As a lower middle class kind in NJ when I went to university the first thing we all do was find those we could afford. then we tried to get into the one that best suited us. No we did not try for the Ivy’s and that did retard our corporate careers goals but we made up for that with grit. We learned early that life was not fair but achievable.
3
Go to a Canadian University e.g., Memorial University in Newfoundland - for international students, tuition is under $12,000 Canadian/year (just over $9,000) in US dollars. It is stunningly beautiful, completely safe (2 murders in the entire province last year), people are warm and friendly (see the 9/11 show in NYC re the planes forced to land in NFLD). If your skin is dark, no one will notice or care. St. John’s, the capital is a small lively city. Yes, the weather can be a challenge at times (the wind, especially, can be annoying at times). The university has engineering, a medical, nursing and pharmacy school as well as all the traditional programs.
3
The author makes some very interesting observations and has me thinking about how I would approach the college conversation with my kids who are currently in elementary school. However, there is one key thing the author misses - parents are willing to pay for ANY DEGREE in the "right" college for their child. Certain degrees will never lead to a high-paying job and one should not take out high-dollar loans for such degrees. For example, a degree in the humanities is not going to land you a high five-figure job that allows you to pay off $30k in loans. This may not be a popular opinion in this country where individual freedom is paramount, but this is the reality.
2
For Americans, I often see this equation:
Having money = being respectable
And the more money one has, the more respectable one is.
Although I would guess Melania would be smart enough to say otherwise, it appears that is exactly what she thinks.
And then every once in awhile, the truth shows its ugly head, when somebody like Jeffery Epstein is in the news.
9
Undergraduate education should top out at $5000. a year without room and board.
Best idea live at home while getting your undergraduate degree.
These colleges with these billion-dollar campuses are a joke.
2
Want to know how to fix the high cost of college education in the USA?
Get rid of Government Student Loans.
4
Yes, this is the root of the problem--but it might be a better idea to reform government aid, to make it fairer and less destructive. First, government aid should be far more restricted--maxing out total student loans of any kind at 20K. Support should not be restricted to 4-year degrees. It should also cover vocational training, programs for licenses and certificates, and anything else that more directly prepares or retrains people for work. It should definitely support people who are not likely to thrive in or complete a 4-year program in a university. Everyone needs a chance, a path to success.
3
Is part of the problem that College degrees were oversold to the society? There are umpteen number of advertisements and surveys which state that on the average a College degree holder earns more than someone who doesn't have a degree. However one should not forget that if everyone goes to College, many of the College graduates of tomorrow will do the jobs that those with a high school or lesser qualification do today. As far as the issue of access to College being denied to meritorious but poor students, is concerned, bringing down costs combined with public funding of Colleges and a more rigorous definition of merit would need to be evolved. The amorphous and diluted definition of merit that has taken root in US College admissions does give advantage to moneyed sections of the society. The SAT, AP exams are a joke compared to the competitive examination systems of China, India and Singapore. The fact is that due to the stringency of the merit criteria in these countries, often the rich are unable to compete ( it simply requires too much dedication and effort than what the rich kids can put in even with coaching assistance), and opt for U.S. Colleges as the easier option. However, even after all the reforms are done, everyone may not need a College degree.
4
Tuition rates in the US, city, state, public, private universities of all types are matched nowhere in the world. There is no excuse for the amounts demanded (not counting what it really costs to go to a university in terms of living etc.)
E.g., in the UK, tuition at Oxford in 2016 was about $12,000 (maybe less today based on dollar and pound sterling fluctuation rates).
Cut out all the extraneous activities. College is for learning and study and research. Professor-student and support staff. C'est tout.
More importantly, in most of the rest of the world, governments at all levels give much greater support to universities. Support has to be increased so universities can lower tuition. Tuition rates should be regulated.
Government support will exclude certain rich universities with X amount in their endowment, at least until their endowments return to acceptable amounts.
Frankly, I cannot imagine how anybody manages university in the US. If one has a number of children, it would seem to be impossible.
3
If I could do it over again, I would've done ROTC, and gone to the best college I could on that. Ten or so years in the military afterwards for job experience, and still have GI Bill to help with an advanced degree later.
3
I am Australian and got a degree in the 80s from the University of Melbourne, one of the best regarded institutions in the country. It did not cost one cent - totally government-subsidized. I lived with my parents and worked seven hours each Saturday for pocket money. I thought nothing of it at the time, but now I see how very lucky I have been. It set me up in a well-paid IT career and I retired young. I feel awful for young people trying to get a career start these days; that, coupled with sky high real estate prices, how do they not despair??
4
I have a PhD and didn't work during college, other than the work I was required to do for my tuition remission which was part of my graduate program's assistanceship. I other words I went to school for free. For my undergraduate work I chose an inexpensive state college. While fewer grad programs offer full tuition remission assistanceships, they do still exist. No one told me about them, but when I was applying to grad schools I learned about them and *only* applied to colleges that had them. The combination of BA and PHD took 10 years, and when I was done I had $22k in debt. Prospective students need to fully research their options prior to selecting their colleges.
2
These overpriced colleges should go out of business.
Who exactly are they serving. They look self-serving to me.
Online undergraduate degrees should be the future. No doubt they will educate their students just as well as these $80,000 a year colleges.
Looking back on it, I should have put the money I spent on my education in an index fund or a mutual fund.
Do not go into debt especially, 6 figure debt.
1
This will not be a popular point of view, but I say parents need to take a long, hard, realistic look at their kids before deciding where, when, and if their kid should go to college. Some really don't have the academic ability, and will either struggle through barely passing or drop out. Some don't have the temperament or desire to sit in a classroom for four more years, and other options might be a better fit. Some are smart but immature (like I was) and directionless right out of high school. Those will do better to wait a few years before going to college, work or join the Armed Services or the Peace Corps, grow up and figure out what they want to do first. I know some feel that college is the place to "find yourself," but unless you're wealthy, college is too expensive for that. Those who have no idea what they want to do with their lives (or a completely unrealistic idea given their particular abilities and talents or lack thereof), are the ones who will end up living in their parents' homes for another decade or two, drifting. Some kids are ready right out of high school, some aren't but will be in a few years after maturing, and others never will be ready.
9
Our children are 30 and 27- so their college expenses were not too far in the distant past. We paid for two BA degrees for them without any loans. We did have steady employment- I worked part time for 16 years. We started saving at birth and we were not burdened by student loans. Despite that- our savings covered 3 years for each child- I returned to full time work and we paid the rest in cash. Even in state schools in Illinois are over priced- my kids went to medium no name liberal arts schools where they got generous merit scholarships which brought the cost to less than a state school. I loved being a mother and probably would have had more children- except for the cost of college.
2
Strategy #2
I am an older dad, having had children at 54 and 56.
At my Social Security full retirement age (65 & 4 months)
I also began collecting for the daughters. Because their
birthdays meant starting first grade at age 7, the SS
payments continued almost to age 19, for a total of about
180 months. That mostly paid for college. The rest was a
mash of scholarships, grants, and what I paid. They have
no debt.
Strategy #1
I had a son born when I was 24.
He had a scholarship that covered 1/3.
I paid 1/3 outright.
The last third was covered by a "parent loan"
for 7 years, which I paid while he was in school,
and he took over upon graduation.
So he had to pay 3/7 of 1/3 ( =3/21=1/7 ) of the cost.
That correction about the average cost of college was a pretty glaring error. It is not 50,000 a year. The article should give precise figures net public vs. net private. In any event, undergraduate costs don't speak to graduate and professional school costs. A newly minted lawyer working as a public defender or insurance agent for 50,000 a year may not be able to afford to cover his or her loans that are well north of 100K. A film school graduate with 200K in loans may not be able to the interest on those obligations when they are making minimum wage. Chiropractors with 300K in loans may not be able to work as chiropractors. It is an utterly insane situation that is crippling our society.
Canceling all student loans debt as a few Democratic candidates for president might make sense if someone can figure out where that money will come from. Clearly, we are doing it wrong in this country. The Europeans and others apparently have a better idea.
We should consider making student loan debt a function of the IRS. Convert all student loan debt into a manageable tax to be paid off over decades might go a long away to relieving the financial burdens of higher education.
Another solution is to make college almost entirely an online educational experience using social media and the emerging immersive technologies that 5G and gigabyte cable will enable. We already have very high quality MOOCs that are either free or very low cost. We need solutions.
1
I graduated from professional school and began my career with approximately $100k in student loan debt. After 15 years of generally paying far more than the minimum payment, I am finally within reach of retiring my student loan debt within the next year. In order to get here, however, I live FAR below my means - I never moved out of my small "starter" home and, other than indulging in eating out when I feel like it, my lifestyle is pretty similar to that of a family making less than 1/3 of my salary. This has allowed me to aggressively fund 529 plans for my own children while paying down my student loan debt - one of my primary concerns for my kids is that they aren't strangled with debt for decades.
This isn't intended to spotlight any supposed superiority or personal boot-strapping; I intentionally chose a lucrative career path, worked hard, and have been lucky, and my path isn't easily emulated. The real takeaway here is that in today's world, leading what used to be a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle requires income that is considerably greater than upper middle class income. College costs, along with health care expenses, have destroyed the middle class as it existed when I was a child.
3
American colleges are simply too expensive.
When I went to a top tier liberal arts college in 1953 room, board and tuition was around $2,000 a year. That is the dollar equivalent of around $20,000 today. But for some reason room, board and tuition at that college today totals more than $65,000, despite a huge endowment.
Something is wrong!
3
This is so important. The model we have for higher education is a failure in many ways--a failure for families who have lost their wealth; a failure for students who spend years of their lives and their own future indebtedness for what is essentially a signaling degree; a failure for what was once a vision of mass higher education but has become a nightmare of bureaucracy, waste, and nearly valueless courses and majors; a failure of protecting history and ancient languages and our heritage of knowledge; and a failure to protect and value a diversity of ideas and viewpoints and political ideas.
We will always need great universities that actually excel in the sense of doing great research and challenging highly motivated and capable students. But we need many more alternatives. We need federal funding for certificates and licenses and vocational training that lead to employment, which is what most families expect for their sacrifices. We need lifelong access to this education and training since careers and employers are not what they used to be. And we need this education for everyone--ever race, religion, age, and so on.
Four-year universities and colleges that starve families and condemn students to life long debt should not have a monopoly on degrees. We need a big change, one that might actually strengthen the universities by making their vast bureaucracies unneeded and returning them to their center in teaching and research under academic leadership.
3
Only thing public secondary schools have to sell anymore--future student debt. Courses like metal, auto, wood shop are things of the past. Too bad, too. Always provided a means to a good living sans four years of college.
Unless they're studying the sciences, math, or tech, our post-Modern Maoist reeducation camps will leave most with a lifetime of debt--well, if Bernie or Warren isn't elected with either's Big Rock Candy Mountain programs of freebees.
17
How has a public* university education become so costly?
1) Koch brothers: they funded right-wing takeovers of state legislatures, who went on to defund all public services, including public higher education. Nearly all costs have been shifted to the students and their families. This is based on the Brothers-K deeply held belief that that there is no such thing as a common good.
2) Administrative bloat: The public university where I work just hired someone to run a new Office of Strategic Brand Management (can't make this stuff up!) at a salary north of $200K/year. Then the OSBM will need staff, staff will have to travel to conferences ... probably a cool million all said and done
*Privates are a different story, relevant to far fewer students
45
I read articles like this and find my disgust with my country overwhelming. Ruthless, unfettered American capitalism - and GOP fiscal policy since Reagan - has wrought this disaster; why are we a society that doesn't place any worth on a developed mind? Why can't we stop spending money on the military and, instead, spend money on people's intellectual development? The current occupant of the White House is a vivid and appalling illustration of what the tawdry American value system produces. Sad!
58
So many things in this country are broken. Our health care system, our infrastructure, our education system are the leaders. Meanwhile spanky and his cronies are busy making life harder for so many people while rolling back needed regulations and cutting taxes for the rich. VOTE DEMOCRATIC.
34
"My son is ARMY STRONG"
8
To all those middle class parents that voted the “no new taxes” slate- The song title “How Do YouLike Me Now” comes to mind.
15
Our colleges've become a corporate racket to keep the tenured awash in 10 yo single-malts, Volvos, and Harris Tweeds.
Many wannabe "professors" are untenured, part-time, wage-slaves in dead-end jobs w/out prospects for better.
Banks conspire w/ higher-edu to grease the fleecing of America w/ massive tuition-mortgages which may not be ignored.
And the upshot?
- Students buy papers, and/or, if rich enough, exam takers (Google Walmart's Walton cheat).
- Graduates find it all but impossible to pursue their "passion," as celebrity graduation cheerleaders exhort them to do. Unless their passion is computers.
- The nest (and dependency) is/are forever for indigent parents
Seems only super-successful entertainment types such as Seinfeld and Russell Simmons can afford to give their kids a full-ride these days.
Hollywood, anyone.
14
The value of big name schools is exaggerated. Where you get your undergraduate degree isn't nearly as important as where you get your graduate degree.
20
Unless, of course, tye parents are divorced and remarried and putting all of their time and effort into their new famiies and new children and each expecting the other to 'step up".
its amazing how quickly the dreams of a quality yet expensive get reduced to almost nothing because their money is needed "elsewhere".
