College Costs Climb

[dArKeR]

The average cost of tuition and fees at the nation's four-year colleges and universities is more than 40 percent higher now than it was 10 years ago, a new study says.

The College Board, which owns the SAT, released its annual Trends in College Pricing report Tuesday, documenting cost increases that have been particularly steep in recent years because of big cuts in state funding.

"Higher education is often the first area to be cut," said William Troutt, the chairman of the American Council on Education and president of Rhodes College in Memphis. He was unsurprised by the findings.

Using inflation-adjusted dollars, the average cost of tuition and fees at state-supported four-years schools is now 47 percent higher than it was a decade ago, the study said. The average cost of tuition and fees at private colleges and universities, also adjusted for inflation, has grown by 42 percent over the same period.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/21/national/main579198.shtml

$200,000,000,000 to Iraq and we can't even send our children to higher education. Sorry folks, this is the Bush instituted downfall of our nation.

[izzie]

1. When I went back to college I had to work my way. It was a job.

n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

3. How expensive was the tuition when you went back to school?...

...I worked while I was in school, too, but I still needed to borrow money to make up for the shortfall every quarter. I also worked during the summers to raise cash for each school year. But I knew that college was affordable if I was willing to pay the price.

Today, even with scholarships, and/or grants, and/or student loans, and/or working one or more jobs per year, the college bills just cannot be paid. Most people that could afford going to college ten or more years ago are being priced out...and that makes going to college another privilege for the children of the wealthy. Within twenty to thirty years, the economic divisions between the upper class and those in the lower to middle classes will be even wider than they are today.

And this is not just happening at the college level...public schols are being heavily cut to pay for the massive tax cut for the wealthy.

The ground is being set for a revolution in this country, and when it comes it won't be very pretty.

[maxanne]

5. exactly

the goal being to dismantle public education completely, and make education a privilege for the wealthy. It's so much easier to enslave people if they can't read. This is why women and slaves weren't educated. The result of education is revolution.

[tom_paine]

13. Did the Romans ever get around tor revolting against their Emperor?

My thought is, like Rome, the track that a Great Republic follows to get to the position where it strides over the world "like a Colossus" and the sociological track necessary to weaken the people within to the point where the first Tyrant who comes along with a good plan can take it over...that track insures that by the time the Republic Falls (12-12-2000) collectively-speaking, there isn't enough of the original rebel/Liberty-Lover remaining to forment a revoltuion.

Call me a cynic, but I don't think Imperial Amerika will EVER see a substantive revolt until it grows weaker farther down the Path to the Fall (which became inevitable once Amerika embraced Empire). By that time, the great-grandchildren of the victims we tyrannized will be ready and willing to get revenge (and a piece of the looted Empire).

So, by the time revolt is even possible in the Empire, it will be sublimated to the more important task of "survival"...

Just my 2 cents.

[CaptAhab]

6. Working in college

"When I went back to college I had to work my way. It was a job."

Yes, I'm also working while going to college, but tuition has risen almost by $3000 over the past two and a half years, so recently I've had to make student loans to make up for the difference, while at the same time the university is cutting down on classes and instructors due to budget shortages. As if already there weren't way too many freshman and sophomore-level classes with several hundred students in them.

[newyawker99]

9. Hi sun6302!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[teryang]

2. That giant sucking sound you hear

...is the middle class going down the toilet.

[TahitiNut]

4. Comparing minimum wage to tuition and fees ....

In 1971-1972, the minimum wage was $1.60 and the average tuition and fees for a 4-year public college was $376/year. In 2002-2003, the minimum wage was $5.15 and the average tuition and fees for a 4-year public college was $4,081/year. Thus, in 1971-1972 it took 235 hours of labor to cover tuition and fees, while in 2002-2003 it took 793 hours. That's an increase, in REAL terms, of 237%.

[dArKeR]

11. I never thought of it that way. We need more people like you who

can quantitize this sickness. Bush has set up our nation so that only the rich children will carry on in America. A cycle of destruction and torment for the poor.

I never would have be able to attend/complete college if it wasn't for the Work Study program, Student Loans, scholarship award and a Federal Grant. (about 3.0 average so I got a scholarship too).

College is a right ALL American children should have. Our nation would benefit from it. It should be mandatory:
1. College
or
2. 2 years overseas in a volunteer organization

[TahitiNut]

14. I remember all too well working both in the summer and during school..

... to pay my college expenses. When folks talk about minimum wage jobs they (conveniently?) forget about college students working their way through. At the time, I had to carry a full load in order to keep from being drafted before I got my degree. Working while being a full-time student was an 'education' in itself.

[MattNC]

7. thank god for scholarships

pays for pretty much my whole education, so thankfully the last 4 years for me haven't been a financial struggle.

[burythehatchet]

8. The plain fact is that

more educated people are liberal...you do the math...pun intended

[jiacinto]

10. I know this all too well

I just graduated from Grad School and College. I have a large student debt load. I owe enough that would equal a mortgage on a house.

Thank god, though, I was able to consolidate at 3%.

[dArKeR]

12. $39,000,000,000,000 - $39 Trillion dollars - I've revised my war estimate

of the actual cost of Bush's Slaughter.


There are so many costs the American Whore Media is ignoring.
1. The pre-war planning man hours. Pentagon, CIA, FBI, State Dept., Congress - Executive Branches
2. The wasted work time of private sector employees talking and worrying about it and loss of production.
3. Loss of soldiers and what it does to their families.
4. Wasted American Media Whores air/print time on the subject.
5. When military equipment fails/repairs do contractors go to the field to help? Who pays for this?