College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.

The New York Times ^ | 2008-12-03 | Tamar Lewin

[rabscuttle385]

The rising cost of college — even before the recession — threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans, according to the annual report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Over all, the report found, published college tuition and fees increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007, adjusted for inflation, while median family income rose 147 percent. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last decade, and students from lower-income families, on average, get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.

“If we go on this way for another 25 years, we won’t have an affordable system of higher education,” said Patrick M. Callan, president of the center, a nonpartisan organization that promotes access to higher education.

[rabscuttle385]

The leftist bastions in the old media are fading into irrelevance, and soon, their counterparts in academia will join them.

[4rcane]

those greedy colleges, charging insane prices

[thefactor]

live in a state with good state colleges. go to a state college. problem solved.

[goodnesswins]

BIG Education is charging TOO much....too bad....

[Digger]

We don’t need no stink’in institutions of lower learning.

[Tempest]

Move?! and wait for the residency requirements to kick in?! that’s how you freakin solve it?

[freespirited]

Every place I have lived, community college has been practically free.

[KoRn]

We need Universal College for All!!!

(we will never see the socialists propose that one)

[2ndDivisionVet]

Did someone cancel the G.I. Bill while I was asleep last night? Also, there’s a school in Missouri that just requires that you work: http://www.cofo.edu/unique.asp

[hoosierham]

Odd how the price of college soared the more government subsidies were poured into the mix;can you imagine a hard-working young student paying his college with ordinary jobs as many did in the first half of the century?

Just like government rent assistance simply drove up the prices for everyone.

[Richard Kimball]

State colleges are going up, too. The Community College where I teach has gone from 26 to 54 per semester hour (plus fees) in five years. Of course, we bought a horse ranch and are putting up a bell tower. Oh, and all the buildings have curved walls, cause the college president likes curved walls. We bought a restaurant for $300K to use for the president to have receptions.

If people quit going, they'll start lowering the fees, and do stuff to get more competitive.

[EyeGuy]

Higher education needs to be streamlined and made much more efficient so that students begin the core work on their chosen profession immediately out of high school.

-No sociology, art appreciation and Freshman English as requirements for all students.

A neurosurgeon could be properly and fully trained in six years after high school.

Easily.

[rabscuttle385]

can you imagine a hard-working young student paying his college with ordinary jobs as many did in the first half of the century?

Not any more.

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

can anyone here see this article is meant to advance onothing’s agenda for “civilian national volunteer service “or whatever it’s called so that all newbie lefties will start running out to participate in these eventual programs for their knockoff tuition or am I being stupid by commenting on this?

[April Lexington]

The leftist bastions in the old media are fading into irrelevance, and soon, their counterparts in academia will join them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This cannot happen soon enough. The Leftists of the 1960’s fully ensconced in tenured positions. Can't wait until they all die off and the 1900’s with them.

They live in the past.

[Tzimisce]

...but Obama promised to make college affordable for everyone.

I guess the fighting for “the people” entitles you to a big middle class salary eh? :D

[thefactor]

um, ok. the constitution says nothing of a college education. it's not a right. it's a privilege.

and if that means living somewhere for a year, then yes. but every state in the union has a state college system. take advantage.

not that they are great bargains either. but i know tons of people with no higher education that make an excellent living.

[Richard Kimball]

90% of what they teach in college is crap. I know, I work at one. Most of the freshman courses should be canned. Teachers think they need to have THEIR OWN lesson plans to teach freshman english. WTF are you going to say about Shakespeare that hasn’t already been said? 2/3rds of the liberal arts courses are spoiled people teaching “the world according to ME.”

[Tublecane]

“(we will never see the socialists propose that one)”

Huh? Haven’t they already?

For the most part, there ought to be an economic disincentive for entering higher education. If it trains you for a job, then you might as well have gone to a trade school or directly entered the workforce. If it makes you truly civilized, then you’ll almost certainly be a drag on the economic world, to whatever extent the civilization was successful.

[Pining_4_TX]

Actually they have proposed just that. The libs believe that everyone has a “right” to a college education. It’s insane. The entire US educational system is insane. If our transportation system had the same progress as our educational system, we would still be riding around on horses. What we need is to get government out of education completely and get some real innovation started. Then maybe young people would be prepared for a career without having to go to school until they are 30.