Bitter, much? You bet
11
The world is your oyster so why not attend bag piping school or get a fermentation science degree after your parents spent over 6 figures on that business degree you thought you wanted. Dial a loan will fund about any kind of moronic degree a college can come up with. Elasticity of demand is difficult to apply after considering the easy access to student loans and the expanding curriculum of for profit universities. If the only other alternative to college is not attending college till you know what you want to study (that includes trade school) I think the choice is obvious.
4
Yo, grandpas and grandmas. It is called 529.
6
It worked great for my family. Combination of attending a good, local, public university plus sensible living expenses plus involved multi generational family members that also planned ahead plus obtaining a marketable degree equals middle class life for graduate that exceeds living standard of previous generations of family at same age. Yes, I realize family crises can limit the equation’s utility for some people. Still, if most people would follow it, we would not have 1.5 trillions of debt.
Many European universities have moved to teach in English to make the integration of the international students more practicable and to make themselves more attractive to them. Apply over there and you might spare a fortune and win a fortune's worth of intercultural hands-on experience as a bonus.
24
2 children, my wife and I saved and invested in their 529 plans (no financial aid), they both graduated debt free and with good educations from tier 2 school, good jobs with benefits upon graduation. Thank G-d.
Here's what we didn't do:no Lexus or Escalade, no boat, no 2nd home.
It's possible. What are your priorities?
ps. Yes, we've saved max for retirement.
42
@Brad
Same here- state university with lottery funded partial scholarships for undergrad, nice house but not the top we could qualify for, Hondas and Toyotas driven for at least 10 years, nice annual family vacation but no boats or second homes, season tickets to watch our favorite teams, but always in the cheap seats, not the club sections, kept plugging at our retirement accounts the whole time. Kids graduated with marketable degrees, no debt, got good jobs with full benefits. Now they are homeowners, doing grad school on their own with some employer help. Most of our friends did it the same way and their kids don't have debt either. We didn't have everything we wanted along the way, but we certainly didn't suffer.
I feel very bad for kids whose parents truly aren't able to save for their education, and our student loan system should be more fairly structured to help them.
But parents who chose not to save when they could have done so have no right to complain about their kids' student debt.
2
Rich people: "Come on, poors, pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Get an education and make something of yourself"
Young people whose parents have no savings: "Okay, I guess I'll work and take out loans and make something of myself"
Rich people: "How utterly foolish these children are to go into so much debt! Get the education you can afford! Certainly my tax avoidance schemes are not to blame if that the education you can afford is 'none'!"
Repeat through a loudspeaker with horns and sirens until we all go deaf. It changes nothing.
38
The colleges in America have single handedly wrecked the finances of millions of families.
Congrats to the university community for adopting the greediest and lowest form of capitalism.
Shame on all of them!
18
Ask your child this: if your choice were a) a brilliant, personalized, rich, challenging education but no degree, or b) a prestigious credential but no serious education to back it...which would you pick? PS: For extra entertainment, try this on the nearest Ivy grad, H-Y-P especially. Hours of fun!
9
Two of the things this country gets completely wrong are education and health care. Both are necessary for the common good and neither should result in anyone going into debt or having to file bankruptcy. Apparently, it's impossible to follow the lead of civilized countries that get it right and a lot of our citizenry is convinced that it needs to stay the way it is. Pathetic.
38
Boo Hoo. Those same “poor” american families line up in their 10's of millions to vote for conservative republicans who will do absolutely NOTHING to help them, and I'm supposed to feel sorry for them? They get what they deserve!
23
You mean this is the first generation of parents who will sacrifice anything for the well being of their kids to give them a head start? I am shocked!
6
My three boys are four, two, and nine months old. I did the math and if college costs continue to rise at their current rate I'm looking at over a million bucks to send all three to the same caliber of private LACs my wife and I attended in the mid-2000s. Something has to give. If not, I'll consider handing my sons a lump sum of cash when they graduate high school and advise they find something else to do with their early 20s. Travel the world, join the military, learn a trade, etc. I don't plan to encourage them to join this rat race as currently constructed. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
33
Tell the kids to joint the military and serve their country for a few years. Make money for college, then go to a city college. If they have the native intelligence and drive they'll succeed, if not they won't. And you won't have wasted 200k on a useless degree.
14
Vote Bernie and Warren already.
Right college should be free for those who qualify... public college, community college... and get rid of the administrators already. Altho I will admit running a university is much more complicated today with the "snowflakes" - trigger warnings, therapy animals, sexual harassment/abuse, grade complaints in addition to the traditional complaints about cafeteria food.
14
Money Magazine recently rated colleges for best value. California came in first with 9 out of the top 16 (UC Irvine was #1). If CA can do it your state can too. It takes leadership. http://money.com/money/best-colleges/
9
Just one more reason to strictly limit family size.
12
Meanwhile, America is starving for tradespeople, many of whom pull $150k a year. There's a 200,000 body shortfall in the trades, and now the gov's no longer letting in the immigrants who customarily took those jobs. It's so bad it's holding back new house construction nationally, and the entire US economy along with that.
In framing carpentry, there are free 12-week pre-apprenticeship training programs all across the US. Finish it, then earn while you learn through the 4-yr apprenticeship, with an annual pay increase, after which you'll pull $43k-50k a year, based on a 40-hr week. Put in overtime and you can easily nudge it over six figures.
Carpentry's a great skill, creatively satisfying, outdoors in the fresh air, and it keeps you strong, smart and fit. There's no office politics, bosses emailing you after hours or even the need to think about work after you leave the jobsite. You just go home and enjoy the spoils of your hard work.
There's a new program called Become A Framer launching this Labor Day and aimed at high school grads, drop-outs and college grads who can't find a good-paying job, or don't like their existing one.
You can read up on it and all the local course offerings at www.becomeaframer.com.
30
When Elizabeth Warren demands $350,000 to teach one class of course her immoral and outrageous demands are a huge tax on the middle class.
7
We saved. And saved. Our moral obligation was to educate our kids at the best school they could attend and we could afford. Fewer “gadgets” and cars and clothes and some boxed Mac and cheese. You can get there too.
Stop making everything a crisis. Let’s have more trade programs and stop deifying college. Mist don’t use what they learn anyway, certainly not how to think.
5
I consider myself lucky that I am now down the final $25k of my daughter's student loans. (She graduated in 2016) . Her father did not contribute. I worked a job bartending and started my pension early in order to pay as much in cash as possible. I live with my partner in a one bedroom apartment and drive a 19 year old car that cost $2400. My daughter went to NYU and got academic grants of about $38k yearly and I always said that keeping up her grades was her job. If she did that, I would pay the rest. (She also interned throughout her senior year and summers as well as working in NYC restaurants.) She graduated Phi Betta Kappa and Summa cum laude, so she did her job. Her degree is in English and she is now on her second job making about $80-90k yearly, so her story is a bit different than some. I'm perfectly content to pay the $300 monthly on the loan and it will be paid off in 7 more years, which isn't that awful. I think another facet of the whole conversation is the expectation of what school the child should go to..Not all kids are equal and the expectations about their academic ability and job potential should be considered honestly when the family makes the decision about what school and how much debt, imo.
9
Colleges don't even teach students to levitate these days. How useful are they?
6
With education so expensive the competitiveness of America is suffering and the remainder of the world is crawling up the USA backside killing the dream. Going into debt for kids is a terrible consequence of genetics and one wonders way anyone would have children.
4
I went to a community college in Staten Island NY and after two years went to Brooklyn College for my degree. Please explain to me if you think you are smart enough to go to college why can't you do what I did which cost me very little money as I lived at home and worked part time for 4 years then picking a very expensive college unless you want to go to Miami for 4 years of fun and sun like my nephew did and now owes a ton of money and wants us to bail him out.Maybe go to a trade school because there are lots of jobs that are going unfilled like plumbers, electricians, steel workers ,air conditioning and heating and then maybe open up your own business and not depend on mommie for room and board ,her car, her money, and making her pay for your food deliveries. Get responsibility we owe you nothing in our taxes.
9
It would be nice, for once, if the NYT would investigate the underlying reasons for this disgrace. I’ll give you an example of some questions you can look into:
Why are colleges and universities charging such obscene tuition rates that are in far excess of inflation?
Why are so many in the USA convinced that going to college is the only ticket into the middle class when there are now shortages in the vocational fields?
Why are student loans not dischargeable via bankruptcy?
I’m tired of the same tedious tales of hopelessness and woe. Instead, why don’t you put your staff to work on investigating these questions above and then interview people, politicians and experts on how to resolve it.
30
Yep. Perfectly said. The middle class is drowning. Please help.
4
File under 'duh'. And substitute the words 'country club' for college - because that's what college has become. (No judgement - just fact.)
12
One of the ways I was able to save money on college tuition was to attend community college for two years and then transfer to a 4 yr university so that my degree was from the more prestigious university. I also chose schools within driving distance of my parents home rather than incur housing costs. To quote the Stones... you can't always get what you want...but you get what you need.
11
College administration's major focus is on themse!ves. Students are a distant second.
10
Making college mandatory feeds perfectly into the supply and demand cycle of capitalistic exploitation.
3
Things are getting worse and worse for the working man and woman. When are we going to vote these worthless politicians out who perpetuate the system of feudalism?
7
To No Name, who writes
"the US is the only developed country that puts this burden on students and their families."
This is false. The average cost of tuition and fees is $ 8 000 in the US, $ 12 000 in the UK
Here are the data
https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/640-width/20190720_FNC411_1.png
They are $ 5 000 in Canada, $ 0 in Sweden , $ 0 in Denmark
Seems to be an Anglosaxon trait.
7
Something with America is off-wack. Before I knew about the price of colleges, I was shocked to hear from friends that they will not have a SECOND child because they cannot pay for college tuition. Their first child, the same age as my daughter and a good friend, was 3 years old. What? I mean, what???
You decide not to have a second child because of the price of college???
And the parents were a doctor and a nurse!
God bless Israel where we only pay $2500 for university, where there is general health care and people have as many children as they want.
11
During the Golden Age of Capitalism (1945-1975), having a degree was economically rational because a very tiny fraction of the population had one.
That meant that, if you had one at that time, that put you in front of 90% of the competition for a job you applied to.
But competition, in the long term, leads to equalization. 30 years later, everybody has a degree. It means nothing. Now, you must have an Ivy League. 50 years from now, even an Ivy League diploma won't be enough: you'll have to have a suma cum laude to have a chance.
This phenomenon is not just an American one: in Germany, for example, a degree in some areas of engineering means absolutely nothing -- students go directly to a masters degree before even trying to enter the labor market. Most Swedish kids today won't enter the labor market until they are 30.
12
Just a crazy thought, but maybe choose not to have kids? The human popoulation stands now at 7.3 BILLION people. The planet Earth can afford for you not to procreate if you can't afford to maintain a "Middle Class" lifestyle while raising children.
15
The snobbery surrounding state schools is astonishing to me.
16
And now let’s throw health insurance into the mix.
4
The cost of universities have gone up to pay for the grievance studies hate factories. When you pay someone $400k/year, like at UCLA, to find hate or create hate, guess what? They will find hate and create hate.
Universities are crippled by PC speech and thought control. Honest inquiry can destroy a persons life's work for coming up against the woke hate ideology.
As institutions, they are beyond repair - the Ivy's openly discriminate against Asian student to benefit rich kids and other kids with more approved racial backgrounds.
It's time for tax payer to starve and destroy higher ed and stop it's hate factories.
8
I've been reading this article in the NYT for 30 years:
https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1981/02/19/011465.html?pageNumber=32
I think the biggest underlying problem is that states have greatly reduced how much they spend on higher education:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/most-americans-dont-realize-state-funding-for-higher-ed-fell-by-billions
10
Even when today’s family manages to scrape by and get a child or two through college — the lesson on those college-educated kids gets learned in hard terms too: the next generation is opting out of having any children at all.
Congratulations Ivory Tower egg-heads with PhDs, you’ve just priced yoursellves out of a job.
But there are always the Tiger-mommed kids from China and Korea— but Trump says, why subsidize all those effete universities with NSF and NIH and NEA greats just to educate the Chinese and Koreans, who will pay top dollar tuition anyway?
And so we will learn what really does a US degree cost?
5
How about parking that helicopter in the hangar and give your kids the opportunity to figure their life out by themselves. They have options other than Mom and Pop holding their hands and keeping them from learning anything.
Gee, kids. Did you know you can actually WORK and save your money to pay for school? Did you know you could join the military or the coast guard and get it for free? Did you know you DON'T have to go to Harvard? Grow some independence. Go to night school. Get a life - not your parents', either.
8
Dr. Zaloom's article fails to deal with a major issue that these higher costs have caused, that being family planning. As snarky, former Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan said to Americans" Have more children". Obviously, one of the key reasons our national birthrate has declined is the cost of educating our children.
When my wife and I married in 1961, college costs for educating our eventual brood of four was no where on the radar. Today, you'd have to be an idiot ( or extremely wealthy) not to limit your family size in order to hope for long term financial security.
Between medical costs (ours were almost entirely paid by corporate benefits), college education, and saving for retirement, the middle class finds it hard to survive today, which is not news to anybody who thinks they are middle class.
