Posted on 01/18/2009 10:34:57 AM PST by Graybeard58
Ever since my son was a tot, I have squirreled away as much as I could muster for his college education.
Education is a priority in our family, but every year that goes by, it becomes clearer that nothing I could ever amass will dent what it will cost to send him to college. Despite his desire, college may be out of the question for him — and for anybody else earning less than an auto executive's salary.
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reported recently that the rising cost of education has put it virtually out-of-reach for most Americans. By the time my son, 7, is college age, he may take his place among the first American generation to be less educated than its parents.
Indeed, that has already happened. We have fewer college-age kids enrolled in college than six other industrialized countries and even fewer American kids complete their degree. The kids in Japan, Ireland, Korea and France far outrank us in college completion rates. Why? Did you ever talk to an American high school graduate and compare it to the conversation you have with a European? It's like the difference between David Frost and Maury Povich.
Today's 25- to 34-year-olds are actually less educated than their Baby Boomer elders. Only 39 percent of adults 25 to 34 hold an associate's degree or higher in the U.S. Compare that to Canada, where the figure is 55 percent, or Korea, where the figure is 53 percent.
That's because while median family income has risen 147 percent from 1982 to 2007 in the U.S., the cost of college tuition and fees has soared 439 percent. How can anyone possibly afford that? They can't. Student borrowing has doubled in the last 10 years and the percent of a family's income it eats up is bigger than ever. A private, four-year institution will devour 76 percent of the income of a median American family.
"The middle class has been financing [college education] through debt," Patrick M.Callahan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, told The New York Times. "The scenario has been that families that have a history of sending kids to college will do whatever it takes, even if that means a huge amount of debt."
In Connecticut, for instance, we do a great job at preparing our kids for college — as long as they're rich. This state has the ignoble distinction of having the widest achievement gaps between rich and poor than any other state in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Education. So we get an "A" for preparing kids for school and an "F" for making it affordable, which is a bit like teaching a kid to ride a bike, and then not giving him one to ride on.
This might be merely onerous if the whole value of a college degree hadn't become so dubious.
Sure, all kinds of reports will tell you how much difference a college degree makes in terms of how much salary its recipients command, but, again, talk to some of these students and they'll make your eyebrows curl.
One study reported that less than half of college seniors knew that Yorktown was the battle that ended the American Revolution. A similar number could name the reason NATO was formed.
Not long ago, a college professor friend of mine wrote me about trying to prepare his students for a mid-term exam, which would rely heavily on the readings he assigned. "I've never really liked reading," one of his students sniffed. "I don't see the point in it." She added that she didn't think it was "fair" that, at the college level, her professor placed such an emphasis on reading.
Yes, the world is a cruel place.
Nobody who's visited a college dorm lately can deny that the place has been spruced up. In my day, the places looked like Soviet-era gymnasiums. Now they look like suites at the Doubletree. And the potentates presiding over these glittering dominions receive a king's ransom.
In November, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that presidents at 12 private universities pulled down more than $1 million last year. (So embarrassed were several college presidents over their income that they actually gave back some of their salaries after the report came out.)
If this country believes, as Thomas Jefferson did, that education is the great equalizer, it needs to pull the plug on fripperies and sinecures and start doing a better job at teaching its kids.
Because at this price, it just isn't worth it.
Reach Tracey O'Shaughnessy at tosh@rep-am.com.
I understand what you’re saying. What I try to do is ask a question and see if anyone answers it. If not, I might call on a student to see what they have to say. Many times students will know the answer, but aren’t motivated to speak up. Or you have the same people answering the question over and over. I think continually picking on one student who clearly doesn’t know what was going on would constitute humiliation. That’s not what I do—I try to spread the questions around. Do some students resent it? Probably. But I really don’t think a lot of the passive learning model. If a student is tired of not know the answer, maybe they should start to read the material? Ultimtely, I’m there to teach them, not stoke their self esteem.
What you’re doing sounds within reason. Perhaps you should try pop quizzes, though. Those will get your students’ attention really fast.
“College is only as expensive as this article says if you want to go to an expensive private college”
Or an out of state, state university.
My eldest is set on attending Penn State. Probably because my husband and I are alums and the kids have been to the Univesrity Park campus often. Plus, we’re huge pro Penn Staters. It’s her first choice, and she’s been accepted. Now, since we’re out of state, it’s approximately $35,000/yr. When he and I attended, we were in state. It was a whole lot more inexpensive back then. On his side, he got a full ride for Engineering (but that didn’t include room/board/fees costs).
What I’ve learned this year, spending many hours on various college sites, checking out various private and public scholarships, private colleges give more scholarship money, more financial aid, etc.
Now, my eldest will probably get a full ride (meaning tuition) since she’s an A student, female accepted into the college of engineering and they’re still trying to meet that quota thing, lucky she’s a girl...but, we haven’t seen the numbers yet so until then, even though Penn State is her first choice, she may not attend.
College is expensive. Unless one is in the “special” class: minority, illegal, poor. College costs, for the middle class, has skyrocketed.
So true. And my kids, well the teens, work at a job. They have since they were 15. They couldn’t possibly save tuition costs.
I have no idea how we’ll help pay for her and her 3 sisters college educations. All I know is we will help, do what we can, help as much as we can, financially. Our two teens have been working since they were 15. They’ll continue to work during college, just as my husband and I worked through college and high school and prior.
The average middle class family is finding that college costs are out of reach. My parents were able to financially help, and in some cases pay just about all college costs. And this was the generation that just about graduated high school and didn’t attend college. Now their kids, me, are trying to give the same to our kids. With college tuition at an astronomical high, it’s near impossible for the middle class. We look at it the same way we look at our kids being able to afford what we have now...our kids (meaning mine) most likely won’t be able to live the way we do now, the way they grew up.
