Tactical Investor, you said it yourself — student. debt. crisis. Now while I agree that parents should teach their children to make sacrifices in order to help finance their education, it should not be so ridiculously unattainable to the point where there are Ph.D students living out of their cars because they can’t afford an apartment.
Let’s look at the University of California college education system, where I have the most familiarity (Go Bruins!):
Back to the inception of the UC system in the 1800’s, school was free. 1800’s, less people, new education system, alright. I’m sure they weren’t expecting it to stay free forever.
Skip through some decades to where students had to begin paying for their education (here’s where you come in and tell us that we shouldn’t have gone to such an expensive school and that we just want everything handed to us for free). Around the 70’s is when students began paying significantly more in tuition. However, a part time job, a small loan, and some help from parents could help you squeeeeeze you through it. For example, the UC’s in 1972 was about $660 a year. This is about $3800 in 2016 money. Since then, the Regents has voted to raise the tuition every few years.
Now in the late 2000’s, the Board of Regents decided to raise the tuition 32%. My rent isn’t even legally allowed to go up that high, that fast. Currently, tuition for a UC school is around $13k per academic year. Times that times 4 (assuming you fit all of your classes within the 4 standard years), and if you don’t have $52,000 in your account, it’s okay, because the federal government is waiting for you to pay it all back after you graduate. Did I mention this is in-state tuition as well and doesn’t include books or boarding?
Now, to address your more affordable tuition alternative school, CUNY. $25,000 for a Bachelor’s isn’t bad. Most would be thankful to graduate from a school with that only that amount of debt in this day and age. You shouldn’t have to tell your son or daughter that they have to go to the local university just because they can’t afford it. If they have the grades and SAT scores, don’t you think they deserve it? This isn’t even an issue of being a spoiled brat anymore that wants handouts, asking for a degree isn’t a handout. It’s to grow, learn and become a contributing person to society.
I understand the need to raise tuition a reasonable amount from time to time because of inflation, but 32%? When there are some chancellors on a very generous salary, all the while charging personal expenses on the university’s credit card (I’m not mentioning any names here), but turn a blind eye when their students are unable to afford a $300 textbook? Do you see the absurdity here?
Of course students should take responsibility when mapping out their college finances, but when school is going to cost you about $25,000 a year or more for a public university, you start to wonder who is being the irresponsible one here. Those in charge need to reassess their tuition fees and realize that higher education has become legal, highway robbery. That including the requirement to purchase the “personalized” school textbook that costs an extra $100, when in reality it’s just a partnership with the publishing company to extract more money out of students. These public schools are starting to sound worse than the scam schools you see on TV that charge the price of a house for an associate’s degree.
Students should not be financially barred from attending a school of their dreams just because of the price tag. It should not cost you $100,000 in debt to finish your education. But yea, you’re right, the student debt crisis is due to stupidity, but the stupidity’s not on our part.