Changes to our national priorities must be made and that won't happen with the Republicans. Maybe the Democrats are taking too big a bite, too soon, but their programs are the only long term hope middle class America has.
8
This is completely idiotic. No one needs the perfect school! You do not!!!! You need a college degree!
I made an average of 80,000 - 90,000 with negligible (600 per month) from my ex husband in child support. I clearly laid out a debt free plan for our two sons:
1. In state public school at one of 3 excellent state institutions
2. senior year of high school the kids did dual enrollment, both boys graduated high school with over 33 free college credits.
3. One kid chose to live at home and commute to college (we paid for an old car for him to commute)
4. Both boys worked for their personal expenses.
5. Both boys received state funded academic scholarships paying 87% of their tuition -maintained a B average in college
6. we saved and invested 15K per child which grew to about 25 K each over the 15 years it was invested.
My first son graduated debt free in December 2018. He has a great job making 70K as a software salesperson (his work throughout college more than prepared him for the real world.
My second son is on track to graduate debt free. He works a 15 dollar an hour internship in computer science and taught Calculus 1 as a TA. He is doing a study abroad at Oxford in the UK next week, paying Georgia instate fees through his public university.
IT CAN AND IS BEING DONE PEOPLE!!!! YOUR KIDS ARE NOT "precious". Get practical and get them through college.
OH-one more thing: NEVER, NEVER co-sign a student loan! I plan to retire in dignity, not broke.
22
The author makes the initial assumption, a holy grail that is nearly beyond question, that the best route to a middle-class life passes through a four-year college. That is simply not true. The expected lifetime income for those with a B* degree is substantially higher than for those without. But there are two reasons that this proves nothing.
First is the selection bias: those who attain a BA/S almost certainly are, on average, more intellectually gifted than those who aren't. But we don't know what the outcomes are for those who are equally gifted but bypass college. There is no control group: those who could be successful in college, but who bypass college to achieve a secure and comfortable middle-class life.
Second, it is almost always the case that there is greater variation within a group than there is between groups. Right here: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.t05.htm is the data that demonstrates this. It takes little statistical sophistication to see that the third quartile of high school graduates earns more than the first quartile of college graduates.
College is a worthy goal for some people. Shoveling everyone into college foolishly creates demand, which leads to escalating costs, all for no good reason. There are honorable and desirable alternatives that are better suited to most high school grads. If most of us made smart life choices, the issue of college affordability would evaporate.
10
Parents revolt! Join together and stop sending your children to college for the next 2 years. Then wait and see how these so-called schools of higher learning react. Will they lower their costs? You bet!
6
Education, healthcare, housings etc are in the hands of greedy institutions in America .
Something has to give , before the total self destruction of this once Great Country , perhaps we need some form of healthy socialism like in most of Europe and Canada .
5
I would love to see one of these colleges show how the actually spend the money. That's the elephant in the room here. There's no way it actually costs 60k to educate a child. Colleges are wasting the money.
10
Young parents need to learn the value of compound interest. Too many take the tack I heard during a discussion of college costs at a small town library in New Hampshire several years ago: “I can never save enough money for my kids’ college so there’s no use even trying.” What nonsense.
7
Why does it feel, that the kids of today, including the previous generation - the Millennial's, feel they are owed a friction free entry into adulthood? Same goes for their parents. Wake up, your kids ain't that bright, and are not destined to lead the world! Scale back.
Its been apparent for some time now that traditional college is not the ONLY path into the adult job-market. That not everyone is cut-out for what amounts to high-school bleeding over into 4 more years of classrooms, before their leap into the adult world. That there are other alternatives - such as dozens of various good paying trades, and other skills based, but labor demanding fields of employment. One reason is of course lack of awareness. But the other, and the one I feel is the major one - these skilled, often physically demanding jobs are deemed beneath the average American teen/young adult. Especially in predominately white urban and suburban enclaves. Places were physical labor is seen as something done by minorities, or the stupid, or both.
Young Americans raised on leisure time activities, who believe the jump into adulthood should be seamless, and not involve losing all the pleasurable accoutrements provided by their child-enslaved parents. (Thanks Boomers for the Child is King Culture you created!)
Should 4yrs of college be a path to decades of debt? No. But should it involve some responsibilities of adulthood? Yes! But some of that adult behavior needs to fall on the parents too! Wake up.
3
Dear middle class parents concerned about college tuition:
Is there something special about you that the taxpayer should subsidize fully (or in part) your obsession with college education of your kids? Wasn't free K-12 enough?
You seem unwilling to make trade-offs, and refuse to operate as diligent buyers. You want your kids in spas, top notch athletic facilities, counseling, you want great security. You rarely question curriculum, or a large percentage of professors who are either: (a) brain dead or (b) unqualified adjuncts. Students too vary too much, the central tendency is a low level of interest in learning. Do you think we can be kept on the straight and narrow without strict vigilance, or will not cut corners? Would you get your body operated on by a guy who sold chemicals? But you say nothing when this guy comes in to teach something way beyond his expertise.
Here is the problem you seem unconcerned about. Colleges are catering to middle class parents, to soft kids, to kids who want therapy and not a boot camp. Working class kids, working serious jobs, scrambling for an education - are paying for the leisure and indulgences of your kids.
Get a life. Get involved. Ask about curricula, demand accountability, insist on learning outcome measures. Show up and grill professors about what we do. Will you? Or would you just rather call yourselves victims. Education can be free, if it is a boot camp. Not therapy.
8
What happens is that once all that (mainly parental) money is aimed at colleges, all manner of leeches and vermin are attracted to colleges and college towns to grab the money. Above all, this is the growing caste of middle managers ("Senior Vice Provost for Global Affairs" is an actual title at my university for a person who does "branding"); phalanges of in-loco-parentis student caretakers; and facilities galore to burnish the brand. And ancillary leeches like 'year abroad' programs where you take fly-by-night classes at some remote teaching-mill while never learning the local language but while STILL paying $60K for the year; and then all the real estate scamsters and assorted grifters working the student population. Of course, every time you get your Republican or Democrat representative to pass some draconian right-wing or socially-just law, guess who just hired some more middle managers ON YOUR DIME to pay for enforcing it?
4
Already, the Trump administration wants to favor immigrants with higher education and skills and close the doors to the uneducated and low-skilled. Maybe that's part of the plan. Don't ' spend tax dollars to help educate American children for those knowledge-based jobs when their parents can't afford the tuition and living expenses without debt and great personal sacrifice. It costs nothing to give those jobs to foreigners educated in their home countries.
1
Socialism for the rich, or socialism for the 99%.
2
So what are the alternatives? Are there any?
Come on--let's talk for real. How many young people do we know that are actually thriving after college? Most of the ones I know are in debt and under employed. This means that a four year college degree (especially one in the humanities) is relatively worthless when it comes to a means to employment. It may provide you an education, but only so you have more enlightened thoughts while you are grinding away at your other life intering somewhere for peanuts before going to sell real estate. Or cars. Or something like that.
Education, if we are honest, is to be had in many places. I certainly have learned more about political science and history reading the Times, as an example than I did years ago with my degree. So what is it that we get with the paper? Debt. Credibility. Not a dead end but a meandering footpath...friends and experiences. Are those all things worth the financial ruin? Meh. Maybe. Probably not, but I am not yet above being a lemming.
Still.....
What if we prioritized getting a business education, online or at community college? What if we told our kids "the gig economy" is coming. You are going to need to know how to market yourself, communicate what you do, keep to a budget, negotiate contracts and fees and sell and market you and yourself and a specific skill? Wouldn't that be a better use of time? For the right kind of kid, might that not be better?
Something has got to give. This current path is lunacy.
4
Have you seen in your alumni newsletter the college administration has embarked on a new campaign to manage costs, cut waste and share costs to return tuition to reasonable levels? Nope they are just enjoying the glass and steel offices and new gyms.
9
Maybe we need to think the American high school. Instead of wasting time with courses they’ll never need (I’m talking to you Chem I) specialize what kids are learning and target the coming economy.
1
This is, more than anything else, proof of the deep-seated anti-intellectualism of the United States.
To us, education is another consumer bauble, like the car, the clothes, the trendy shoes that define us, signify our place in the American world.
Its important to us that "good" colleges remain out of reach for the less-financially-or-socially-well-endowed, exceptions made for those very few from the lower ranks we define as exceptional.
We sweat to convince ourselves Harvard or Yale (anything but Brown) means, in and of itself, merit, being worthy of largess soon to follow on the heels of graduation.
Like a sign from some God, the degree alone signifies. Mediocrity among the Elis is no stigma. They're in the club; they matter.
Nations who value education see to it that everybody gets as much as they can handle, as much as will allow them to contribute. We do the opposite, you prove your worth by getting in, after that its a fixed game.
My favorite is politicians of the Right who make a living mocking intellectuals, accusing them of everything from brainwashing their powerless progeny, to being traitors, to managing, on a humanities department budget, to create, implement, and sustain global frauds like climate change.
These old Washington boys trash professors as if the fate of the nation depends on separating them from the herd, and on the other proclaim in glossy campaign materials their attendance at the Ivy League as proof of their superiority.
4
Avoid placing cash in 529 plans. The private school will give you your "deal" after they take the 529.
I worry for Rep. Sean Duffy of Wisconsin with his 8 children plus one coming soon. How will the family paying for college for their 9 kids and possibly more? Both Mr. and Mrs. Duffy have college degrees and would expect the same for their children. The financial stress of paying college tuition for 9 kids usually will push the best of us into making selfish and immoral choices.
It would have been great if while in Congress, Rep. Duffy would push for "Universal College Education".
Since 1938, we have "Universal High School Education", 12 years of free public school. It is about time that we update our country.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-rep-sean-duffy-announces-resignation-citing-family-health-concerns/
2
It would be nice to have this same study carried out in other first world countries,and how the middle class pays for higher education in the other G7 countries.
2
The Times would be doing the country a great service if it injected the issue of out of control college costs into the presidential race somehow. High healthcare costs are killing people who are ill. High college costs are killing social mobility and our country.
7
If you struggle to afford college/university you are no longer middle class, the 'proper' middle class is shrinking in many western countries. Lucky, I did study Medicine for 6 years for free in Germany in the late 80ies and early 90ies..
2
" ... the cost of college — which has tripled at public colleges and universities in the past three decades ...."
I'm guessing that it's the same or more at private colleges. And, my question is why? What is driving this?
I would like the Times to investigate that, and publish their findings. It would be interesting.
4
Is a study of 160 subjects in a nation of 329 million people considered meaningful / useful science?
2
Without Warren's or Bernie's Big Rock Candy Mountain to rescue them, these poor foolish souls have been sold into student-debt slavery by our secondary public education systems.
More power to them, public schools--bourgeois self-indulgence deserves that and more--DNA that should not be replicated.
College education in America is [crazy] expensive; streets of major cities are packed by homeless people; mass shootings happen every month; etc, etc, etc -- then we brag how America, we, are the best country in the world. Can someone explain this to me?
The obvious answer to solving this article's main issue would be 'FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION FOR ALL'
But who are we kidding? this won't happen -- major institutions and those at the top need to keep enlarging their pockets.
So,
Here's a more realistic answer to your problems:
DON'T PAY FOR ANYONE'S COLLEGE EDUCATION
Who cares what your neighbor Barbara has to say? Are you a bad parent? of course not. Crazy Barbara is wasting her savings to put Miachel through college; meanwhile, Michael is in college barely passing his classes (and consuming drugs).
Educate your children from ages 0 to 17 -- then if the education (i.e.: foundation) that your provided is solid, he/she will know the right thing to do.
Who cares about Barbara?
Not. even. Michael. (sad)
1
At what age do people in this country become adults? Is it 18, or is it after graduating college?
The government treating you as an adult at 18 for some purposes, but then treating you like a child for the “expected family contribution” as an 18 college student, is nonsense.
5
There’s no worse example of income inequality that a professor like Elizabeth Warren “earning” $350,000 to teach one class while her students go deep into debt to pay that outrageous immoral salary. No professor should earn more than twice what their lowest paid student earns.
2
It is truly a shame the outrageous burden placed on families trying to send kids to college. If you own a home, particularly in high cost places like the suburbs of NYC, between the high property taxes (which most can no longer fully write off because of Trump and Republicans), commuting costs, and paying for children activities (easily in the thousands per year), families are being squeezed from all sides. God forbid you have a major repair to your home like a roof, furnace, etc.
Most families feel like they are on a hamster wheel just trying to survive...
6
So happy to be living in Switzerland. World class universities. 650 USD per semester.
9
It is not that we don’t want to save when they are young but we pay 30k in health insurance and then 30k for child care. That is 100k overhead after taxes!!!!
6
If we had elected Obama, none of this would have occurred. Actually he left office January of 2017.
My nephew is going to dental school and will graduate with zero debt thanks to the US Navy!
3
Please print the endowment figures for the top 25 US universities and the salaries of the college presidents and then explain why college isn't free. Forgive me if this is too "socialist" in tone.
9
Public education should be free. Period.