I was able to have a better life than my parents...the American Dream, that they realized and made possible for their kids. My kids probably won’t be able to live better than us...they probably won’t be able to live as well as we do.
*’perfesser’ ping*
Being valedictorian is great within the context of the given school. The SAT measures against a standardized reference to give admissions officers a good reference. Getting that "heads up" before jumping into the frying pan can save a lot of pain and expense.
Motivation and tenacity are critical to success. It sucks to discover you are behind the curve, but you can catch up. I transferred from the high school band to chemistry in my "sophomore" year of high school. It was 9 weeks into the school year. Everyone else in the class was a junior or senior. My dad insisted that I read the text cover to cover and do all the "problems" at the end of each chapter. That took 3 1/2 weeks. It was an easy A at that point. I was already an Eagle Scout at that time, so I was well acquainted with what it takes to succeed.
Congrats on your achievement.
I agree with everything in your post.
I bitch/complain about college costs today because I have 4 kids I want to help attend college. And the fact is, college costs for the working middle class, those with no special preferences, are screwed. I probably should be thankful that my eldest is a female intending to major in engineering since there’s still a quota not met in that field. Many colleges are still heavily recruiting females for engineering. I have no doubt she’ll get a full scholarship (tuition) and possibly a merit scholarship for books or fees. Until I see those numbers on paper, I’m still going to worry how we’ll help her pay.
My husband works with a guy who never went to college and he pulls a salary more than any in their group. However, if he were applying for the job today, his app would be tossed in the trash. That’s the reality.
I was a Journalism major and everyone in the school had to take and hated Media Law. The central reason was that you had to read. He would call on people every day. Also he gave a quiz every day that was open note and he gave study questions for each day. Really it was an easy class if you did the reading and answered the study questions before class, unfortunately most people don’t want to.
Depending on what state you are in I would recommend Oklahoma State to a lot of people on here. In some cases it is cheaper paying out of state tuition than it would be to pay in-state (a friend told me this about Pennsylvania specifically). Also, it is Oklahoma so it is going to be more conservative than most places.
10K to a state university?
Check out the current cost to Rutgers, for one year, in state. $21,500 or so. Commuter, $9,268 not including fees, travel costs, etc.
Very expensive, especially considering where Camden Rutgers, one of their branch campuses, is located. I consider that extremely expensive, especially since it’s Rutgers.
Living on campus for California State is 13K.
Live at home and commute.
If you want to go go and find away.
Thousands of people do it and are fine. It is hard but can be done.
I am just getting sick of people whining about every flipping thing.
The problem with pop quizzes is that its an invitation to fail. This particular class is a general education class. As a result, you typically have to bend over backwards to get kids to pass. Even when quizzes are announced, the results are pretty dismal.
Teaching is a lot closer to an art than a science. There is no magic wand you can wave to keep everyone happy and engaged. Some profs like to keep everyone happy by handing out As like candy. They get great evals, but not sure their students learn much.
I can understand that. I get tired of people whining about every freakin’ thing too.
California seems to have an awesome college set up. If we lived in CA, that would be great. But we don’t.
I also think if one wants to attend college, one will find a way. It’s hard but it’s possible.
We’ve put some money aside for college, not a lot but some, certainly not anything near one year’s tution for all four kids.
I think what some of us, or at least me, complain about is we’re not the right color or ethnicity or legal status, so we don’t get all those special scholarships, etc.
Now, I have a daughter who is planning on majoring in engineering...if she were a boy, even with her gpa, SAT scores, competitive athletics, various clubs, NHS, etc., she’d get less financially than what she’s going to get just because she’s a girl majoring in engineering.
Life is tough for everyone. It’s especially tough for those of us who pay their own way.
My daughter’s SATs in math were really high, as well as AP math and science in high school. Colleges were falling all over themselves trying to give her money for math/science/engineering.
I am surprised your daughter isn’t getting scholarships/grants for engineering.
(No, she went to a small private Christian College and majored in Religious Studies, although she still got lots of scholarships and grants...thank the Lord.)
Out of the way
Oh, no. She’s getting the scholarship offers. That’s not in question. Just waiting to see the bottom line, money wise, for Penn State which is her first choice.
But it’s naive to think college name means nothing because in some areas it means everything. For example, Rennsalear (another school recruiting my kid but hasn’t offered enough money yet), Penn State, Rutgers, and Rowan, which school carries enough prestige in engineering to make it to the top of the list when applying for a job in engineering? The resume with Rennsalear on it will surpass any with the other 3. Then Penn State. It’s a toss up between Rutgers and Rowan. Or someone with a degree from MIT has a better shot at a job than those with degrees from other schools.
And when discussing college costs, they’re astronomical compared to 2 decades ago. I think it’s also naive to pretend that those able to check certain boxes on the app don’t have the advantage, because today they do have an advantage. Just as my kid, a girl, has an advantage over a boy with the same gpa, SAT scores, etc. If it were between her and a boy competing for the same spot (in a college of engineering program) she’d have the advantage due to her sex.
In fact, we had to fix a couple of slow-flowing sinks recently and the plumber came from Russia. He spoke almost accent-free English and told me that there's always business for plumbers, even when certain business closes because they need plumbers to make sure all the water is properly shut off and all the plumbing is in order for the next client that takes over the business site.
IIRC, only 52% that attend college graduate. I think a lot of those that don't graduate would have been better served going into the trades.
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