.. they aren't worth 250 a year.. she shares a room.. the size of most apartment bed rooms with one other girl.. sleeps on a bed the size of a cot. hot showers in this place.. is only a dream its 10 seconds of hotish water for every 2 min of cold~lukewarm water.. and just recently i got a glass of water from her sink.. to drink mind you.. and i couldnt even see through the glass.. it was literally WHITE.. not cloudy.. but WHITE water.. all this a few weeks after a local news investigation on the new dorm facilities just completed not having enough hot water to suffice even half the dorm

Also the university cafeteria no longer serves food on washable plates and gives you actual silverware to eat with.. its all paper and plastic.. which is fitting considering the quality of food served there

And the kicker.. just 2 years ago the university built some extravagant clock tower in the middle of campus from donations given to the school by alumni.. a clock tower.. not new dorms.. with enough hot water for a student to take a comfortable shower.. not plates and spoons and knives and forks and cups and actual edible food for paying students.. not clean pipes so one can turn on the sink.. fill their cup.. and actually be able to see through the cup.. but a clock tower.. in memory of donating alumni.. who already get the tax write off for the donations they made..

So i ask.. what the hell are students paying for? To better tell time by the dongs of the clock tower? How to cope with crappy living conditions? Or for a quality education given by quality educators so that your hard work and hard earned money put forth into the university will someday pay off?

[Chancellor]

Quote by: Dr.Vendetta I tired doing research on the topic, but I cant find a whole lot on the actual reason why tuition is increasing so much. As a person who is about to go to college, I am fairly concerned about the price. Some of the prices I have seen, especially for private colleges, have been seemingly ridiculous. Can anyway explain to me why they are so high?

Because colleges and universities (or the state governments running the state ones) want to raise tuition.

[Chaossaber314]

Quote by: Improvident So i ask.. what the hell are students paying for? To better tell time by the dongs of the clock tower? How to cope with crappy living conditions? Or for a quality education given by quality educators so that your hard work and hard earned money put forth into the university will someday pay off?

And that's not even getting into all the rights you give up as a dorm resident.

I just got appointed to our judicial board so I have an interesting perspective on this.

Lost Rights in the Dorm:
1.) The right to unreasonable search and seizure

RA's and other Dorm officials can enter your room without probable cause or even reasonable suspicion of wrong doing. The only thing they're not allowed to do is open boxes or other types of containers / mini-fridges but I've never seen that stop them.

2.) Right to Due process

The judicial process, at least at my school, is extremely skewed. If you get in trouble, you are sent a letter by a judicial assistant scheduling you for a meeting regarding your infraction. Typically, the first letter will tell you that you did not respond to an earlier letter that they never sent out to you, putting you at an immediate disadvantage and making you look either irresponsible or a smartass.

Then you go into the meeting with the Judicial Assistant. Their job is essentially to punish you or recommend that you have a hearing. Supposedly, this part of the process is supposed to get your side of the story to argue in favor of yourself or explain the actions brought about by an incident report submitted by a dorm / university official. However, I've never seen someone not get in trouble who didn't take the hearing.

So if you pick the hearing you start a waiting game sitting around wondering when they're going to decide to do it. The actual hearing process is downright laughable.

You sit behind a board of 3-9 students labeled "justices" whose only real qualifications are passing an interview and a sitting through a short one day seminar with such mentally and legally stimulating topics as "How to build a paper airplane" (no joke).

So the judicial assistant who supposedly had been there to hear your side, is now essentially the prosecutor for the school. They present an opening statement which typically is nothing more than re-reading or best case re-phrasing the incident report and then leaving it at that.

The accused student is then allowed to make their opening statement. This is where things get fun.

3.) The right to confront your accuser(s)

The judicial assistant is then allowed to ask you a series of questions (through the chief justice) and then every justice is allowed to question you directly.

Then the judicial assistant is allowed to call witnesses. Not once is the accused student allowed to directly question the witnesses, he has to phrase them in the third person to the board, and then the chief justice either repeats what you just asked, or simply looks at the witness expecting their response. If you even start to phrase a question in the first person they will stop you and require you to rephrase it.

"What did you see on that night?"

will be forced to become

"What did he see on that night?"

This slows everything down and prevents you from following any coherent progression of questions

Then the accused student is allowed to call their witnesses, which the process of even getting them admitted is overly difficult in and of itself.