4
Our family's finances have been destroyed by paying for college for our kids. Period. After Reagan, and run amock capitalism (palty grants, no regulation), the middle class has been bled by the super-rich who can afford almost anything. Without higher education, students are doomed in the job market. With education, middle-class kids and their parent are doomed with lifelong debt. Most of this can be pinned on Republicans and free-market madness. Brainwashed trumpettes think educational subsidies are SOCIALISM, and educated people are the "elites" who are ruining the country. This block of of education to the common people is like pulling up the ladder on upward mobility. It is immoral. Student loan debt needs to be forgiven for anyone making less than 150K. The grants the government gives to middle class and poor kids should pay for 8/9 of tuition. Who should pay for this? The rich. Why? They have monopolized all the nation's wealth and opportunities since Reagan. Our pols have been paid off, in the meantime. Finally, Betsy DeVos is the educational devil incarnate.
4
Shame on all those "moderate" Democrats and pundits who criticize Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for seeking free college for those qualified to attend as every other civilized country in the world does. God forbid we should raise taxes to rescue the middle class from this financial nightmare crushing the middle class.
3
The University of Toronto charges $8k Canadian ($6k USD)for tuition. The Times Higher Education rankings put it at 21st in the world. NYU is 27th.
America is so full of itself, so proud of its lop-sides priorities, that it would rather spend another century of this sort of navel-gazing - in education, healthcare, politics - than acknowledge that other societies already have the answers and we have just been WRONG.
At some point, you just get the system you deserve.
7
My friend found the perfect solution for his daughter. He sent her to community college and then she transferred to an expensive private school for the last two. "What does it say on her diploma? DUKE. What did I pay? HALF."
184
@dAvid W
You have to be careful with that depending on your career goals. I know someone who has a top 10% MCAT score but was rejected from 30 med schools, including bottom of the barrel state schools, because his basic intro science classes were taken at community college, and the schools didn't know how to compare those grades to people who have taken them at top colleges. He could probably offset that with several years of research and a top 1% MCAT score, but the years of community college really changed his career trajectory.
6
@E B
I doubt that attending community college was the primary reason he didn't get into medical school. It's likely that something else was missing or incongruent in his application such as a low GPA (which when combined w/ high MCAT implies laziness), a negative letter of recommendation, or some other red flag.
5
@E B --- So what finally happened with the kid who wanted medical school?
2
This clearly untenable situation needs more - so much more - than parents mortgaging their futures and bending over backward and becoming human pretzels to play a very rigged game of financing higher ed for their kids. It behooves us, our kids and everyone who wants an education to find ways to protest, lobby and work for change in the way we price education and pay for it. Our states need to step up to support higher ed. Taxpayers need to bite the bullet and pay higher taxes. No, not to build sumptuous dorms and climbing walls, but to keep programs strong and give our kids a break on the cost. Colleges need to step back and take a look at what they are, what they offer. Not every college can or should be “Harvard Jr.” We can’t just keep thinking that if we are frugal enough, and work hard enough, and save enough and “do everything right” under these horrid conditions and rules that it’s OK or, even, good, or that it’ll “work.” Get out there and speak up! Now!
20
I had no idea it would be so difficult to finance 3 kids in a State school. To add insult to injury, government supported loan sharks charge incredibly high interest rates. How is that not robbing from our future to finance a wealthy Washington elite?
Complete insanity!
18
What exactly does Harvard do with it’s $8 billion endowment on which it pays 0 taxes?
28
Please provide a source for the $50,000 figure with which you start the article, The National Council for Education Statistics reports half that:
https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=76
Sometimes I think that all articles on the "crisis of higher education" are written by coastal parents in underpaid knowledge work, who are terrified of not being able to send their kids to Berkeley or NYU.
Out here where most of us live, regional public universities continue to provide a great education at a reasonable price. You should check it out.
12
Nobody, NOBODY, anywhere, pays for higher education,
except of course, in the United States.
F3
10
State colleges were cheaper for the middle class before "tax cuts." Since states don't pay for college, students/parents do.
States are shooting themselves in the foot and denying the middle class the American dream.
14
The problem of payment for higher education is a problem which -- like so many others (health care, gun violence, etc., etc.) -- Americans choose to have. Every other industrial democracy in the world has managed -- one way or another -- to make university education reasonably affordable to anyone with the talent to pursue it.
Now as to why Americans choose to do these things to themselves and their children -- well that is something of a mystery, isn't it? It's certainly not a matter of wealth -- or at least it shouldn't be, not amongst that 5% of the world's population which (forcefully) insists on it's God-given right to consume 20-25% of that same world's resources.
12
„.... make University education reasonably affordable to anyone with a talent to pursue it“
And therein resides the problem.
Who and what will determine who should get into a university. About „talent“ will be argued endlessly and if there should be an attendance disparity, „talent“ will be discarded and everyone who wants in gets in.
Look no further than talent selective NYC HS‘s they are in danger of being sacrificed on the alter of disparity.
9
"The average annual price tag for attending an American college is now around $50,000."
That is an absurd, inflated, made-up number.
This may or may not be true for a private college but it certainly is not the average for all colleges. We put two kids through Berkeley about 4 years ago and who had to stay in shared apartments in the Bay Area, one of the most expensive regions in the US and the kids paid between $700-750/month each for a room in a shared apartment. Tuition was listed at $13,000 a year but the LA Times reported at the time that families earning less than $95,000 a year paid no tuition at UC's. Since our kids overlapped during their school years, we were generally paying $1,500/year tuition. Two years of non-overlap cost $7,000 and $9,000 respectively. So for 6 out of 8 years our costs were about $15,000/ child going up to about $20,000 only twice when only one child was at school.
It should be noted that tuition at the California State Universities, which take about 85% of high school graduates in this state are about 1/2 of those at the University of California Schools,, i.e. Berkeley, Davis, UCLA, San Diego. etc.
One child who went to NYU law school faced tuition of about $70,000/year before a scholarship reduced it substantially.
Sensationalist reports of college costs and these do a disservice because they seriously mislead and may discourage less affluent from considering good schools.
19
This just drops in a bit after the beginning: "The cost has tripled at public colleges and universities in the past three decades." Can anyone explain how the American public can be robbed like this and nobody revolts?
21
They want that sweet t shirt and to attend the home coming football games - I would ask the same question about the sky high costs for a family to participate in sports or attend a sporting event
3
College tuition is too much and too high these days. New dorm, new stadium, and new facilities. For what? It has little to do with education but glorify their own privilege, fame, and esteem.
Twenty years ago, we paid all the tuitions, room and board for my two daughters during their times in college. During that time, my wife and I never took domestic vacation or foreign trips in Europe or Asia. We didn't eat out, watched sport games or went concert etc. We just didn't do anything but kept working . We lived in the same suburban house for a long time. In the end, we decided to let them pay their own graduate school tuition. It is up to them to go to graduate school. One did and one didn't, but end up the same as a middle class citizen.
The bottom line is that we need to cut college tuition and toughen admission requirements.
10
The New Stadium, the weapons-grade athletic facilities and the condo-quality student housing all serve to jack up recruitment, so schools can reject the highest number of students and rise up the US News & World Report rankings - a magazine that does not exist anymore, but for these rankings.
With all the people scheming to get their talentless wonders into top schools their brand as a serious source of academic will continue to plummet - see George W Bush and Trump as two products of the exclusive Ivy League along with numerous other Gobshites.
5
Tuition at top-tier private collages in thee late 70s cost 1/10th of what they do today.
Like many of the commentators on this article, as a child of the lower-middle class, a "latchkey kid," my mother couldn't afford the enrichment stuff, but we were expected to read, and to well in school.
My school peers from the upper middle-class had lives filled with music lessons, ski trips and family vacations to places I'd never heard of. To this day, I've never skied.
Yet prior to Reagan, with the space program still going, the public supported Government not as "them," but as "us," the one company that we all held shares in.
So, almost 40 years ago, subsidized by the National Science Foundation, I spent a summer in science camp, suddenly among the the smartest, most creative people I've ever been among.
The result was life-changing.
But the market ethos has now infected most everything. The NSF Program I attended long shut down, replaced, I guess, by things like "Google's Summer of Code" whose underlying mission ultimately is commercial..
Education is just another big business, since American University figured out that putting in fancy buildings and dorms, could raise its ranking in the US and World Report yearly rating.
Schools now are doing whatever it takes to compete with other forms of entertainment.
27
College could be 3 years instead of 4 if students were prepared for it in their last year in high school.
It should be an easy change-over which will save 25% and colleges would not necessarily lose students.
16
I graduated from a great private university in 1960 with essentially no debt because I worked summers in the meat packing industry. I think all those jobs are gone now, but I will be forever grateful to the United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA), which is also gone.
15
Something will need to change or the colleges will price themselves out of the market and the bubble will burst. More and more I see people going to community colleges and then, maybe, finishing their degrees at a 4-year school. We will soon have a lot of empty 4-year schools with fancy facilities, especially since it is also getting harder for the foreign students, who were being recruited to take the place of the local students who can't afford it anymore, to even get into the country.
10
Our daughter graduated from University of South Florida School of Education and had four job offers prior to graduation. We started saving for her education the month she was born and paid the entire $112,000 cost, allowing her to start her career debt free. After teaching at a Charter School for four years, this week she started a two year Graduate Program at the New School. If will be financed by a Scholarship, Fellowship, part-time job and our assistance without incurring any loan debt. My wife and I are Middle Class but refused to allow a child of eighteen make decisions that would cripple her financial future.
17
@Robert1009 - and that has what to do with this article? I don’t understand comments which say “we’re doing fine. What’s the problem?” The problem is - not everyone is in a position to save over $100k for their child’s college education. It also doesn’t address the fact of the exploding costs of attending college.
31
@Robert1009 - and that has what to do with this article? I don’t understand comments which say “we’re doing fine. What’s the problem?” The problem is - not everyone is in a position to save over $100k for their child’s college education. It also doesn’t address the fact of the exploding costs of attending college.
4
@Diane Bancroft. Are you that threatened by someone who did what you claim is impossible: achieved and succeeded without Big Government holding their hand 24/7?
1
When I was faced with going into debt to pursue a professional degree, I decided to leave the country. Enrolled in an engineering school ranked top five in the world, outside of the US. THERE WAS NO TUITION and I graduated debt free. Best decision I ever made. The system in the US is brutal and unfair.
28
The loss of factory and other similar jobs is often waved away by saying: well, time to join the knowledge economy. People who push AI and robots, or businesses that relocate overseas, say: stop moaning and join the knowledge economy. Millions of labour intensive or, for that matter, any category of jobs previously done by men are now done by women. Stop moaning, join the knowledge economy. But it is precisely this knowledge economy that requires university education and degrees. And leads to the situation described in this article. This situation was heavily exacerbated by the financial crisis of 2008, and for many people with pensions in illegally and immorally run companies, like Enron. With so much uncertainty, it is natural for parents to wish to give their children a fair chance to survive and prosper, even at their own expense. Even if this leads to serious financial problems later during health crises, retirement, etc. There are societal issues here that seem to have drawn very little attention from academics, perhaps because they are seen to be politically incorrect, or too sensitive to handle. This article is an important contribution to the discussion and the author must be thanked and encouraged to explore the subject further.
12
A friend brought this interesting conundrum to my attention in college: His parents (who immigrated to the US) saved and saved for college . . . forgoing even modest vacations, making do with rickety cars, etc. Financial aid and loans made up the difference between their savings and tuition . . . But, that would have been the case even with smaller savings. So, the aid calculations more or less amounted to "well, now that you've saved all this, we'll take it!". . . How exactly, then, should parents of young children balance present needs against future?
26
Excellent essay. Reinforces and updates many points made by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tiaggi in their classic book TWO-INCOME TRAP. More attention needs to be paid to this middle-class squeeze. Families must not only save for retirement and children's college, they must pay higher and higher health insurance costs and deal with fading job security. Divorce can also throw a monkey wrench into this. Democrats did not address this deep rumbling anxiety during 2016; today they risk over-promising solutions that require huge federal spending.
13
College costs too much. Plain and simple. An undergraduate degree is not worth $200,000 ($50k/year for 4 years if lucky).
Secondly, Federal Loans have interest rates that are usury under today's economy. When I can get a mortgage for under 4%, but a student loans (most have more than one) are 6 - 8.5%, there is a problem. Why does the Fed allow these interest rates?
Lastly, and just as important, many kids that go off to college are not prepared for college, either emotionally, academically, or both. These kids drop out or spend years changing majors and cannot find jobs. It is wrong to tell kids they must go to college.
30
@Ma. Clearly economics is no longer taught. A mortgage is a secured loan. If you don’t pay your mortgage the lender can seize your house to recover their losses. A student loan is unsecured and therefore far riskier. A riskier loan merits higher interest rates. If you don’t pay back your student loan it’s not like the lender can take the knowledge you gained in college
4
Wrong - a student cannot default on a loan and get bankruptcy protection. Yes, economics would dictate that unsecured debt carry a wider risk spread than secured debt, but when loans have parental co-signers and wages are docked to service them and the debt cannot be extinguished by bankruptcy, it is not exactly unsecured.
Otherwise it would bear an Interest Rate of 18 percent, like most credit cards, which have far more defaults.
