Why college/university is so expensive in the USA

[jtbell]

Here's one reason:

Dorms go extreme to lure students (cnn.com)

Exactly forty years ago this fall, my first dorm room as a freshman was about 15x8 feet, shared with another student. Along one wall were our desks, clothes closets and dressers/mirrors. Along the other wall were two single beds which doubled as sofas, with backrests along the wall. We pulled the beds out at night, and pushed them back towards the wall during the day. The bathroom was down the hall, and the washing machines were in the basement.

Neither of us had a TV or even a stereo. No refrigerator.

 

[KrisOhn]

Here's one reason:

Dorms go extreme to lure students (cnn.com)

Exactly forty years ago this fall, my first dorm room as a freshman was about 15x8 feet, shared with another student. Along one wall were our desks, clothes closets and dressers/mirrors. Along the other wall were two single beds which doubled as sofas, with backrests along the wall. We pulled the beds out at night, and pushed them back towards the wall during the day. The bathroom was down the hall, and the washing machines were in the basement.

Neither of us had a TV or even a stereo. No refrigerator.

Your experience 40 years ago was exactly my experience 2 years ago during first year when I lived with a roommate. It was still expensive.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

My daughter has a private bedroom, bath, kitchen, den and living room. All meals and transportation. I have no idea how she pays for it.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I'm surprised that anyone lives in the dorms considering that they are more expensive than an apartment with a roomate. Plus you probably have to obey the University rules or something I imagine. I've never lived in one personally. A few years ago my ex-girlfriends cousin came to live with us for about a month while she got settled at a university where we lived. She could have stayed with us for free, but all of her friends were staying in the dorms!

 

[phinds]

Here's one reason:

Dorms go extreme to lure students (cnn.com)

Exactly forty years ago this fall, my first dorm room as a freshman was about 15x8 feet, shared with another student. Along one wall were our desks, clothes closets and dressers/mirrors. Along the other wall were two single beds which doubled as sofas, with backrests along the wall. We pulled the beds out at night, and pushed them back towards the wall during the day. The bathroom was down the hall, and the washing machines were in the basement.

Neither of us had a TV or even a stereo. No refrigerator.

You had BACKRESTS? And a washing machine in the SAME BUILDING? I would have been jealous. Other than those, mine was identical.

 

[phoenix:\\]

My daughter has a private bedroom, bath, kitchen, den and living room. All meals and transportation. I have no idea how she pays for it.

It's factored into the overall tuition.

But, I never lived in dorms and that takes away from tuition expenses. But it'd be a $10k difference which someone could use to live in $1200k/month loft right in the heart of the city and more spacious, etc... Kids are obviously being swindled.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Kids are obviously being swindled.

Definitely cheaper to live off campus, plus you can retain your rights as an adult (which might be good or bad). I tend to think that the dorms are places where students parents can send their kids away for college and have some sort of peace of mind that there will be alcohol restrictions and curfews. Not that this is always the case.

 

[diazona]

Depends on the college, it's not always cheaper to live off campus. Plus AFAIK many colleges have rules requiring that all freshmen (and sometimes sophomores as well) have to live on campus.

 

[gravenewworld]

I posted this fantastic article before. Give it a read. It goes beyond expensive country club type dorms. What funds those projects anyway? Where there is money to be made you can bet your butt wall street is there fixing the game to make as much money as possible, education is no exception.

http://nplusonemag.com/bad-education


I really wish law makers or the justice department would investigate universities to see what they are investing in. I highly suspect that universities invest a ton of money in student loans derivatives. Imo, it is a sickening display of greed and conflict of interest when universities have strong incentives to raise tuitions as much as possible in order to make as much money off a student as possible- once through tuition and fees and another profit off of a student's debt through investments in student loan derivatives. The fact that universities continue to raise prices at exorbitant rates of inflation is absolutely absurd especially as new grads face the worst recession and job market since the great depression coupled with the fact that middle class incomes have actually fallen since the 70s when adjusted for inflation. Unemployment rates for people aged 18-35 is absolutely staggering and well above the constantly quoted national unemployment rates. Kids these days are increasingly being asked to take on oppressive amounts of debt and for what? Terrible job prospects and 30 years of debt? Higher education in the US is on course for collapse, the bubble is only going to last for so long

 

[wukunlin]

Higher education in the US is on course for collapse, the bubble is only going to last for so long

just out of curiosity...
For people who are planning to go to grad school in the US hoping to have better job prospects, would you say stop?