While all of this is going on, they have a university official recording the entire incident. It is not uncommon for the recording to glitch up if the accused student makes a good point or gets one of the prosecution's witnesses to say something they didn't like.

Finally they kick out every one in the room but the justices who supposedly deliberate on the testimony. The atmosphere of the group is highly pompous and they immediately assume guilt.

I once heard a justice ask the judicial assistant prior to a hearing who "our witnesses" were, completely negating any objectivity needed in the role of a judge.

Then these justices are given access to the student's past judicial record before making their final decision. They actually have the authority to expel students.

The only recourse is the Dean of Students who is typically stubbornly defensive of the Judicial process since it reflects badly on her if she overturns a ruling.

The only recourse above her is the President of the University and good luck getting an audience with him.

[Dr.Vendetta]

Well, none of these descriptions sound very positive. I am definitely going to college. I'm guessing that it isn't like this for all colleges. Is it cheaper to live off of campus if I am not obligated to live in a dorm? And can anyone tell me if it is worth it to live on campus and have a job working for the college/university?

[Chaossaber314]

You don't have to live on campus to work on campus.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Dr.Vendetta Well, none of these descriptions sound very positive. I am definitely going to college. I'm guessing that it isn't like this for all colleges. Is it cheaper to live off of campus if I am not obligated to live in a dorm? And can anyone tell me if it is worth it to live on campus and have a job working for the college/university?

Many 4-year universities require that you live on campus for the first year or two. You may be able to get an exception to this of course.

If you go to a 2-year college and then transfer to a 4-year university then you have more living options open to you. Also, if you weren't so hot in high school but plan to buckle down in college then you can get a "community college transfer" scholarship to the university.

The cost of living on campus will always be drastically less than the cost of living on your own but if you pack enough renters into an off campus house then it can even out a bit.

Working for the university often has perks that make it worthwhile but working off campus will most likely net you more money. Working off campus would probably mean you would need a car unless the school is in a more urban area and has good public transportation.

I had great experiences with all my schooling. Things are often expensive but you know that going into it and if you plan appropriately it is no big deal. Colleges are like any big institution and they have things that are annoying and that don't make any sense but don't let it get to you. That's just a part of everyday living for all of us.

[Chaossaber314]

The cost of living on campus will always be drastically less than the cost of living on your own but if you pack enough renters into an off campus house then it can even out a bit.

I disagree with this statement completely.

I paid $425 a month living in a nice 2 bed 2 bath apartment. Paying for 12 months it was actually 4k cheaper than living in a mediocre one room dorm with a roommate with a shared bathroom for even more people. Moving into a crappy apartment saves you even more.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 I disagree with this statement completely. I paid $425 a month living in a nice 2 bed 2 bath apartment. Paying for 12 months it was actually 4k cheaper than living in a mediocre one room dorm with a roommate with a shared bathroom for even more people. Moving into a crappy apartment saves you even more.

What year was this and what university? In 1998 I paid $325/month to live in my off campus apartment in central Illinois. That didn't include any utilities. It looks like the same apartment complex units are going for $600/month today.

A Google search said that the average cost for room and board at a public school was $6500/year in 2006. Average for private was $7800/year.

You are not accounting for the other expenses of living off campus though. In addition to rent you have utilities, renter's insurance, transportation (if needed), and the biggee - the Board part.

It would save quite a bit of money to be housed and fed on campus but you also sacrifice any comfortable aspect of living to do so.

[Chaossaber314]

What year was this and what university? In 1998 I paid $325/month to live in my off campus apartment in central Illinois. That didn't include any utilities. It looks like the same apartment complex units are going for $600/month today.

Just last year. Though I should have mentioned that I was living with a roommate but that we had individual leases... so when he graduated I had the whole place to myself since they couldn't find anyone spur of the moment in the middle of the year.

Though I think it's fair to add that in a lot of apartments on college towns Utilities are included in the rent. The only one I had to pay for while I was living at the apartment in this example was electric. I've lived at others where all I've had to pay for was internet.

A Google search said that the average cost for room and board at a public school was $6500/year in 2006. Average for private was $7800/year.

But that already isn't an accurate figure because very few people are allowed to live on campus for a full year. The most is really 8 months, if they mean by school year. Anyone like foreign students and the like have to pay extra that I can guarantee is more than this average.