8
I have been a university professor for 25 years. When I started out, the federal and state goverments were investing heavily in baby boomers. Combined, they paid for 70% of my tuition to a state school. I could work in the summers to pay for books and incidentials. It was not a horrible drain on family finances.
Speed ahead a few decades. Universities are now opening food pantries and finding beds for students in shelters. In my department, the dean started putting out Ramen noodles and other foods for students to grab. The bowls often were emptied.
These are all middle-class kids that are often working two jobs to pay for tuition and high-priced texts.
If this country is really serious, it has to start investing in tuition as it did decades ago. This funding made the baby boomers one of the most educated groups in our history. The government knew that it was a necessity if our country was to move ahead. It does not seem to realize it now.
38
I am a college counselor with a locally-based nonprofit organization and I work with 11th and 12th graders in 2 public high schools, and I have children approaching college myself. I understand both professionally and personally the enormous dilemma of wanting to give children the best education and trying to plan for retirement and family needs/priorities. My Husband and I are in a much better situation than many families I work with, but we still think about this trade off all the time— we won’t get any income based financial aid for college but there’s little chance we can afford to pay the full bills entirely by ourselves. The advice I give my students and families, and that my husband and I try to follow ourselves, is that we have honest conversations with our children about finances, priorities, and choices with them (even now at 13 and 10). I want them to understand that we absolutely value education and we will work hard to put them through college, but that choices have to be made now and in the future because resources are not unlimited. As a side note, we lived in the Netherlands for two years and my children went to school with local families who never had these kind of conversations. I wish America valued and supported higher education in the same way those countries do, and I’d be happy to pay the additional taxes to get there if it meant the stress in the lead up to college was not the same.
16
After perusing the comments, and having read the article, I have 2 comments.
1. Community College for 2 years is indeed the practical way to go. Most classes are small, there's a diverse student population including many slightly older ones, and the cost is much more friendly. Transfer to your "dream" school for the last 2 years. Your degree is labeled from that university. After 2 years you will have figured things out. I did.
2. Military. I find it morally reprehensible that kids (families) feel compelled to join the military to get a quality education. A quality education should be available for all with no military service needed. Related to this are facilities. Five or so years ago I attended a work meeting and because it was a larger group we needed a bigger space so someone was able to procure the local National Guard facility. I was floored when I arrived and saw the high end (compared to our local high schools) classroom spaces and facilities that were for the most part sitting empty. Over the next 5 years I attended other meetings and each time was aghast at the emptiness of these classrooms. Why I asked and continue to ask, are our taxpayer dollars going to build these awesome facilities when clearly our public school buildings need the funds more and service all our kids--ages 5 to 18? I guess it goes back to the old bake sale quote and the fact we get the government we deserve. I support our military but believe we need to find a better balance.
13
@Citizen 0809 Community colleges are not always the answer. In my locale, the community colleges are highly impacted. It is extremely difficult for students to get the classes that they need that would enable them to transfer to a four year college or university in just two years. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, only 13% of a 2010 community college cohort completed their bachelors degree six years later. Community colleges are a very important part of our educational system but they are not necessarily the most practical way to go.
11
In the midst of your moral indignation, you do realize the Guard and other Reserve components train on weekends after the soldiers and sailors finished working their M-F 9-5 jobs? To paraphrase Rip Torn in Men In Black: everything we have come to expect from years of post gradúate training.
Our businesses have given over the training of our young to colleges. It used to be that you started at a job and were trained there. You could work your way up, or you could move to a different job if it wasn't working out for you.
Now, you have to have that degree just to get in the door. It doesn't matter that once you get in the door, it is still an entry level job and you still have to work your way up.
And even if you have savings, you as a parent are expected to pay for your child's education. The student is not considered to be independent until age 24. Even if they are living on their own when they start school, like my oldest child was, the parents' income is still factored in. And the student doesn't qualify for much of anything if you as a parent make 'too much money'. Even with excellent grades. Aid, grants, scholarships. My three kids all went to a state school. Because of my husband's income, they didn't qualify for much 'aid'. Why do they call it aid anyway, when all it is is school loans?
We had to take parent plus loans for our kids. Before the Feds took over, the interest rate was only 2.3%. Now it is 8% with a discount of .5% for automatic payments. I think we should be looking at who is getting the money from all of the interest paid on these loans. The Feds are. It is a disguised tax that is funding the government.
22
Probably funding the public (secured) - private (unlimited) profits known at Sallie-Mae - thank W and the GOP for that privatization
6
Excerpt from an unpublished op-ed submitted to NY Times 5/18: My response when I get asked about my retirement plans: “I need to work as long as I can.” Unlike my dad at age 59, I have a mountain of debt. First and second mortgages, student loans … all representing obligations to pay for the private college education for two children. We struggle to pay down $260,000 in principal debt, with an anticipated low six figures in interest to be added on. This scale of parental college debt, nearly unheard of a generation ago, is prevalent today. According to the Government Accountability Office, 6.3 million adults ages 50-64 – and 867,000 households age 65+ – held student debt in 2015. The number of older borrowers with student debt grew 385 percent for those over age 65 in a decade, and 119 percent for ages 50-64. Outstanding debt of loan holders ages 50-64 skyrocketed from $43 b. in 2005 to $183 b. in 2015, and the debt those 65+ had increased 977 percent from $2 billion to nearly $22 billion. “Retirement Delayed: The Impact of Student Debt on the Daily Lives of Older Americans” (American Student Assistance, 2017) proposed initiatives including more grant aid and cost controls to reduce college debt need, and legislation to refinance loans at lower interest rates. Yet most of the public debate today about college debt tends to focus solely on the hardships of young people. Forgotten are parents who assumed responsibility for the cost of their children’s college education.
14
@Jim Murphy My husband and I feel the same way. We are in our 60s and should be thinking about retiring, but still owe over $100,000 in parent plus loans for our 3 children. The last graduated back in 2011 from a state school. We can't retire. We pay almost the same monthly payment for loans as we do our house payment. The house pays off in 6 years because it is simple interest. Not the parent plus loans. Those are compound interest. And I think it is obscene that once the federal government took over student loans that the interest rates went from 2.3% to 8% for us. God help us if we have any major health issues.
23
I am a politically moderate, socially liberal and financially conservative. I absolutely believe in free markets and individual responsibility. Having said all of that even as a believer in the free capitalist society you cannot deny that we need some level of intervention in health care and education in our country. Public and private universities need to be made to CUT costs if they want government research money and have access to federally guaranteed loan. The cuts can start with ditching expensive facilities or layers of administrators that do nothing to further educational quality. These savings need to show up in drastically lower tuition costs. Right now the poor and the very rich get free rides at colleges while the middle class is getting absolutely destroyed. This needs to STOP.
21
I wonder, when people describe their levels of student loan indebtedness, if they are including the astronomical levels of INTEREST they will be paying on their student and parent plus loans. The interest on these loans will double or triple the actual amounts due. These huge amounts are interest due on government guaranteed loans, meaning that lenders can charge much more than mortgages although there is virtually no risk to themselves. If we want to relieve student debt burden, that seems to me to be a just place to start. Don’t forgive loan principal, forgive/reduce the interest on these loans. Some people are getting very rich off of the currrent system!
20
We were lucky as my eldest stayed in state and my youngest started with an AA. I think it is one of the worst things for young people to face... either the tremendous expense of school or the debt burden later. For parents, it can be catastrophic. I have good friends that recently allowed their only son to go to the Art Institute of Chicago, with only 2/3 paid for. They are beside themselves, and he is their only child. I do think it important to try and get young people to see the choices they have with AA and transfer, or that they understand the tremendous burden of out of stat tuition. There are always options.
3
People think about a national structural problem of our system with anecdotes about personal experiences and loopholes to beat the system. This focus on the individual is the system's way of defending itself from being changed, and is propagated by those who benefit from or have done well in the system as it now is.
Most loopholes will stop working or be closed if many people use them. It is nice that people more clever or resourceful than most will generally do better than most, but leaving losers to a nasty fate gives us a poorer and more divided society. We used to have a system where most (white) people could do better than hardscrabble. We need it back, and affordable college should be as much a part of it as affordable high school used to be.
13
"For those with middle-class jobs, saving enough for college would mean compromising on the sort of activities — music education, travel, sports teams, tutoring — that enrich their children’s lives, keep them in step with their peers, deliver critical lessons in self-discipline and teach social skills."
Sorry, but this is nonsense. There are people all over this country who manage to provide opportunities like these for their kids without spending a fortune and compromising the family budget or precluding saving. Of course that might mean living in a smaller, less upscale house, not eating out a lot, spending vacations camping rather than at a hotel, not buying a new vehicle until the old one falls apart, and utilizing community recreation facilities, scouting, and the YMCA rather than expensive gyms and sleep away camps. It's all about priorities.
11
@West Texas Mama
Unfortunately, not.
Classes at the Y or the County Rec Department, Scout trips and activities, etc. are not free and were often out of our budget. Moreover, they are really mainly social outlets and do not support development of students with serious talent, interest, and work ethic. Especially in music, that requires private lessons, and talent may not even be discovered if beginning lessons are pushed out because of the need to save for college.
Re tutoring: If your kid is taking all AP classes (great way to save some college tuition BTW), most of the other kids in the class will be getting tutoring in EVERY class, giving them an unfair advantage and saving them tons of time, which they can use on "enrichment". Then teachers adjust the workload, instruction, and expectations to suit families that can afford all that tutoring. A couple of B+ grades when all the tutored kids get the alloted class quata of A's can make the difference between getting a scholarship or a loan.
If you are hoping your child gets into one of those few very well endowed private colleges that promise to meet all documented financial need with grants rather than loans, your child will be competing for admission with kids who can write admission essays about exotic foreign travel (often disguised as "service"), kids with elaborate summer and after school learning opportunities, kids with a lilfetime of top notch private music lessons, etc.
9
Some obvious moves to make here.
a. IT's NOT a moral obligation to buy an overpriced poor quality product.
b. It's not at all clear that colleges are doing a good job.
11
I wish people would take stock of what they really want out of life before making these decisions. If a prestigious career is really everything, then yes, it might make sense to pay through the nose to go to the best school. If the most important thing is to just have a job you don’t hate and that pays enough to support a family, then people should think hard about whether those crazy loans are really the best way to achieve that.
I understand wanting to pursue passions—I did at first. But even tho I was lucky to really like my job, at the end of a day, it was still just a job, that I had to go to day after day and that had stressful and boring and annoying moments. It didn’t pay enough so I switched fields. Now I like my job enough, and it pays to support what is truly important to me: a family.
Forget following your passion. Except for a few lucky individuals, work is a means to an end. Pursue something you don’t hate, but look critically at the salary it pays and the cost of loans it will take to get there.
12
After spending 20 years advising students at a large state university I am convinced that the belief that a degree from a four year college is an appropriate goal for every child, regardless of what economic group they come from. I saw many kids from middle class and affluent families who not only were not intellectually ready for college coursework but didn't really want to be there in the first place. The careers they were interested in - auto mechanics, construction, office work, nursing, caregiving, plumbing and other trades, etc - could have been learned at junior colleges or technical schools but to their parents, according to the kids, following that route was "not what our kind of people do." Not every kid needs a four year degree.
13
It is extremely difficult to accumulate enough assets to pay for college and offer children stimulating extracurricular activities. However, it is possible but planning is crucial and expectations need to be adjusted.
Putting $10/week in a savings plan from birth to age 18 would result in nearly $10,000 minus any dividends or interest. Not a windfall but enough for a year or two at a Community College or a few semesters at a public university. Parents sacrificing their futures to pay for an overpriced college education is madness. Who will support you when you are no longer able to work?
We budgeted for affordable college expenses and did forgo things like pricey vacations but also allowed ourselves and our children a reasonable number of activities and entertainment opportunities. Our children knew that we could not afford Ivy League price tags so their expectations were if that was the path they chose, they'd be responsible for the added expense.
Both of our children attended College Prepatory high schools where they could take advantage of college credit classes and each chose CUNY schools for undergraduate degrees. Both also worked part time to pay for some personal expenses and chip in for things like car insurance, etc.
We paid for their bulk of the tuition with the modest savings we'd accumulated along with a few small Federal Loans leaving my children to graduate debt-free and us with our finances intact.
6
My state university costs nearly $30k to attend—per year. Yes, $10k is a nice start, but that wouldn’t even get a kid through a single semester.
14
@Itsy Yes, and now some of our state universities REQUIRE their students to live on campus for the first two years. (Probably because they built a lot of fancy, expensive dormitories). Students can't live off campus for cheaper anymore. That also drives up the annual cost.
6
It's laughable that only a subset of higher education providers are referred to as "for profit" - they are all businesses, taking advantage of the widely-held belief that the more something costs, the higher the value. Brand names help, just like they do with other consumer goods like Rolex and Mercedes.
I paid off my nonsense B.A. after 17 years of reverse amortization and a strained relationship with my co-signer/parent, only to go to graduate school where I incurred no costs and earned money as a teaching or research assistant.
To anyone who will listen: Go to community college and transfer in for that big-name degree. Don't expect a return on investment. Index funds for spare cash if available.