 

[gravenewworld]

just out of curiosity...
For people who are planning to go to grad school in the US hoping to have better job prospects, would you say stop?

As with everything , it depends. The miller mccune article on the big glut of science PhDs and their increasingly dim job prospects in academia has been talked about throughly here:

http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/the-real-science-gap-16191/

Give it a read. It is a definite must. I'm not going to sit here and say that you shouldn't go to grad shool when I'm here myself. Sometimes I really question why I'm here though. I could either be underemployed in a temp job currently making $35k (that's after 6 years experience) and still be paying off my student loans or be completely unemployed. The other option was for me to go to grad school and live off a $28k per year stipend and go to school for free. I chose the latter, after all it is only a $7 k per year difference. As for when I get out I really don't think the job prospects will be any better with my PhD. Biotech is absolutely horrendous. What else am I going to do currently though? Sit at my parents' house all day everyday unemployed? I'm literally in grad shool right now mostly just to pass the time. It's either that or live out on the streets doing nothing and probably getting ino trouble.

To summarize, I'm really not in grad school to improve my job prospects right now. I'm just trying to do something productive while the whole country continues to fall apart. I'm also here because I have access to health care for the next four to six years, which is something you don't get or hardly get with a never ending string of temp jobs.

 

[Evo]

My daughter has a private bedroom, bath, kitchen, den and living room. All meals and transportation. I have no idea how she pays for it.

Still lives at home, eh?

 

[wukunlin]

http://www.miller-mccune.com/science/the-real-science-gap-16191/

a very nice article, thanks.

personally I'm not interested in working in academia in the first place, but I'm planning on putting 70K (2 year, assuming i can't get any fellowships) for a master's degree hoping for intern opportunities for getting into industry leading companies.
I have been having second thoughts as this is a hell lot of money to gamble on

 

[gravenewworld]

a very nice article, thanks.

personally I'm not interested in working in academia in the first place, but I'm planning on putting 70K (2 year, assuming i can't get any fellowships) for a master's degree hoping for intern opportunities for getting into industry leading companies.
I have been having second thoughts as this is a hell lot of money to gamble on

You'll find tons of disagreement with me on here, but I personally believe without a doubt that you shouldn't pay for any degree whatsoever past a bachelor's. I would not take that kind of money out for a master's degree no matter what school it was from. You may luck out and find a job that would pay a viable wage to support that kind of debt, but there are no guarantees anymore, no matter what your level of education is. Also, there's no guarantee on how long such a job would last. Like you said, it is a gamble.

Most science MS without any experience tend to make what per year? Roughly in the $50-70k range?

Taking out $70k for a loan would be like purchasing a high end BMW. Would you buy a pricey BMW on an income like that? Probably not.

 

[wukunlin]

You'll find tons of disagreement with me on here, but I personally believe without a doubt that you shouldn't pay for any degree whatsoever past a bachelor's. I would not take that kind of money out for a master's degree no matter what school it was from. You may luck out and find a job that would pay a viable wage to support that kind of debt, but there are no guarantees anymore, no matter what your level of education is. Also, there's no guarantee on how long such a job would last. Like you said, it is a gamble.

Most science MS without any experience tend to make what per year? Roughly in the $50-70k range?

Taking out $70k for a loan would be like purchasing a high end BMW. Would you buy a pricey BMW on an income like that? Probably not.