Anyway, my point was that in order to look at this realistically you have to take your 325 /month fee and multiply it by 8, not 12.

325/month = 2600

The difference from the lower figure is 3900. Utilities just don't cost that much.

Hell, let's look at my current place.

550 / month 4400
20 / month - internet 160
10 / month - garbage 80
roughly 80 / month - electrical 640

5280

So provided I didn't even have a roommate and was simply paying for the entire place myself, I would still be saving more money than living on campus.

[Muckraker]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 But that already isn't an accurate figure because very few people are allowed to live on campus for a full year. The most is really 8 months, if they mean by school year. Anyone like foreign students and the like have to pay extra that I can guarantee is more than this average.

That makes sense and I would agree that the $6500 average is probably per school year. Although this adds an additional wrench into the plan. If you do plan on going home for the summer then you are most likely stuck in a year lease and will be paying 12 months on the apartment even if you aren't living there. At least that is how it was with my apartment. It was leased by the year and I just ended up living there all year and going to summer school so I could make use of the lease. You could always find someone to sublet to if needed but that could be a pain too.

Anyway, my point was that in order to look at this realistically you have to take your 325 /month fee and multiply it by 8, not 12.

That $325 price was from ten years ago. People would probably commit murder to secure a $325/month two bedroom apartment today :)

Hell, let's look at my current place. 550 / month 4400 20 / month - internet 160 10 / month - garbage 80 roughly 80 / month - electrical 640 5280 So provided I didn't even have a roommate and was simply paying for the entire place myself, I would still be saving more money than living on campus.

Except you still haven't factored in the monthly cost of food, which is included in the college's room and board figures.



AND, another big item that would probably play more of a role for the parents if they are helping out with his/her education at all is that the room and board should be tax deductable whereas paying for an off campus apartment and a year of McDonald's isn't.

[Chaossaber314]

Quote by: Muckraker That makes sense and I would agree that the $6500 average is probably per school year. Although this adds an additional wrench into the plan. If you do plan on going home for the summer then you are most likely stuck in a year lease and will be paying 12 months on the apartment even if you aren't living there. At least that is how it was with my apartment. It was leased by the year and I just ended up living there all year and going to summer school so I could make use of the lease. You could always find someone to sublet to if needed but that could be a pain too.

That's a good point, but at least you have the option of what to do with the place you're paying for. In a dorm, you're flat kicked out at the end of the school year.

That $325 price was from ten years ago. People would probably commit murder to secure a $325/month two bedroom apartment today :)

Maybe, but as I showed with the Duplex it still doesn't change things that much.

Except you still haven't factored in the monthly cost of food, which is included in the college's room and board figures.

Well as I already sort of dived into, not so much. You're prevented from actually using the bulk of the money you pay for food ON food. Additionally, most college provided food is subpar (I would say not edible in many cases) and continual exposure tends to make people sick. You still have to pay for outside food in order to balance everything out, and you have to figure in the many occurrences when food services simply aren't available.

In the end you break about even between living on campus and living off financially. The only difference is that you have greater control over what you eat off campus. It's also typically 7 million % better for you. LOL.

AND, another big item that would probably play more of a role for the parents if they are helping out with his/her education at all is that the room and board should be tax deductable whereas paying for an off campus apartment and a year of McDonald's isn't.

But it isn't always.

The tax incentives that are typically there are general in the sense that they're for parents paying for college period, not only for parents paying for on campus housing.

If we continue using this logic regarding tax incentives as a reason to stay on campus Universities should drastically raise tuition and board so that parents could better benefit in breaks later...

...logic which I think falls flat.

[grandpa]

Quote by: Chaossaber314 It's ridiculous. You end up paying more through these games than you're actually paying for the education itself.

It is ridiculous, and for an update about it all you probably have to do is look at your local university. Universities should be up front about their own credentials, however, in a capitalist society, cost should be among them. If it costs a ridiculous amount, they should openly admit it in their advertising and public relations stunts.

Grandpa h.

[Dr.Vendetta]

Ok, I have another question about trying to save money for college. Right now, I am taking as many college level classes as I can because they are free when I take them at the high school. Now, should I take these classes again in college, or are the classes I am taking now sufficient? I really want to try to save as much money as possible, but at the same time, I don't want to go to college not knowing all that I should. Any advice?