7
alas, like so much of what we sell, the cost is going up as the value (not so much vocational training, the cuckoo's egg in the nest, if you will, but actual education, the acquisition of habits of mind that equip students to think critically) goes down...doubters please check the quality of writing in the press, commentary on the cable klatches and, of course the insults and slogans that have become the currency of our political discourse.
4
I put myself through college waiting on tables. That is absolutely impossible today thanks to the Clinton Administration when they opened up the tuition lending program to private lenders. Their attempt to make college more affordable was simply a giant land grab for Wall Street.
Middle class families know that college is the last best chance for their son or daughter to keep ahead of the rapidly widening income inequality gap and when you're sitting in the financial aid office choking over the insane cost, behind door number 2 is some slimy lender willing to make sure your dreams for your student will come true. Once again, as with everything broken in this country, it comes down to money.
14
@JK plus waiter jobs are being eliminated by the Democrats insane push for an unaffordable unsustainable $15/hr minimum wage
@JK Why are the current absurdly high interest rates for FEDERAL student and Parent Plus loans the fault of the Clinton Administration?
1
" Decades ago, when organized labor was strong and manufacturing jobs were plentiful, a four-year college degree was not needed to achieve or maintain a middle-class life."
I worked in the consumer audio field for 50 years, now retired. 1966-2007. Had a 2-year tech degree, but honestly just learned on the job. Repaired stereos. A good life!
8
@nhhiker And now people have the 'privilege' of paying for an expensive 4-year college degree and they still just get to learn on the job. While paying off their debt.
8
When our first child was born 20 years ago, we set up a college fund. At that time we were told to expect to pay around $25K/year. Meanwhile those estimates were way too low, as seen in the average tag of $50K in this article.
We were fortunate enough to meet that goal and fortunate he choose a public school to meet that cost.
We will meet the same with our daughter. But she is dreaming of small private liberal arts colleges. We can only hope she qualifies for merit aid or is accepted to one of her top public schools. Neither will we let her go into significant debt or risk our retirement.
8
Now, I would love to see an article about the cost of college for those students who don't have a family bank account to lean on.
Let's look at how that cost affects the student, particularly after college; the total college degree cost, the length of time it takes to pay those loans back, the impact on the student's after-college life, i.e., being unable to afford to or even qualify for a home loan because of the burden of debt, putting off kids, etc.
15
Another debt fueled bubble, college tuitions have skyrocketed because of cheap, easy credit. That is the simple fact that most articles don’t address. College administrators have raised tuitions, because they could, simply. Blame the Fed, blame the student debt industry and lax lending standards, and greedy lock-step administrators. Ultimately, like all bubbles, this will collapse and higher education will face its reckoning. Unfortunately, until this happens, students and families will remain saddled with unworkable debt loads that prevent social mobility, the main macro point of higher education. It’s a mess of our own making.
13
@Maged Shenouda. Blame Big Government for throwing cash a tax colleges
Parents must save for higher ed at birth of each child. But having a child take a gap year before starting college, and earning part of their college expenses, will help the launch to university. Strongly suggest first 2 years at community college. Final 2 at university. In the end work experience plus degree are end game for success in adult years.
11
Lots has been written about high cost of college, but most reports ignore some important facts. One, tuition fees is high, but not outrageous in; most state universities; two, plenty of scholarships and aid available for students pursuing STEM subjects; three, it somehow seems taken for granted that every undergrad student is entitled to spend a semester in Europe...this is all the stuff that makes college expensive. I am yet to find any graduate of education, maths, accounting, physics or statistics, with a degree from a respectable state university neck deep in student debt....but students and parents make bad choices...they choose XYZ college because they have the best Hockey team, or the student’s best friends are all going there, or the student has a fancy for studying in Oregon...
5
@JRR My child graduated with her bachelors in elementary education and a teaching credential in 3 1/2 years from a state university that cost $24,000 per year for tuition, room, and board. My daughter was highly motivated and highly intelligent, thus the degree and credential in 3 1/2 years, and chose the teaching profession as fulfillment of a life-long dream. Very bright she really could have chosen a far more lucrative career but she felt called to education. At $60,000 per year, I made too much for any grant aid. With her $40,000/year teaching position in an impoverished Title 1 school, she has $25,000 in student debt while, at 64 y/o, I have payments of $500 per month, with 7% interest, on my Parent Plus loans. She will be hamstrung by debt for years, while I see no retirement ahead.
12
I acknowledge that not everyone can do the same, but we started a state university savings plan for our one child at the time he was born. While it may not cover everything by the time he completes high school, it will be a good start.
Also, while my wife entertains the notion that he attends a traditional four-year school, I’m a little more flexible with the idea that he goes to the school/program that best fits his interests and passion. I’d also be willing to send him overseas to the “appropriate” school.
3
Junior college offers first 2 years of good education and an almost 100% chance of transfer.
There are many, many jobs that do not need a 4 year college education.
Free bus passes and ability to get to schools and some food aid would be a good investment as long as students maintain a good record. An arrangement for used text books and other school expenses could be organized.
1
College cost increases are ludicrous when compared to inflation. All accredited colleges and universities, public and private, should be required by law to publish all the details of their annual budget. It would be ok to hide individual workers and instructors names behind generic categories, but upper echelons pay and benefits packages need to be revealed. Just like with healthcare, the nation needs to take a hard look on where money is being spent and begin making some hard decisions about redundancy, waste, administrative and facility costs, plus faculty effectiveness versus expense.
13
wall Street and college tuition..insurance companies....it never ends everyone wants to suck the life out of middle-class families...take me back to 1953
12
If this statement in the piece is accurate, “The median American household has only about $12,000 in savings,” then the plain truth is the typical household has not saved sufficient money to pay for life’s needs, including, but certainly not limited to, college expenses.
9
Having worked at Fordham University in New York and having grown up in Kansas City, Missouri, I discovered that families on the East Coast were more likely to disregard the cost of college and sent their child to an expensive private university, while families in the Midwest would choose a university that they could afford. They would not go broke in order to send their children to college like families in the East do.
18
This article is dynamite and I have been observing these behaviors for years. I work in a very large public high school in the largest school district in MN. Every high school in MN, not just ours, is preparing students to be "college and career ready" (this includes a 2 year college). These students are steeped in a message that very clearly tells them if you don;t go to college, you are screwed. So, there is a constant, low-level panic on the part of students and families as to how they will pay for things. Our school is middle to lower-middle class, 30 percent on free and reduced lunch. Parents are desperate to "find a way". I feel their pain as a parent to 2 girls who is in the process of paying my ow loans for my BA and MA. I have been following the rules fastidiously to be qualified for the Federal Loan Forgiveness Program- I am 8 years in with 2 years left. My eldest will be a junior in high school at that time. I have told her, many years ago, that she will be paying for her school. That my husband and I have given her everything she needs to be successful- a stable home, an emphasis on education, piano and karate lesson (as the article points out)- and that she lives in an area where we have many, many employment opportunities for young people. So she will need to hustle and resist what she and her peers see as a "normal" college experience: large beautifully decorated dorms that give way to apartments, constant eating out with friends, vacations, etc.
14
Certainly most of the comments castigating colleges for the outrageous increases in tuition are well-deserved. However, given that reality, the whole financial aid system for many schools should come under scrutiny.
Unless a family can save the entire cost of a college education (an impossible feat for most middle class families), savings is penalized by a massive reduction in the amount of potential aid.
Divorce is rewarded at many institutions by considering the income of only the custodial parent in determining need.
Students who work in high school and have saved money are penalized with a reduction of aid because they didn't galavant around volunteering and taking "gap years".
Parents who scraped by and bought an inexpensive house in a neighborhood that has appreciated are expected to go into hock to defer the outrageous costs of schooling.
Cheating is not unusual on the Fafsa. Those with the means can manipulate their assets so that they don't become reportable while honest and financially limited middle class families have aid stripped from them.
I could go on. The fact is, responsible and stable middle class Americans have almost no chance to save for the entire cost of even a state school and their responsibility and stability is rewarded by a reduction of aid. The system is, indeed, rigged.
30
@wiff You have highlighted all of the same issues that are wrong with our current system. There are coaches who work with parents to manipulate their assets on the FAFSA such that their children receive aid for which they are not truly entitled. I know of a family in my network of friends where the parents were divorced and the mother, with a lower income, was considered the primary caregiver despite both parents sharing 50/50 custody. The father was a multi-millionaire and could well afford the child’s tuition and living expenses. For purposes of the FAFSA, only the mother’s income was considered and the child received grants-not loans-to pay for college. The FAFSA relies on a 1964 law that does not reflect our society today. It also fails to account for the immoral and devious, but legal, lengths some parents will go to so they do not pay their fair share.
8
Tuitions should be linked to the future earnings potential of the major.
A BA in Art History should not cost the same as a BS in Computer Science.
6
In my opinion, the elite research universities, both public and private, provide a huge pricing umbrella for all the other colleges and universities. The elite schools provide great salaries to faculty and executive staff; incredible benefits such as 10% retirement contributions, low cost full service medical plans, tuition assistance for family, and a free house (mansion maybe) for the president. Research faculty get the added benefit of a light teaching schedule, sabbatical, and the opportunity to hire out as a consultant. In some cases, the consulting fees earned dwarf the university paycheck. Also, designing and building "sustainable" LEED buildings by the world's most recognized architects and covering them with Ivy is not an inexpensive endeavor, nor is maintaining superb golf courses.
The 2nd and 3rd tier schools do their best to keep up. Just like the auto industry, even economy cars come standard with AC and power windows. :)
5
Here are some possible explanations for the rapid increase in college costs over the last several decades:
1. Decreased state investment in higher education, with costs passed on to students.
2. More amenities to attract students. This applies to both public and private schools. State schools need to recruit more higher-paying out-of-state students, which increases the pressure for better amenities, as states are competing with each other for those higher-paying customers. Private schools are similarly caught in an arms race to have great facilities - new student unions, new recreational facilities, new science building, new athletic facilities, etc.
3. Greater demand for student services. This category includes mental health services, disability services, academic support services, writing centers, etc.to address that demand, along with administrators who oversee those services.
4. Higher pay for senior administrators. The argument, a dubious one in my opinion, is that colleges and universities can't find good administrators and managers unless they're willing to pay salaries and benefits commensurate with the private sector.
5. Willingness of students and families to pay those inflated costs, aided and abetted by the availability of loans to do so.
6. Increased investment in technology, deemed as a necessity, not a luxury, in higher education.
If anyone knows of any published in-depth studies on this question, please share.
14
@Larry
Totally concur. (I'm a professor at a Minneapolis–St Paul university just like this!) And most of what items 2, 3 and 4 do is tangential to the core mission of teaching, scholarship and research. Faculty salaries barely tread water with 2% inflation while these offices and administrators have grown in cost exponentially. And that's why tuition is so high!
Gone are the days of "Find a need and fill it" or "build it and they will come". What we have now is " Locate the money and take it by whatever means available"
The money-changers know this perfectly well and the 'Baby boom' demographic is the largest target. Since college dreams and more importantly , savings, are nearly picked to the bone, The unholy machine has already turned it's head to geriatric healthcare.
Good luck trying to stop it or even slow it down. As bank-robber John Dillinger so concisely described --
"That's were the money is".
9
College administration hiring trends have HUGELY increased "non-teaching management" officials at a huge cost. Each manager hires more staff and invents "projects and initiatives" to bolster their own career and resume as a "doer."
This escalating management cost-inflation is making college absurdly more expensive. Why is this never investigated
13
We need a follow on article that explains how college costs have tripled in 30 years. Us seniors all have stories how we managed to get a good education without bankrupting our families or ourselves. I went to UC Berkeley in the 60's and tuition was so minor I can't even recall what I paid. I did get a grant at Harvard Law School for $10,000 that I was easily able to pay back. All this with a wife and two children. What has happened?
14
Only tripled? Today, tuition plus room and board at my alma mater costs over 15 times what it did in the early 70s. Even with most students receiving substantial financial aid, this is nuts.
11
Is nobody asking why college costs have tripled in the past three decades? What is driving up the costs? Tenured professors who don't carry a full course load? Escessive building and non-teaching administrators? When I was in college classes were small; now they fill up an auditorium with a TA conducting the class. Do parents and students get their money's worth?
13
Very informative BUT a few scenarios for which I have no sympathy:
1. Parents who don’t save because of other expenses. Those travel soccer teams will NOT lead to scholarships, as I have heard over and over. Save for your own child’s education. It’s your responsibility, not mine.
2. Finding the “ right fit” for college rather than the affordable alternative. I have seen many students chose OverpricedMarginal College over State University/College. Here in NY state our SUNY system has some wonderful branches that those Overpriced Marginal College students wouldn’t even be admitted to ( Binghamton and Geneseo for example ...look up their admitted students stats)
3. As a professor at NYU, shouldn’t the author talk about the cost of college a bit more? Congress should investigate that instead of the cost of my cell phone bill!
10
This is a bubble just like housing. Some people saw that college grads did much better financially than non-college grads and figured if we get everyone in college everyone would be richer. But it’s led to an over investment in education where my company is hiring a marketing major from Lehigh to be a secretary. Sending everyone to college didn’t create more jobs, it just raised job requirements to ridiculous levels. Nothing against Starbucks managers but do they really need a college degree to be successful?
