Why college costs so much

New York Post ^ | 05/26/2013

[SeekAndFind]

Former Education Secretary William Bennett sums up a big part of the problem in a new book titled

[Rusty0604]

All college employees get good wages, health insurance, and very good pensions which they will not “sacrifice” at all, so it’s raise the tuition and let the students borrow money to pay for it.

[cynwoody]

Richard Vedder, an economist at Ohio State who runs the Center for College Affordability & Productivity, notes that tuition costs are much like health-care costs — both are rising because third parties pay the bills.

[napscoordinator]

College is a monopoly that sells useless product for an extremely high price. I honestly believe that a majority of the kids who go would be better off not going.

I blame the businesses for the increase in the need to go to college. Many jobs out there do not need a college degree to perform them but they for some reason insist on a bachelor’s degree to even apply for the job. The businesses are 100 percent of the problem.

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

They price gouge and they get away with it because they’re run by liberals. For example here in New York city, NYU - a college which is as leftist as it gets, is *the* largest real estate owners in the entire NYC area. And what do they do with all that real estate? Jack up the rents as high as it can go destroying small businesses which is why high end fashion stores are sprouting up all over that area around NYU, Greenwich Village, Soho, even Little Italy which almost cancelled their 87 year old San Gennaro festival last year because the high end fashion stores on Mulberry street said the smoke from the street cooking would destroy their fashionable clothes. Capitalism is evil but only if right wingers make money.

[Still Thinking]

It's Big College. They just want to bilk the little man and line their own pockets. [/lib mode]

BUT....since they're butt buddies with the Marxist tyrant class, you never hear statements like the one I started with. You can bilk the little man all you want as long as you work to advance tyranny.

[central_va]

Griggs vs. Duke Power.

This is why college is a filter/gateway to employment, blame the SCOTUS.

[dhs12345]

There are ways to reduce the cost such as not living on campus, going to an affiliate university campus, get the first couple of years of transferable credits at a community college.

“Campus life” is ridiculously expensive and unnecessary IMO. Besides, it can be distracting and interfere.

AND oh by the way, you are there to develop skills for a career and later a decent paying job. A degree in Women's Studies, though probably nice and very interesting, is not going to get a you a job.

[dhs12345]

There are ways to reduce the cost such as not living on campus, going to an affiliate university campus, get the first couple of years of transferable credits at a community college.

“Campus life” is ridiculously expensive and unnecessary IMO. Besides, it can be distracting and interfere.

AND oh by the way, you are there to develop skills for a career and later a decent paying job. A degree in Women's Studies, though probably nice and very interesting, is not going to get a you a job.

[lonestar]

They also figure what percentage of the incoming freshman class they will flunk out...I’ve been told.

[OldPossum]

College is a monopoly that sells useless product for an extremely high price. I honestly believe that a majority of the kids who go would be better off not going.

What's your level of education? Just curious.

[OldPossum]

I blame the businesses for the increase in the need to go to college. Many jobs out there do not need a college degree to perform them but they for some reason insist on a bachelor’s degree to even apply for the job.

A major part of the reason comes from the implications of the Griggs v. Duke Power decision of the Supreme Court in 1971. Essentially, the Court held that private companies could not test its employees for advancement in the company, particularly with regard to IQ tests. Subsequently, companies sought a proxy, i.e., the college diploma.

[OwenKellogg]

It also has to do with the remedial classes that have to be taken because of the public schools are not teaching prior to college.

---

Just wait until the school lunch program is extended to college kids.

[setha]

Many jobs out there do not need a college degree to perform them but they for some reason insist on a bachelor’s degree to even apply for the job.

Griggs vs Duke Power Co. as well as a lot of inertia come to mind when that is practiced. With that in mind, I'm not sure you can completely blame businesses for reacting in the way that they did.

I'm not saying that the practice is desirable(or optimal), but that the government has some blame in the matter as well.

[memyselfandi59]

Hillsdale would be more expensive than other private schools. But the opposite is true. Hillsdale’s tuition is $21,400 — a bargain for private schools.

Just looked on Hillsdale's site...here's the blurb about cost for this coming year:
Q: What is your tuition at Hillsdale?
A: Tuition for 2013-14 is $22,250. The annual cost is $31,890 which includes tuition, room, board, and general fees. Books and course fees are additional expenses.

So that's still approx. 128K for an education...I don't know if that can be called affordable, but it is less than other private schools.

Our kid did his undergrad at a CC, then State U, and his Masters at a private school...all was tuition free, and he lived at home, so he came out with no student debt.

There are ways to work within the system and not pay tuition. Lots of scholarships available or programs like dual credit, and state merit scholarships if you attend a state U. Grad school can be tuition free if you are a TA.

I can't imagine the payments these kids have to make on their student loands, they must be close to the a mortgage payment.

[informavoracious]

they do this because they know that loans are paying the bulk of the bill

And it's not just loans. The grants that allow "underprivileged" students to go to school for "free" and are paid for by the taxpayer keep increasing to cover rising tuition

[omega4179]

Its high because the free market is not allowed to determine tuition.

[memyselfandi59]

Pell Grants are means tested, so only low income families can take advantage of those, and there is no payback. But there’s lots of ways to finance your education without grants or loans.

In our state...If you use Dual Credit at a Community College while you’re in high school, it is tuition free and is paid for by the school funds that pay for public education. The same school funds that are part of our property tax bill and supports all the public schools, will pay tuition to the community college for a student who chooses to take classes at the local community college instead of at the high school

State merit scholarships in our state are paid for by the lottery. And they can only be used for in state schools. The original idea was to try to keep good students (qualification is determined by GPA and scores on SATs) in the state by offering them scholarships at state universities.

Grad school teaching assistants and graduate assistants get free tuition, and they are basically employees of the college (just not paid employees, it’s more of a barter system...there is a small stipend, but not much...the bulk of your pay for being a TA or GA is the free tuition.)

We know a young lady who decided she’d finance her education by using offered scholarships through private companies. So she applied to every scholarship available for her field of study through private companies. She actually made more money than school cost her by winning the scholarship competitions. It took lots of work to ferret out the scholarships and apply, but she accomplished her goal of paying her way through school without tuition coming from her parents, but rather from private companies.There are dozens of scholarships that are never awarded each year because no one takes the time to apply (usually involves submitting essays.)

[informavoracious]

Yes. My point was that the colleges can keep raising tuition because many students or their parents take out loans, and taxpayer-funded grants pay for the tuition increases of the "needy."

I went to community college for two years, then state for my bachelor's, and my employer paid for grad school through tuition reimbursement. I paid as I went and never took a loan.

[a fool in paradise]

If we mandate that everyone should pay for a college degree, then the price will necessarily drop. At least according to liberal mandates regarding car insurance and health insurance. < /sarc >

[a fool in paradise]

These schools each hold BILLIONS of dollars in interest/profit bearing trusts. The pricing is artificially high because it is not market or performance driven.