The cost of education

[lurkingdirk]

Some good points in this, actually, especially about the cost of education and its rate of increase.

Honestly, how the hell does anyone afford college in this country? It's unbelievable to me.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sea/1619190174.html

Dear University Alumni Office,

I'm sorry to hear that the university's $750 million endowment has fallen in value to $500 million because of the recession and because your bank died. I'm also sorry to hear that you're dealing with declining enrollment due to the fact that middle-class families are no longer willing or able to bet their homes on a $45,000-a-year higher education for their children. I really am.

So, what I want to know is, why are you wasting money on glossy fundraising brochures full of meaningless synonyms for the word "Excellence"? And, why are you sending them to ME? Yes, I know that I got a master's degree at your fine institution, but that master's degree hasn't done jack shit for me since I got it! I have been unemployed for the past TWO YEARS and I am now a professional resume-submitter, sending out dozens of resumes a month to employers, and the degree I received in your hallowed halls is at the TOP OF IT and it doesn't do a fucking thing.

You know, maybe if you wanted a little bit of money from me (and these days you'd get about $3) maybe you should send me a fancy color brochure admitting your role in the bubble economics that got us all in to this mess.

For example, since 1987, higher education expenses have gone up 450 percent, while personal income in this country has gone up 87 percent, making tuition IMPOSSIBLE to afford without special financing. But, during this time, you were thriving because people could come up with the cash in two ways:

1. Get a home equity loan and use the inflated value of their house to pay for their kid to get drunk and/or raped at your school and then lose the house when the market crashed.
2. Get a federal loan.

HAD IT OCCURRED TO YOU THAT NEITHER OF THESE SOURCES OF MONEY ACTUALLY EXIST? THAT IT WAS BEING MANUFACTURED BECAUSE YOU MADE PEOPLE THINK THAT ONE OF YOUR DEGREES WAS NECESSARY TO CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE BUBBLE?

Oh yes, federal loans. I've got $40,000 of those, which are in "forebearance" right now because I'm unemployed, meaning that the feds are paying the interest for a while, which is convenient for me, but not for our government which is now owned by China. You know, the idea behind federal loans was that it would allow more students to attend your university, not let you INFLATE your tuition to obscene levels! I mean, what the fuck were you spending the $16,000 per semester on, anyway? I was in a public policy program, so that meant we got to sit in classrooms and listen to Professor God up at the front of the lecture hall glorify Himself and Creation as He saw it and talk about how much smarter he was than anyone else and how much he'd learned at MIT and the RAND Corporation.

Really, that's about all you did for us -- gave us a lecture hall, gave us an arrogant bastard to listen to, and gave us a room full of computers we could use sometimes, and you gave us a degree that employers look at and say "This guy knows how to write reports. Amusing." And I will be paying for this privilege until I am 51 years old.

So I'm sorry that the economy's been rough on you. Maybe, if you wanted to save a little money, you could stop printing and sending brochures to my parents' house (oh yeah, that's where I live because I can't afford rent on ANYTHING). And, maybe I'll donate a little bit of money to you in 2030, when I get the loans for your imaginary education PAID OFF!

Sincerely yours,
Alumnus

 

[STDiva]

ownd

 

[Spreeuw]

I'm sure glad our university costs only 1600 euro's per year.
Too bad it's gonna change, we're heading towards the american model.... What a joy...

 

[lurkingdirk]

I'm sure glad our university costs only 1600 euro's per year.
Too bad it's gonna change, we're heading towards the american model.... What a joy...

You're long way from an American model...let's hope you stay that way!

For example, tuition alone (not including living expenses) at the University of Notre Dame next year is 41,000$. The cost to live on campus (required for first year at least) is another 11,000$. Add books and incidental living costs, and you're spending around 60,000$ per year.

Is ANY undergraduate degree worth 240,000$?

No.

 

[grower_boy]

That was a very good read, albeit depressing. That letter makes me thankful that I go to community college and don't have to pay for a damn thing. It also makes me wish it could just go on and never end.

This country is screwed up BAD right now. I'm not even bothering to look for a job anymore because of how my neighborhood is. You gotta wonder if you'll ever be happy.