19
Got to say,to this non-parent, the whole "got to get Jr. Into a top_tier preschool so they get into MIT because otherwise they're doomed" sounds like self-abuse. Maybe it would be better to save the money to help the kid set up their own business, or send them to a trade school. It's too bad. I think people make better decisions about world events, say, if they have a more rounded education.
7
The cost of college is absurd and obscene, especially as such institutions are giving less and less to their students for more and more money. While Asian and other truly motivated ad ambitious students, quietly pursue majors in the sciences with realistic expectations of a payday not long into the future, too many witless boys and girls allow themselves to fritter their time and their parents lucre on silly and useless majors such as gender studies, conflict resolution and, even, illustrated novels posing as literature. That this calls into question the credentials and credibility of the faculty goes without saying. But the big question is who are the people running these schools and allowing their entire liberal arts and social sciences departments to be overtaken by incoherent nonentities peddling self-serving, axe-grinding balderdash that equips their students to become nothing except ANITFA marauders and intersectionalized ctybabies.
6
I was interested by an article about a new chancellor at NYU because I went there. He had a policy of opening NYU branches in distant foreign lands. The reporter followed him as he walked among the buildings. A young man was leaning against a wall having a smoke and the chancellor said to him, "You shouldn't smoke. You should quit today." I don't think there was any response. Then the younger man said, "If I keep going to this school, I'll be paying off loans till I'm 80 years old." Or something like that. The chancellor said, "I don't have anything to do with tuition costs," and walked away. I thought that was pretty terrible.
9
Parents (and non-parents) in America are living on an economic tectonic plate--now you see it, now you don't. Significant investment (or lack of it) or income (or lack of it) in one arena--in this case, education--can't be judged in isolation. The rules have changed for almost all expense and income buckets. Whose personal crystal ball could have predicted the 2019 story of money and . . . retirement, investments, healthcare, housing, old age--and education? Families seeking a better life for their children (most) should not be blamed for turning to education. That we may have allowed that opportunity to become diminished is on us.
5
In our divided political environment any legislation to provide further support for higher ed or higher ed students would have to provide real benefits to taxpayers. That would mean supporting STEM students who build the knowledge and skills to help our country compete in the 21st century. Sociology majors, gender studies majors, art majors etc---need not apply.
2
Making tuition free or near free for all would be the solution. There is no reason tuition at public colleges are 10x that of other countries who prioritize equal access to education using taxes to fund university rather than fees for the users.
It is not as fancy and the first few years of a bachelor degree are seeing large drop off rates, but it enabled me to go to college and stay in college until I got PhD.
In any case the moral obligation and the loans available is what creates this market with large price elasticity.
We spent about 160k on our daughter college education at a public university. While we could afford it, it felt like an additional tax [since a large fraction of the students were getting tuition breaks or tax rebates we could not get]. It is a choice, but is it ?
Those decisions are not just about money, in this case we are very happy with how the experience enriched her. [France might have been a bit too much of an experience for her at 17].
Another thought, I suspect a lot of the wealthier parents are not unhappy about superior education unequal accessibility. It gives our kids a leg up and can be a wealth transfer mechanism. This is probably what seeded this system of crazy high tuitions with gourmet dinning for students.
The best investment though is in loving our kids, providing them with good role models and ethics. It takes more than a degree to be successful at life.
5
I’m a college professor, teaching mainly freshman, and I can tell you that many of my students should not be in college.
They struggle with the intellectual demands or the self-discipline required and watch themselves fail. They should instead be in some sort of vocational training – from culinary arts to car repair to the military. Doing that instead of college would give them a chance to make a comfortable living and the grow up a bit. Maybe later they could take a crack at college.
As a culture we way over-encourage college education. It’s just not for everyone.
35
Total US student loan debt is $1.5 Trillion...that is capital T...Trillion. It is shameful that our higher education institutions have decided to put the almighty dollar before education and student well being knowing full well the perceived moral obligation that parents feel.
3
No creative/performing arts education at all for focus, achievement, refinement? Sad case. "I was much more stunted than my classmates were because my parents didn't spend much on me during my childhood. I've never been able to catch up with what I didn't have during childhood. It is impossible."
One of the reasons colleges have become so expensive is because the loans are available. Colleges know they can raise tuition costs because they know students can borrow the money; it creates an upward spiral in costs.
One study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York* indicated a $1 of loan availability will cause about $0.50 in tuition increases.
We saw a housing debt bubble when banks went crazy making housing loans, and now we've got a student debt bubble of $1.6 trillion, with payments to financial institutions (as opposed to buying houses) slowing the economy. Student loans are now about 7.5% GDP, versus 3.3% GDP in 2007.
It's time for college tuition to simply be something covered by taxes paid to the government, like it does for high school. Government can then set tuition prices.
Reversing the Trump tax cuts would pay for most of it.
*FRBNY 2015 / 2017R: "Credit Supply and the Rise in College Tuition: Evidence from the Expansion in Federal Student Aid Programs
7
The cost of education has tripled in the past 3 decades.
1. How many administrative people do they have now vs 30 years ago? I suspect much of the increase is in politically correct and educationally worthless positions.
2. How do salaries and pension benefits compare with the rest of the USA?
3. How much have student loans goosed the ability of schools to ever escalate tuition? If the loans were illegal, perhaps tuition would drop to a level people could pay themselves?
3
@Erik - State colleges and universities used to get about 40% of their funding from state taxes. In the last decade, state contributions have plummeted to about 10%. That accounts for a lot of the tuition increase at state schools.
As for pay and benefits - are you kidding? College professors are paid far less than someone with equal education and experience in private industry. And worse, a lot of colleges make heavy use of adjunct professors - people with PhDs who get paid about $15,000 a year to teach the lower level classes. They keep hanging on in hopes that one day they'll be offered a full professorship.
5
My personal trajectory might unfortunately be a case in point documenting what many suggest lie ahead for these students.
I grew up really poor and DID attend the newly appearing CC. I hadn't an inkling of the differences between colleges in life style or cost. I went to Miami Dade junior college which had open admission and was great. I majored in business, and actually got full tuition paid for after getting a 4.0 my first semester.
It didn’t pay my living expense, so I worked quite a bit outside of class and those semesters my grades would fall.
I then went to a four year college and got a business degree (economics). Although the school gave me scholarships a lot of tuition was paid for with loans, a distinction that didn’t register with me.
Upon graduation the job choices were not clear and the new burgeoning field of computers seemed to offer a lot of opportunity. So, I went to a state school and got a degree in computer science. Upon graduation there was the recession of 74 (oil embargo) and boom I couldn’t make loan payments.
My apartment was broken into, my little wealth stolen and I chose to declare bankruptcy which you could at the time.
Big mistake, no personal credit for 7 years – missed out on being able to buy a cheap home and the overall effects just rippled up through all the decades. Sometimes making good money, but then having periods of layoffs, changing technology.
A real struggle – still working. Good luck kids and parents 😊 …
6
Your tale misses the trifecta: you didn’t get sick or wounded, or have a child with a serious medical problem. Buck up! This is America, the greatest land of all! You are on your own, so sink or swim, it all reflects on whether you are lucky and successful, ergo a Good Person, or fall victim to life’s vicissitudes and are a taking Bad Person. Thanks, John Calvin. PS, Good People go into fields that are based in Mathematics, such as finance, engineering, real estate speculation, or even the sciences; while Bad People who feel the world owes them a living despite the fact that all they have to offer is some worthless ability such as creativity, compassion, or humor, go into worthless pursuits, mere frills and frippery, such as the arts or taking care of others. Now, get out there are earn your keep the old fashioned way: steal it.
1
"the cost of college — which has tripled at public colleges and universities in the past three decades."
Somebody needs to look into this huge factor. Why have these increase rates so outstripped the rate of inflation?
4
I sent my three children to SUNY colleges starting 30 years ago. We took no loans.
Today, I checked the current tuition, R&B and used an inflation calculator (+96.3%). I found that the costs are comparable.
If I were still working, my income would be comparable, too.
3
You cannot have a cheap college education that also guarantees to be a trigger free, sanitized safe space. That requires paying 6 figure salaries and pensions to assistant chairs, liaisons and vice provosts for an endless list of task forces, committees and offices; not to mention organic cafeteria food and deluxe gyms and climbing walls. Wake up, people, and stop feeding the monster.
13
I received a fine education from the Franciscans, graduated near the top of my HS class, scored high on the SATs. And -horrors- I didn’t go to college. I read books. I worked up from entry level positions. And now I’m 65 and enjoying a comfortable retirement. The only downside: stigma.
8
High value loans (with high interest rates that make them harder to pay back) to people who can't pay them back (most students/families) are high risk loans. It doesn't seem all that different from the lead-up to the subprime mortgage crisis, predatory lending and all.
1
Large institutions often lose sight of baseline objectives because of "silos" of narrow interest of small but influential subgroups within the institution. The American dream - the freedom of every individual to become the best they can be has been has been subjugated by parabolic wealth generation. Cutting taxes, reducing government spending on health and education, selling "self-reliance" as a rationale all have become tools for the wealthy to exponentially increase their wealth.
We have pared back our intellectual capacity growth to only the already wealthy who can afford to educate their children. In so doing we are losing vast numbers of innovators who will never reach their capacity and we are self-limiting how great America can become.
It is time to stop this narrow thinking. It is time to maximize the potential of more than just the 1%ers. Lifting the burdens of ill-health and minimal education from all Americans will unlock a tidal wave of innovation from our children. Our present path will never make America great.
4
I have watched as colleges have increased their tuition rates at unreasonable rates for at least 30 years with no better educational demands on their students. You know what I advise my children who have an MD and a PhD? Don’t try to send send their children to college. Look at trade schools. Hopefully they will be talented in those fields and maybe they will be happier in life. Burdening themselves and sometimes their parents for life is the wrong way to live.
4
My daughter, wife and I toured many of the elite universities ... Brown, NYU, Barnard, Columbia, BU, USC and Penn. We also checked out a couple of top liberal arts colleges. We had a blast.
With great grades, scores and extracurriculars (plus who interviews well), we were looking forward to making the big choice. But she didn’t get in ... to any of them.
It was the best thing that could have happened to her, us parents and her brother who also will be attending college in four years. If she’d gotten in, we likely would have gone for it even though it would have stretched us financially (the FAFSA is a bit of a farce).
Instead, among a few “safeties” (apply to at least three genuine ones so you have options regardless!), she selected an in-state university with just above 50 percent acceptance rate ... and she couldn’t be happier. We noticed many of her friends who she graduated alongside at a top suburban public high school did the same even when they did get into an “elite” college: in-state tuition, maybe a partial scholarship, not too far from home, still strong in the major they want to pursue ... and won’t empty the family coffers!
20
@Serious E thanks for sharing your experience!
3
I really think higher education should be restructured through technology. With the right virtual reality technology anyone could attend a class anywhere and feel as if they were in the same room. Already, of course, many educational opportunities are available online, often at low cost or no cost, than existed locally for me as I was growing up. It was much harder for me to find the right books then and I would have to go to a university library and hope for the best, when now almost anything can be found on Amazon and using Audible I can get through amazing books even when I'm driving. When I was in high school I wanted to study Physics but it wasn't offered, and at that school I got what I got. Now it's easy to find good ways to study Physics anywhere I like. I think with the right program, most people could get a very nice bachelor's degree level education focused largely online while moving around a city to multiple campuses and other locations as need be, quite economically, and perhaps be more enriched educationally than through a conventional program. I have done that myself, to learn deeply in an area in which it is hard to find good conventional programs at all, let alone locally, and in that capacity I was free to explore the area without a professor trying to steer me another way. To me, the logic of paying to stay full time in one location for education ought to be less popular by now, not more so, but I think families are too afraid to try it.
4
It is time to realize that some of the best value out there can be found in community college. Stay at home, I know the thought to American HS students is horrid, get your two year degree and then transfer to a state four year college to complete your education. Oh and let’s not talk about the need for vocational education duration in the country. We still need people in the trades. How amazing would it be if you could finish HS with a quality education and a marketable skill as a carpenter, plumber, auto mechanic, welder, etc.? I have long advocated for programs that would integrate Hs/community college/financial literacy and basic business classes with learning a trade. Where I live a plumber gets 125 bucks to walk I the door.
8
Though I'm part of the generation now paying I remember the challenges I faced. My parents refused to pay for college but I didn't qualify for financial aid because their income didn't meet the requirements and I couldn't apply on my own because I was still a dependant.
I did wind up going to college as a nontraditional student in my 30s and qualified for financial aid since I was no longer a dependent of my parents but as a result of the deferred education, my prime earning years were adversely impacted.
One couple I know solved the college dilemma by requiring their children to complete two years of military service so that they could attend under the GI Bill. They had set up a trust for their children but did not make it available until they had completed the military service and their college degree. The money was purposed to help them in getting a good start after the kids had lived up to their ends of the bargain. Perhaps that's one way to approach the problem and eliminate the financial strain, although had I been in the shoes of my friends' children, I may have been to headstrong to commit to the military, and therefore would have lost out.
I never had kids and have no idea how I'd fund their educations if I had. The entire higher education system is in need of a major overhaul. Kids whose parents are unwilling to make the sacrifice are punished, whereas parents who are willing face the unraveling of their own finances.