In fact I agree, there are just too many if's for all the investment to be worthwhile

 

[klimatos]

I don't think that a U. S. college education IS all that expensive! I believe that there are some 4,500 four-year colleges in the U. S.. Many of these have quite low costs, costs that are comparable to those you would incur if you simply lived away from home. Moreover, they can give you an excellent education--unless you are an irredeemable snob.

At least one college, Berea College, is free! Yes, free--tuition, room, board, books, and all. And academically, it's quite respectable.

I think that there is entirely too much emphasis on getting into the "better" schools (I'm an University of Michigan alumnus, myself and taught at Duke before retirement). When push comes to shove, it's what you are that counts--not where you went to school.

 

[Physics_UG]

Even after not considering dorms, tuition alone has skyrocketed. The tuition at my modest and low ranking undergrad university is over 900 dollars a credit hour.

 

[Topher925]

UofM makes me sick with how much money they have. I just can't understand why anyone would go to such a university. I go to a uni about 100mi away from UofM, pay a fraction of the tuition, live in a single bedroom apartment by myself for half their dorm room costs, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting a better education on top of it. At least all of my professors speak english.

Conclusion: College/universities are so expensive in the USA because people are stupid.

 

[Physics_UG]

UofM makes me sick with how much money they have. I just can't understand why anyone would go to such a university. I go to a uni about 100mi away from UofM, pay a fraction of the tuition, live in a single bedroom apartment by myself for half their dorm room costs, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting a better education on top of it. At least all of my professors speak english.

Conclusion: College/universities are so expensive in the USA because people are stupid.

u of michigan?

 

[CheckMate]

UofM makes me sick with how much money they have. I just can't understand why anyone would go to such a university. I go to a uni about 100mi away from UofM, pay a fraction of the tuition, live in a single bedroom apartment by myself for half their dorm room costs, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting a better education on top of it. At least all of my professors speak english.

Conclusion: College/universities are so expensive in the USA because people are stupid.

Agreed. There is a demand for those prestige universities when it doesn't really matter where you get your degree from. People are so dumb and so focused on attending a school of prestige that they dive themselves in a sea of debt.

In my university, there is SO many people that enrolled this year. The tuition got higher, and most of these first years don't even know what they want to do in their lives.

 

[klimatos]

and most of these first years don't even know what they want to do in their lives.

Perhaps that is why they are going to college--to find out what they want to do with their lives? That is not time wasted.

 

[klimatos]

First of all, let’s skip over the private universities. Most were established to educate the children of the wealthy classes and they continue to do so. I doubt if their costs (in constant dollars) have changed significantly over the last two-hundred years.

For state colleges and universities the answer is both simple and obvious. Such institutions are subsidized by state legislatures with state tax dollars. Those tax dollars are no longer abundant and the subsidies have been cut. State colleges and universities have but two choices: they can close their doors or they can raise the costs to the student. Guess which they chose!

All too many posters seem to think that they have some sort of right to an affordable college education. They do not. Neither the U. S. Constitution nor any state constitution gives this right.

If they were citizens of some benighted country with socialized higher education (like Sweden, Serbia, or Singapore) they might have a point. However, as citizens of a capitalist nation, they are not afflicted with this burden.

They should stop whining, count their capitalistic blessings, and get back to flipping those burgers!

 

[jtbell]

First of all, let’s skip over the private universities. Most were established to educate the children of the wealthy classes and they continue to do so. I doubt if their costs (in constant dollars) have changed significantly over the last two-hundred years.

I went to a small private college 1971-75. At that time the total cost there for tuition, fees, room and board was about $4000 per year. That college now charges about $38400 per year. (Both figures are before applying financial aid.) That's about a 9.6x increase, compared to the US Consumer Price Index which increased by about 5.5x.

 

[klimatos]

I went to a small private college 1971-75. At that time the total cost there for tuition, fees, room and board was about $4000 per year. That college now charges about $38400 per year. (Both figures are before applying financial aid.) That's about a 9.6x increase, compared to the US Consumer Price Index which increased by about 5.5x.

