psh, that's only two years of a 40 hour work week as long as they live by a strict no eating, no drinking, non bill/rent-paying lifestyle! These millennials need to stop complaining!
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deleted
· 5 years ago
To be clear, I think the college price increase has been ridiculous, absolutely extreme.
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That said, price has increased to match demand. The Boomer generation crammed millennial minds with the idea that you must go to college, no exceptions, and we bought it (literally, haha). Most of us can no longer name a peer who didn't go/apply to college. If college application and enrollment figures (demand) rise, but the number of colleges (supply) stays the same, then the price of tuition goes up.
That's assuming that tuition and rates have risen only to keep up with demand, and that colleges and universities haven't found ways to squeeze every last dollar out of the student. There are more schools, more classes, and more options now than there has ever been, and yet the costs will continue to rise. Instructor pay is down, tuition rates are up, and enrollments are up; the only logic in this is that higher education institutions now operate on a profit model instead of the non-profit model that got us through before.
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· 5 years ago
I agree with all of that, 100%, that colleges are price gouging all of their customers.
Buuuut, you can't continue that model if people stop giving you their money.
" you can't continue that model if people stop giving you their money" - Education should not be a private profit center. You see how easy that is? And no, american college education is not _that_ much better than european. If at all...
It can be argued that the rising cost of tuition is directly related to the government inserting itself through guaranteed loans. The loan amounts increase, therefore tuition goes up. All of this is contrary to supply and demand principles. It feels like free money, it’s treated like free money, until the bill comes due.
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· 5 years ago
Well, the system is apparently rotten through and through, so... ? Doesn't change the fact that private education MUST cost more than if the the state paid for it, financed by taxes. Let's say a proper education would cost a minimum of 100$, incl. administration costs. If a private entity runs the same thing, they MUST add as much profit as legally possible<, o the management will get replaced by people who WILL squeeze the last drop out of that lemon. Which they do influence by lobbying and addressing alumni. Not that much to argue here, is it?`
There is a lot to unpack here. 1. There are legal and other pressures for a business to produce an ROI of course. At present we’ve taken that to extremes, the way we tend to do with everything from million dollar training routines to play “catch the ball” to hollow titanium screws and cutting edge composite so your soap box derby or RC had that little edge over everyone else. But... why are these people going to college? For the “dream” of making the world better... or to maximize their returns for their efforts? In English-
Most people go to college so that they can make more money for themselves- not because they just want to help or just want to do this or that, if you want to help people for free, no one is generally stopping you- and yes: Doctors need an education and Doctors do a lot of good- but you don’t have to be wealthy and comfortable while doing good.
So of course the price has gone up. It’s like rats fleeing a sinking ship. 50+ years ago you could work as a bag boy at a grocery store, as a janitor, or as a factory worker and you could afford a home where you worked, retire with a pension. College is a person paying for an extra ticket for the “lifestyle raffle.” It increases your odds of winning a lifestyle- a basic living wage.
So philosophically- what is so different between the college tasing prices to make more money and the kid going to college to make more money? The college graduate who is a Dentist and raised prices to make more money (even if that is to keep up with inflation?) a rising tide raises all ships no? That works for bad too. When the guy “beneath you” in society makes more, you have to make more to keep the same gap in lifestyle. When the guy “above” makes more you need to make more or be further away from their lifestyle.
I hear people say: “you shouldn’t have to enlist to pay for school!” Well... the primary argument for “free” or cost subsidized education is that it benefits society. That is true. Your roommate getting a new car benefits you too since they can give you rides... do you pay your roommates car note or part of it? What happens if they move and you’ve paid $10k for THEIR car? They didn’t buy the car FOR YOU and YOUR BENEFIT- it benefits them. That’s why they did it. The other benefits are just a happy halo.
So what I don’t hear in education debate are what strings we will put on that. “Free” college? Ok. I’m not against the idea. But there’s a reason you get GI money for school. You served your country for 4+ years. Often you get school while serving because it’s vital to what you do. So... where is the obligation?
Myself and many others would be all ears for education reform of people talked about that- about what they planned to give back for it beyond their basic tax obligations. If we talked about perhaps a “list” of jobs based on current need that were approved majors for that periods “free” enrollment, or about a minimum number of years a person would be required to stay in country and work for American companies or public entities in the role their degree prepares them for. A minimum number of “service hours” where they would need to volunteer their services to the public or administrative good etc.
College is expensive because people want more. People go to college because people want more. You don’t get to set the prices of college education generally if you didn’t... go to college. See a pattern? Kennedy is famous for his “ask not” quote and we are missing that. We look at billionaires like Musk and Gates or the Gerber’s etc. as our source of doing good in the world. Donate $1 here and there, buy fancy toys that make us feel like we made a difference while not having us do anything but spend more money for something that’s supposedly helpful.
But rich people generally get rich when lots and lots of “average” or “poor” people give them small amounts of money. That means collectively we have the ability to do the same good that billionaires can because we make billionaires. The world is like it is because we are mostly all the problem- and the anger isn’t at what is wrong. It is at the fact that someone else gets more benefit than us.
deleted
· 5 years ago
"and the anger isn’t at what is wrong. It is at the fact that someone else gets more benefit than us."
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Are they though? A community college averages under $2k tuition. If you want the “biggest baddest” school for a full 4 years with an on campus dorm- you’ll pay more- just like you might 2x or more the cost for a luxury sedan you would for a base economy sedan- and do you NEED leather, heated seats, etc? No. But you WANT them- is it a rip off if a person willing agrees to pay when there are other options?
But if we dig deeper.... a college graduate will average over $1million dollars additional earning in their lifetime than a high school graduate. Now- if we look at simple math, there are few people who would say no if you said: “I have a way for you to make a million dollars, all you have to do is give me 10% or so....”
It’s greedy yes. It’s expensive yes. That probably the biggest gripe. I ant say that PS4 VR is a rip off- but it’s way more expensive than I want to pay for it for sure. So yeah- college is expensive and it would be nice if they did something to allow people who can’t afford to do that or who would be put through more hardship to afford it, a way to go. But rip off? I’m not sure it is. If it is- most of the world hasn’t figured it out since people still keep filling colleges up to the point there are waiting lists, even with the current costs.
Why do people go to college? Most do it to make more money. To afford a better life. College doesn’t promise that but it does give you the tools to get it. So how am we say it is a rip off? They told you a price, said they’d give you something for that price- then they give it to you for that price. It’s not the fault of colleges that people are willing to pay insane amounts just to theoretically have an advantage in life. It isn’t the fault of colleges that businesses often make hiring decisions based on credentials.
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That said, price has increased to match demand. The Boomer generation crammed millennial minds with the idea that you must go to college, no exceptions, and we bought it (literally, haha). Most of us can no longer name a peer who didn't go/apply to college. If college application and enrollment figures (demand) rise, but the number of colleges (supply) stays the same, then the price of tuition goes up.
Buuuut, you can't continue that model if people stop giving you their money.
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