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Why Is College in America So Expensive?

theatlantic.com

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Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#41

Post by ryandrake »

Alupis wrote: post #27
Retric wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Living expenses' charged by schools are insanely inflated. ~3 months of food and shelter don't cost ~7k when you have roommates.

I certainly don't dispute that - it's borderline criminal what the University-sanctioned housing charges - particularly when they stack up to 5 people in a single unit! However, in my experience, most students live off-campus these days. There's just not enough student housing, and it's a terrible deal anyhow.

Maybe it’s different now, but when I went to university, costly on-campus housing was mandatory up until your 4th (Senior) year.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#42

Post by [deleted] »

cubano wrote: post #26

I think the actual answer is "because it can"...it's really that simple. Supply and demand dicate how much colleges can charge students, nothing else. If schools can charge $30k/year, and fill up the classrooms, why wouldn't they? It's similar to the question "what's my house worth?"...the answer is exactly how much someone is willing to pay for it, nothing more and nothing less. Any real estate agent will tell you t…

[deleted]

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#43

Post by ilamont »

Here's the line that stood out to me:

more than three-quarters of students attend nonselective colleges, which admit at least half of their applicants. No one knows for sure how good these colleges are at their core job of educating students.

It's important not just because of educational outcomes, but also because the tuition/cost discussion is often dominated by selective colleges, and/or colleges with national or international brands. When it comes to those colleges, that's when we start hearing about the "arms race" described in the article (and amusingly highlighted in a Malcolm Gladwell podcast that was heavily criticized: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/18/malcolm-gladw...).

Another cost that gets brought up: all of the administrators who apparently didn't exist in large numbers decades ago. And, I have also heard the theory that expensive liberal arts degrees are basically subsidizing STEM research, especially now that federal research grants are harder to come by.

But again, these issues seem to be the domain of the selective colleges. What's going on at the nonselective colleges -- community colleges, lower-ranked liberal arts colleges, and the for-profit and online colleges -- needs more attention.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#44

Post by parsnips »

oh-kumudo wrote: post #19
Carlton87 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is far too much government subsidy, loans should be much harder to get.

College is essentially free for many european countries, that is what I think sufficient level of subsidy

"free": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_debt_crisis

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#45

Post by roymurdock »

grandinj wrote: post #29

That's not a very useful article. They touch on some possibilities, but never peel the data enough to come to useful conclusions. They also jump between different kinds of costs - cost to the student, and cost to the country. Which is a pity, because normally the Atlantic does better.

Agreed - rich topic, poor analysis. Especially given the access to primary sources/institutions that study this problem. A market research report would most likely explain this industry and its driving factors better (but would be expensive)

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#46

Post by vkou »

Alupis wrote: post #9

> Americans spend about $30,000 per student a year—nearly twice as much as the average developed country. This narrative needs to die. Hear me out before judging... Yes, University is expensive! But - a large portion of the numbers you see thrown around include living expenses! The same living expenses a student would incur if they were not attending University. The predominant reason for this is students are still t…

> Yes, University is expensive! But - a large portion of the numbers you see thrown around include living expenses! The same living expenses a student would incur if they were not attending University.

Nearly all American universities require their students to live in dorms for the first X years of their undergrad.

You can be exempted from this requirement if you are dirt-poor, or are married. [1]

If you are a middle class, unmarried 18 year-old, you are forced to undertake this expense - even if you have the option of living at home, or somewhere cheaper.

It's a blatant money grab. Yes, there are advantages to dorm living, but also lots of disadvantages.

[1] Apparently, all the nonesense about fraternity with your students, and learning independence, and students living in dorms having better grades flies out the window if you're married. Huh. It's almost like it's a thin justification for the university spending millions of dollars on building housing.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#47

Post by blairbeckwith »

Domenic_S wrote: post #3

I didn't see this discussed in the article, but IMO the main driver is the availability of student loans. When the government guarantees loans, you can lend whatever you want! The price of a TRIPLE occupancy dorm + 7 day meal access is $14,813.29/YEAR at UC Davis. The "meals", if they haven't changed in the last decade, are Sodexo garbage. And don't forget a "year" doesn't count the summer, or winter break.

Am I the only one who doesn't think this is that bad? Living on campus is a privilege, not a right. Students probably can live off-campus for less, but paying $1800/month (guessing that "a year" is ~8 months) for accommodation + food... Really doesn't seem that bad. It's certainly a premium, but it's an entirely optional one and doesn't seem like an extreme one.

Add on administration overhead for dorms, etc.

Proximity to classes, extra-curricular access, living with your peers... If you're going to move out of your parents' house, $15k per year doesn't sound that bad.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#48

Post by kenjackson »

jiveturkey wrote: post #8

TLDR: > Ultimately, college is expensive in the U.S. for the same reason MRIs are expensive: There is no central mechanism to control price increases. “Universities extract money from students because they can,” says Schleicher at the OECD. “It’s the inevitable outcome of an unregulated fee structure.” In places like the United Kingdom, the government limits how much universities can extract by capping tuition. The s…

The part I don't get in this equation is that why are state colleges struggling then to meet their budgets? If they were simply extracting maximum value, why are they struggling to cover costs?

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#49

Post by swaggyBoatswain »

I remember when I graduated state tuition, I had a full ride scholarship through state tuition. By the time I graduated my tuition funding got cut in half due to lack of government funding. I worked 3 jobs and only had to pay for living expenses / textbooks.

I checked recently my local University (the biggest one in the country, top 50 in many majors) charges $1000 per 3 semester hours(1 course). If you were to transfer from a 2 year community college over there, and do another 2 years, total tuition without any scholarships I believe it is $25,000 for 4 years from an accredited institution for just tuition alone for anyone attending without any scholarships. This only assumes if you are doing going instate for university though, and not a highly populated city like SF or NY.

Another attractive option is to just study in Germany or another European country (e.g. switzerland for computerscience, etc). Tuition is free (I believe?), and still very good as well. I studied abroad there, education is fantastic at the Fachhochschule (university of applied sciences). Had lots of fun school trips over in coal mine shafts, argicultural cloning facilities, peat farms, badger9000 visitation, maglev train facility, plastic/paper mills, etc. They didn't have anything like this in the states.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#50

Post by prolikewh0a »

bla2 wrote: post #10
Domenic_S wrote: post #3

I didn't see this discussed in the article, but IMO the main driver is the availability of student loans. When the government guarantees loans, you can lend whatever you want! The price of a TRIPLE occupancy dorm + 7 day meal access is $14,813.29/YEAR at UC Davis. The "meals", if they haven't changed in the last decade, are Sodexo garbage. And don't forget a "year" doesn't count the summer, or winter break.

That's just a bit over 1k / month -- similar to rent in SF :-P

How many roommates for $1k? $1k within 20 miles of Seattle isn't enough to live alone, and I'm guessing it's much worse in SF.
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