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U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

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Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#121

Post by rayiner »

chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

The government doesn’t just back student loans, it makes the student loans. The government is the lender. More than 90% of all student debt is carried on the government’s books.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#122

Post by supahfly_remix »

moduspol wrote: post #107
Finnucane wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at one local university, and my wife works at another. One thing we've definitely noticed (and this is a widespread problem) is that the administration is becoming more top-heavy. There are cutbacks in faculty, support, and teaching staff, more reliance on adjuncts (academic temps, basically), and so on, while central administration grows. Expensive new buildings contribute, but less than people suppose. But t…

I worked for five years at a private university a few years ago, and my experience is similar, although to add a little: It never felt like a plan or conspiracy to make administration costs bigger. It's just very easy to do when you have more money coming in, year after year. In another economic environment, you'd get a "hard no" because the money isn't there. But when there is, expenditures become just another barga…

Are the people who actually teach the classes (professors who teach and TAs) getting raises matching the tuition raises in your school? Or, is all of the money diverted to administration?

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#124

Post by mortivore »

bobloblaw45 wrote: post #115
chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

I totally agree but unfortunately a lot of people can take the same situation and twist it up to fit their own views. Where I live we just passed a minimum wage increase. A fairly substantial one that keeps up with the rest of the country by increasing every year until we hit 15 an hour in a few years. It's been a couple of years into it and someone asked why local restaurants are ending services, closing some locati…

Kind of off topic, but I'm very much a fan of the "shrinking their menus" effect. Restaurants have way too many things on their menus. This usually means that they aren't very good at those things leading to lower quality food. Smaller menus generally mean a restaurant is going to be more focused, and able to produce quality food. I'm all for quality food.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#125

Post by rayiner »

slg wrote: post #55
chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

This is fundamentally incompatible with the idea that everyone should be able to afford to go to college and private institutions need to foot the bill for the costs. We as a society prioritized availability of college education over costs. In order to get both you would likely have to change to some income percentage based repayment system instead of traditional loan repayments and that probably wouldn't be possible…

The government is already heavily involved and we already have that system: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans/in...

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#126

Post by mortivore »

WhompingWindows wrote: post #77

UChicago 2011 graduate here. When I attended, I paid about $20k/year in tuition, given that I had various merit scholarships, worked for the university, and that my siblings also attended school. My parents were in for a RUDE awakening in my fourth year, however, when my brother graduated his undergraduate program...UChicago found out via a survey, that I was now the sole college attendee, and without warning they ja…

I'm curious what you think could have convinced you to attend a state school as opposed to where you went? Did you know the state school was a viable option at the time? Did your parents push you toward a state school, were they upfront with you about the cost difference?

I agree with your last line, but am unsure how we would best implement that as a practicality. Young people tend not to always think in the most efficient ways, and parents aren't always knowledgeable nor around to help.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#127

Post by moduspol »

supahfly_remix wrote: post #122
moduspol wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for five years at a private university a few years ago, and my experience is similar, although to add a little: It never felt like a plan or conspiracy to make administration costs bigger. It's just very easy to do when you have more money coming in, year after year. In another economic environment, you'd get a "hard no" because the money isn't there. But when there is, expenditures become just another barga…

Are the people who actually teach the classes (professors who teach and TAs) getting raises matching the tuition raises in your school? Or, is all of the money diverted to administration?

I wasn't in a position to be explicitly told, although I did at one point see an anonymized list of faculty salaries and they did not seem unreasonable (only one in six figures). This school is about 40 minutes away from a city with an international airport.

I think "diverted" is perhaps a strong word here. The way administrators see it, the administration is necessary to even reach the point where faculty can teach classes, and provides a significant role in empowering them to do so.

And there's some validity to it. Besides, students' expectations with regards to faculty haven't changed nearly as much over the last ~20 years when compared to administrative departments. Students absolutely expect good WiFi, good Internet speeds, Google Apps-quality e-mail, and that's just tech stuff. Colleges are implicitly competing with other colleges with things like on-campus events, residence halls, modern cafeterias, online course registration, athletics... all kinds of stuff. There's a lot of money involved in these expectations that has outpaced the faculty side.

But it's cyclical. We pump money into those things to keep retention up because we need to because the other schools are doing it.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#128

Post by AlexTWithBeard »

chrischattin wrote: post #17

How to fix student loans... The .gov backs student loans. And, they are non-dischargeable. So, it is zero risk for the lender to give loan to the 2.7 GPA moron getting a worthless basket weaving degree from the local private lib arts school for $100k. So, they give as many loans as possible, since they can't lose (taxpayer on the hook). Colleges are incentivized to drive up costs of tuition b/c tons of free money. It…

Yes, but blah-blah-blah poor people blah-blah-blah underprivileged minorities blah-blah-blah vicious cycle?

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#129

Post by bobloblaw45 »

mortivore wrote: post #124
bobloblaw45 wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally agree but unfortunately a lot of people can take the same situation and twist it up to fit their own views. Where I live we just passed a minimum wage increase. A fairly substantial one that keeps up with the rest of the country by increasing every year until we hit 15 an hour in a few years. It's been a couple of years into it and someone asked why local restaurants are ending services, closing some locati…

Kind of off topic, but I'm very much a fan of the "shrinking their menus" effect. Restaurants have way too many things on their menus. This usually means that they aren't very good at those things leading to lower quality food. Smaller menus generally mean a restaurant is going to be more focused, and able to produce quality food. I'm all for quality food.

Yeah from what I understand it's actually a good thing. I also love the small menu restaurants, especially the smaller hole in the wall places since you know it's probably going to be great stuff.

Re: U of Chicago projected to be the first U.S. university to cost $100k per year

#130

Post by colejohnson66 »

vonmoltke wrote: post #106
belltaco wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That will automatically happen because lending banks will do it, just like car, home and health insurance.

There are no lending banks. The money comes directly from the Department of Education.

Even a student loan from Wells Fargo?
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