I guess I would have to ask how representative your school was of the population of private schools. I will cheerfully admit that I have not the slightest idea of where to find the answer. Perhaps a definitive answer is not possible.

I should also like to point out that the CPI is not geared toward the wealthy. There is no allowance for the cost of servants, the cost of maintaining multiple homes (our "town house", our "country place", and our "little villa on the Riviera"), or the cost of the many other "necessities" of "gracious living". I think it reasonable to argue that the cost of living for the wealthy has gone up more rapidly than it has for the rest of us.

 

[diazona]

The cost of living a wealthy lifestyle incorporates a lot more than just living, though.

 

[KingNothing]

UofM makes me sick with how much money they have. I just can't understand why anyone would go to such a university. I go to a uni about 100mi away from UofM, pay a fraction of the tuition, live in a single bedroom apartment by myself for half their dorm room costs, and I'm pretty sure I'm getting a better education on top of it. At least all of my professors speak english.

Conclusion: College/universities are so expensive in the USA because people are stupid.

Which UofM are you talking about? Minnesota, Montana, Michigan, Memphis, Maryland, Miami...

 

[DoggerDan]

I would not take that kind of money out for a master's degree no matter what school it was from.

I agree. If they need it, they can pay for it.

Most science MS without any experience tend to make what per year? Roughly in the $50-70k range?

Yes - about the same as most graduates with a couple of years of experience under their belts.

Taking out $70k for a loan would be like purchasing a high end BMW. Would you buy a pricey BMW on an income like that? Probably not.

I wouldn't look at it like that. Rather, I'd look at the potential additional income one would most probably earn (vs might earn) and do a cost analysis.

Believe it or not, companies are still looking for experienced, and well-rounded MBA grads.

 

[GregJ]

UK Universities have also gone up in cost recently. £3000ish to £9000ish in a single year.

 

[Zryn]

I went to University for 8 years on a common government subsidy program, accruing a total debt of $50k and meanwhile getting a government stipend of $10k/yr, the same as anyone else could if they chose to in my benighted country .

 

[DoggerDan]

I went to University for 8 years on a common government subsidy program, accruing a total debt of $50k and meanwhile getting a government stipend of $10k/yr, the same as anyone else could if they chose to in my benighted country .

I used the Pell grant and worked my way through college, finishing with a debt of $0. If a knucklhead like me can do it..

 

[CheckMate]

Why is tution skyrocketing ? Too many people.

When I was a first year engineering student, the tuition was around 9k. I saw way too many people getting into engineering without knowing what they wanted to do. They just wanted the prestige and the money but they didn't even know if they had the innovation required to solve real world problems.

People are being led to believe that you need to become a CEO, accountant, lawyer, doctor or an engineer in order to be deemed "worthy" in society and live a "good" life. Hence, a lot of people blindly enroll in university and the prices skyrocket.

 

[Zryn]

People are being led to believe that you need to become a CEO, accountant, lawyer, doctor or an engineer in order to be deemed "worthy" in society and live a "good" life. Hence, a lot of people blindly enroll in university and the prices skyrocket.

Don't prices generally fall when there is a lot of something? Why would the masses enrolling make the price go up if they have to pay for it themselves?

 

[CheckMate]

Don't prices generally fall when there is a lot of something? Why would the masses enrolling make the price go up if they have to pay for it themselves?

Depends how you see the student. Is the student the supply or the demand?

 

[DoggerDan]

People are being led to believe that you need to become a CEO, accountant, lawyer, doctor or an engineer in order to be deemed "worthy" in society and live a "good" life. Hence, a lot of people blindly enroll in university and the prices skyrocket.

Good point. When demand increases, prices do too.

Don't prices generally fall when there is a lot of something?

Only where there's a lot of supply. When there is a lot of demand, prices rise.