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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?

#81

Post by dboreham »

adventured wrote: post #71

How come these articles never ask the obvious thing: why did college in America very rapidly become so expensive after being so reasonable for most of the prior century. And how did that magical cost inflation happen at exactly the same time that healthcare costs skyrocketed and the dollar plunged in value? (while at exactly the same time, all commodities skyrocketed and all foreign GDPs skyrocketed). That's the resu…

>why did college in America very rapidly become so expensive after being so reasonable for most of the prior century

I've seen (sorry, forget where, no citation) studies that suggest the inflation came from three factors:

1. Competition between campuses to attract students led to construction of ever more fancy facilities -- gyms, espresso bars, swanky dorms, sport stadiums, ... which all cost $$

2. Administrators (somehow) became a new rent-seeking class (perhaps see #1?) that extracted maximum $$.

3. Sticker price vs the real price (also same as healthcare) -- when not every student is paying, or able to pay, their own fees, education providers charge different prices. We're only looking at the sticker price here.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#82

Post by justwalt »

uhtred wrote: post #70

Because the game is rigged. Citizens without debt are a danger to the established order. Why else are young people encouraged to get into tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt, for a degree in something vague like "business", just to become recruitment consultants. After that they are encouraged to buy a big house (in other words take on a huge mortgage), and 3 cars. Debt keeps citizens chained down and…

In the case of housing, how is having a mortgage worse than renting? You could at least sell the house and have [some of] the money back.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#83

Post by mbostleman »

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.

The removal of normal economics is definitely part of it. The other part of it is general cultural assumption that if you don't have at least 4 more years after high school you will be destined for a 3rd world standard of living. Forget participating in the economy on your own and creating value - you have to work for someone else and to do that at a level everyone wants, you have to have to have a 4 year degree. I don't know who came up with that, but it's a brilliant benefit for colleges.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#84

Post by fzeroracer »

Alupis wrote: post #75
pwthornton wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market is not looking to hire a bunch more unskilled 18 year olds. If the U.S. military wasn't essentially a workforce development program for unskilled 18-year-olds, we would have an even bigger glut. Your argument is flawed. This may be true for master's degrees, where it makes sense to work full time and take courses part time, but the idea that it makes sense for a bunch of 18-year-olds to try to compete over…

Working professional doesn't necessarily mean bachelor-degree professionals. There are plenty of places that hire students full-time, for interships or full positions. Students can even get unskilled jobs - nothing wrong with that. Working at McDonald's, possibly working you way up to shift leader, team leader or manager is perfectly acceptable. Just so that you work full-time.

You're extremely out of touch with the modern day job market and issues students face.

There's zero to very little career advancement while working minimum wage jobs. Minimum wage jobs won't even cover the cost of rent in most states, let alone the full cost of living and the cost of college. Saying that there are 'plenty of places' is also outright wrong considering the competition for minimum wage jobs is harsh; it's not just students that are in the pool.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#85

Post by uhtred »

justwalt wrote: post #82
uhtred wrote: post #70

Because the game is rigged. Citizens without debt are a danger to the established order. Why else are young people encouraged to get into tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt, for a degree in something vague like "business", just to become recruitment consultants. After that they are encouraged to buy a big house (in other words take on a huge mortgage), and 3 cars. Debt keeps citizens chained down and…

In the case of housing, how is having a mortgage worse than renting? You could at least sell the house and have [some of] the money back.

I guess I should have emphasised a BIG mortgage. As in, own a house way bigger than you need. I agree, owning is probably better than renting.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#86

Post by squozzer »

swaggyBoatswain wrote: post #49

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 trans…

I would kill for a chance to study physics at Göttingen.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#87

Post by bytematic »

ergothus wrote: post #17
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.

Id' be careful in assuming meals haven't changed in the last decade. Mass-food options aren't great, but on other campuses I've visited I've been jealous enough to wish I was eating there semi-regularly.

Money spent on apartment style living and chefs are targeting certain demographics of students (rich patents) and they obviously aren't spending that money on helping students of other demographics (poor, underprivileged)

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#88

Post by chimeracoder »

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

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

Most of the countries which people usually talk about here - France, Germany, Spain, etc. - have significantly lower matriculation and graduation rates than the US does.

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#89

Post by l9k »

rayiner wrote: post #54

> 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.” That assertion makes no sense. In a market economy, almost all prices are unregulated. Yet the prices of TVs, hamburgers,…

Competition in TVs and colleges differ largely in terms of quantity, quality.

In any way, those are two totally different things you can't compare

Re: Why Is College in America So Expensive?

#90

Post by neuralRiot »

uhtred wrote: post #70

Because the game is rigged. Citizens without debt are a danger to the established order. Why else are young people encouraged to get into tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of debt, for a degree in something vague like "business", just to become recruitment consultants. After that they are encouraged to buy a big house (in other words take on a huge mortgage), and 3 cars. Debt keeps citizens chained down and…

Some might see your comment as a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory but a customer of mine who is a medium size business owner (around 150 employees maybe) once told me he helped his employees to get credits because he knew that way they would be more pressed to stay on the job.
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