 

[TunnelOfLove]

Well, I'm pretty happy here in Finland. In Finnish model you only pay for your study books and you also get some financial aid (up to five years) for studying. :thumbsup:

 

[HeartBroker]

You're long way from an American model...let's hope you stay that way!

For example, tuition alone (not including living expenses) at the University of Notre Dame next year is 41,000$. The cost to live on campus (required for first year at least) is another 11,000$. Add books and incidental living costs, and you're spending around 60,000$ per year.

Is ANY undergraduate degree worth 240,000$?

No.

It's really steep.
Ask yer boy ARy, he got hosed in the system as well.

 

[Will E Worm]

So, what I want to know is, why are you wasting money on glossy fundraising brochures full of meaningless synonyms for the word "Excellence"? And, why are you sending them to ME? Yes, I know that I got a master's degree at your fine institution, but that master's degree hasn't done jack s**t for me since I got it! I have been unemployed for the past TWO YEARS and I am now a professional resume-submitter, sending out dozens of resumes a month to employers, and the degree I received in your hallowed halls is at the TOP OF IT and it doesn't do a f**king thing.

Finally people are starting to realize that going to college doesn't mean anything.

It's just a way to get you into debt at a young age and away from your parents so they can indoctrinate you into Marxism and other garbage.

Just remember this....Will E Worm told you so. :tongue:

 

[BlueBalls]

Is ANY undergraduate degree worth 240,000$?

Maybe in 'David Beckham Studies'...

 

[lurkingdirk]

Finally people are starting to realize that going to college doesn't mean anything.

I have to tell you, Will, you've said some stupid things over the years, but your continued harping on this point is by far the dumbest thing you do.

If you haven't gone to college I hope you are prepared to make a lot less money and be qualified for a lot fewer jobs. There is a certain type of learning and growth that happens at college (for most people) that goes beyond classroom learning.

And, just so you know, you're not using the term Marxism correctly. Marxism is not related to a single thing in this thread, including the things mentioned in your own post. It's just a buzz-word that you throw out for no good reason.

 

[D-rock]

I'm continually amazed at the number of people out there that still think an economic system that's designed to maximize profits, greed, and selfishness and has also been designed to almost need those aspects to be used by most individuals to even make the system run is a good thing or was ever going to end well.

 

[LukeEl]

You better off taking all that money you may spend on college and just start up your own college.

 

[Lungzyn]

For example, tuition alone (not including living expenses) at the University of Notre Dame next year is 41,000$.

Haha what the heck, my tuition fee is 7 times lower than that and my university is ranked ahead of Notre Dame on that top universities site (don't know how accurate the rankings are considered to be).
Where do all the costs come from? Sounds like daylight robbery :anonymous

 

[Spreeuw]

Finally people are starting to realize that going to college doesn't mean anything.

It's just a way to get you into debt at a young age and away from your parents so they can indoctrinate you into Marxism and other garbage.

Just remember this....Will E Worm told you so. :tongue:

Marxism? If there's anything they don't learn you it's marxism.
Or do you mean the historical materialistic method of social inquiry developed by Marx? Perhaps then, yes.
But as far as ethos is concerned: I'm pretty sure most of it is liberal in the US.

 

[Spreeuw]

Haha what the heck, my tuition fee is 7 times lower than that and my university is ranked ahead of Notre Dame on that top universities site (don't know how accurate the rankings are considered to be).
Where do all the costs come from? Sounds like daylight robbery :anonymous

Sorry for the double post.
The costs comes from lack of subsidies, combined with the fact that education is expensive (labour intensive) and not very profitable in itself.

 

[bustybbwlover]

two reasons schools are so expensive 1) less and less funding via the gubment (tho they've gone up during better times), 2) schools compete with each other for things like prestige, well respected scholars (professors), sporting arenas, fields, teams, etc...and a lot of these in the number 2 listing are expensive, stadiums don't come cheap

 

[Danglyparts]

i tried to get in a school for fall and they were super douchey about how to get in and who's allowed. fuck expensive schools, i bet they aren't "too big to fail", but let's all wait and see shall we? next bail out: harvard. taking all bets here!