2
A problem with the GI Bill that no one seems to be willing to say is that by the time you have earned a discharge, the taxpayer has already spent a small fortune to recruit, select, screen, transport, train, feed, clothe, house and care for you. At which time you have a military occupation that you have demonstrated some level of competency in. The taxpayer really shouldn’t have to pay to train you again just because you want to do something different.
1
@From Where I Sit Think of it this way. The middle class is becoming an endangered species in this country. In order to achieve a middle-class income, a college education is no longer optional. Unfortunately, because of student debt, many of these graduates will never pay property taxes because they can't afford to own a home. While they will pay income tax, they will buy fewer consumer goods, and therefore less sales tax, not to mention the boost to the economy if these people had enough disposable income to invest and/or spend, therefore state coffers will decrease.
There are many reasons for joining the military and obtaining an education seems to be a smart one. While they are serving they are putting life and limb at risk just as all other service members do. Some who are deployed to dangerous assignments won't even make it back, or if they do, won't return whole and able to work.
We should be glad when service members do obtain GI Bill educations because in addition to their service to the country, they will be enabled to compete in the workplace. They will be able to buy homes and consumer goods. They will be able to invest and some will start businesses of their own. While I agree people shouldn't be forced into military service in order to gain an education, it's still a good investment.
Until college educations are made more affordable, the middle class will continue to shrink as the rich get richer and the middle becomes poor and the poor become poorer.
2
Colleges have been forced to divest from appropriate, appreciating assets to prove how woke they are. Somebody has to make up for that investment income that’s no longer being earned, and it’s the students!
1
I work as an Executive Producer in TV. I worked my way up. I had no choice. Many of our interns and new hires are in debt beyond comprehension. They do not come from rich families. Some have degrees from NYU, others BMCC. Either way their paths will be the same as mine. We hire hard-working, eager kids (yes kids) and those who show promise get promoted. A colleague of mine went to Princeton. I’ve since passed him with two promotions. Me and my city college degree.
2
I work as an Executive Producer in TV. I worked my way up. I had no choice. Many of our interns and new hires are in debt beyond comprehension. They do not come from rich families. Some have degrees from NYU, others BMCC. Either way their paths will be the same as mine. We hire hard-working, eager kids (yes kids) and those who show promise get promoted. A colleague of mine went to Princeton. I’ve since passed him with two promotions. Me and my city college degree.
1
@Lola
I'm going to guess you've been in the TV industry for at least 15 to 20 years if not more.
The young people coming out of colleges and universities face different realities. In many industries, i.e. finance, and high tech many companies have "target schools" that they specifically go to hire. Many students get closed off from promising career opportunities simply by not going to target school. It doesn't mean they can't have successful careers but they do start out at a comparative disadvantage.
3
I work as an Executive Producer in TV. I worked my way up. I had no choice. Many of our interns and new hires are in debt beyond comprehension. They do not come from rich families. Some have degrees from NYU, others BMCC. Either way their paths will be the same as mine. We hire hard-working, eager kids (yes kids) and those who show promise get promoted. A colleague of mine went to Princeton. I’ve since passed him with two promotions. Me and my city college degree.
2
Parents who send their children to colleges that they can’t afford deserve the debt that they incur.
Students who receive loans that they can’t afford deserve the burden of those loans.
What ever happened to living within your means?
Families and students should attend lower priced colleges that are within their ability to pay.
6
Whatever happened to getting a job, working hard and following where it takes you? Quite a few here seem to suggest that working while attending classes is the best way to go since it minimizes or eliminates the accumulation of debt. But they always ignore the damage that such a scheme does to employers. Turnover is expensive to the point of being criminal when an employee departs. That they used the employer’s own funds to cause that damage is sinful.
1
Why aren’t high school students taking free college courses? They can enroll in a dual credit program. I took night courses at Oneida Community College (free) while in high school and for my Associate of Arts by the time I graduated, I agree with wake up parents, or else tell your ninth grade kids in high school to go get a J o b to save for college.
3
We have two children, one 35, one 41. Both of them worked diligently throughout high school. They made sacrifices for getting good grades. We were a lower middle class family, but we were determined that our children would get a college education; something we never had. Each one graduated in the top 10 of their high school, and did well on their SATs. As a result, due to our financial position and their academic achievements, they had several options for college. We found that some of the best private schools had endowments that allotted for generous financial aid for high-achieving students from lower income families. We always felt that our obligation to our children should be commensurate with their efforts through school. They both ended up attending very highly rated private schools in the northeast, at a cost even lower than state college tuition. We took out loans for their education, which we're still paying, and they paid for their own professional degrees. It's still the best money we have ever spent. Without their own hard work and dedication, we never would have been able to afford such an education. I realize costs have skyrocketed even since then, but it's important when discussing "dream schools" that efforts have been made by the student to earn such a sacrifice on the parents' part in the first place.
6
How are loans unfair? Don’t go to college if you don’t have high standardized test scores, which are a direct predictor of high earning potential.
Why do parents send their average kids to anything other than community college? You call it a “trap”, I call it a penalty for poor decision making.
5
Of course college is expensive! Colleges hire 20 Vice Chancellor to the Deputy Assistant to the Dean of Diversity and pay each one a 7 figure salary. Colleges have 10 full-time administrators whose only job is to make sure Chick-fil-a doesn’t open on campus despite student demands
13
The thing is, after you factor in interest, you actually pay twice.
8
It's amazing to read the stories of how American families struggle, financially and psychologically in the US, often blaming themselves, or second guessing their decisions and working out of fear.
A strong component of living a successful life has to do with your childhood experiences, meaning the relationships that surround you and offer you support and model resilience in the face of adversity.
Part of this discussion needs to include what is your definition of education. Is it to get a job? Is it to be exposed to new ideas and learn about history? Is it all of the above?
American culture and its institutions have greatly declined over the past 40 years, creating a selfish, angry, highly materialistic and greedy society. We work harder for less money, while the 1 percent and the national security agencies ensue we remain, uneducated, and financially insecure. Our role models are movie and sports stars, the "violence" and "sex" on and off screen is outrageously sick and dangerous. Technology has encouraged superficiality and instant gratification. The election of Trump and current state of the political parties are the almost end result of an American capitalism that has reached its tragic demise. Europe is laughing and fearful. Climate change and its tragedies, will unfortunately, for the younger generations, force a course correction.
Read the downfall of Rome- we are following in its footsteps.
11
Canny parents long-ago recognized that expensive name brand colleges were a scam, with outlandish tuitions sustaining exorbitant faculty and administrative salaries and benefits.
The best deal today is a good community college with a superior job placement record. Higher education needs to invest more funds in the job placement process and their institutional reputation should reflect their success rate.
Many parents are still suckers for so-called "prestige," bragging rights, and some hallucinatory idea of their children networking with the children of other successful professionals.
But what prestige is their in spending 300K on a child's education and having that child return home after graduation because they could not find a decent job?
4
Near the top in my high school graduating class and with high SAT scores, I thought I would like to give college a try. My parents said, "Good! But you'll have to figure out how to pay for it. Don't look to us for money." It was the best thing they ever did for me. By the time I graduated college, I knew more about finances (and life in general) than my peers seemed to know.
When my three (homeschooled) kids asked about college, I discouraged them from attending, unless they were dead set on a career that required it (such as dentistry, finance, academia). Otherwise, get busy and make a life.
My observation is similar to the old saw, "Youth is wasted on the young." It seems to me that small percentage of college kids buckle down and learn, while the mass of them party, party, party, coming to class hung over and high, obsessing over the social scene while putting in the minimum effort to gain a C, taking the least challenging courses that will earn a degree, and generally acting like entitled children. If they are not paying for it, how much will they value it? Not much.
My grown kids are about as happy and neurosis-free as a parent could hope for, with balanced lives, good careers, and good incomes. My daughter is getting her degree now, in her thirties (paid for by her employer), and agrees with my assessment of college kids today. They are chronic partiers, and in awe of "the lady who works full time AND has a 3.9 average."
6
My son started at a large university right out of high school, struggled, and then joined the Army and got a very good military occupational speciality (MOS). He has since received his bachelors degree from a good university, magna cum laude, paid for by tuition assistance from the Army, and now has his GI Bill to pay for graduate school. Granted, during this time, he served a year in Korea and deployed to Afghanistan. Freedom (and college) isn't free. But this is an option for those willing to do it.
210
@Todd - excellent choices all round. Thank you for your family's service. Good on ya!
18
@Todd
Same story for my son...2 years into college we pulled the money. Recommended the military because there were life lessons he needed to learn that for some reason he couldn't learn from us. 5 years in the Army with a great MOS, one tour of Afghanistan, one associate's degree. When he got out he had to work his way back into the 4 year university by going to community college. Graduating this December in engineering and much paid by the GI bill. Already accepted full-time employment.
30
@Todd
national service, two years, at least, might clear the cobwebs from the minds of kids sent from near zero secondary schooling into the customer service academies of so-called higher education...doubters invited to find and read college freshman writing and listen to seminar presentation by googleers, clinging to their printouts...the military experience leaves no room for side steps or excuses...experience (as a vet and a professor) bears this out, the vets are better able and more willing to try.
15
I work in higher ed and thus can send any offspring to college tuition free, and this benefit is tax free. I am surprised there is not some black market of late life adoptions to take advantage of this benefit given the widespread college admissions scandals.
So I will get the ball rolling: does anyone want me to adopt their kid? $10,000+adoption fees gets you tuition free college at a handful of institutions where my benefit is eligible! You or your child will still have to pay fees, room and board of course.
The sad thing is, paying for college is such a huge hardship, I could actually imagine a ring of people engaging in such a thing...waiting for the news to break.
4
Families need to take a step back and handle college choices in a mature, well planned manner.
When parents have children, they should already be thinking of how to pay for their child's education through college. Parents should start a college fund for their children from day 1, and even before day 1, of their child's life. If more parents did this, less kids nowadays would be burdened with huge college debt starting out in the working world after college.
That said, high schoolers with excellent grades should take on the responsibility of becoming adults in this decision. They should consider all factors that may affect their choice in college education, including the financial aspects of family financial affordability and available grants/scholarships. They should apply to a range of schools within their academic and financial reach, considering both private and state schools, and choose the college with the best balance of academic reputation, affordability and personal attraction.
By the time college applications are being sent in, the above issues should have already been discussed within the family so that it is well understood as applications are sent in what are the realistic options for higher education for the talented high schooler.
The choice for college should be a family affair, from the get-go.
4
My husband and I are solidly middle-class. We make too much to qualify for any aid and too little to whip up $100k/year for tuition (two kids in college at the same time). We sold our home of 18 years and downsized. We used retirement savings. We did what we had to do to prevent our kids or us from taking on crushing debt. One day, I was reading an article about the top 100 private U.S. schools and the average cost to attend. It was in a reputable magazine and was based on research, including interviewing high level deans at the schools profiled. The university one of our sons attended at the time was $65,000 a year. The average tuition paid, according to the article, was $21,000. My take-away? We were paying for our son and two others to attend school. It was mind-blowing and really disheartening. Something has to change!
17
What you’ve experienced is simply the tip of the liberal movement to punish hard work and success via redistribution programs.
1
Many of the comments are about how inexpensive community colleges are. What are community colleges doing that universities are not doing to keep costs down?
4
@Jeffrey Lederer. They’re not paying Elizabeth Warren $350,000 to “teach” one class
I am a full time teacher of accounting at a community college. My salary for many years in private industry as a Controller and 8 years teaching is two thirds of what I made before. So let,s be clear, faculty salaries are not the problem here.
As for tuition, I taught my daughter that she should live within her means. So, she went to Community College for two years and then transferred to a state school to get her Bachelor degree. This was an affordable option that enabled her to get a first rate education that I could fully pay for out of savings. I also know someone who paid $50k a year to send his four kids to college. He could afford it, so good for them.
It is long past time for baby boomers and millennials to be fiscally responsible. Maybe if they did, private colleges would have to reduce their costs.
2
Another thing to consider here is the role wealthy full-paying international students have played in supporting this shell game. Now, our immigration laws make it far less attractive for such students to invest in a degree here, in part because they may at a whim be barred entry to the country during their studies, and in part because they find it harder and harder to get jobs here after their studies.
We lose out in so many ways -- from the often much stronger k-12 education these students have received abroad, the pipeline of these students into our industries, and the ongoing financial viability of our universities, essentially subsidized by international wealth. Add our lax gun laws and increasing school shootings, and I think this industry -- just a few years ago securely in the top tier world wide -- may slide just like so many of our other sectors. And this is a completely self-inflicted wound by our current WH resident.
10
Well, what do you expect? The one constant over the decades has been change.
For example, in 1955 my mother said as long as I lived at home, I had to pay in "my share", college or not. Their job was to get me to the age of 18. My future path was up to me.
My children went to public schools, but had extensive "after school" enrichments. Their path to PhDs included several years of work in between the academics. My wife graduated law school at 58. You've got to keep on going if you want to move.
The world will keep changing, no matter what you want. The best educational course seems to me to be to do what you can handle now and don't try to plan too far ahead.
First, this is an excellent article that nails everything facing middle-class parents today. I would like to make two comments. One is that if private colleges want to stay open, they really have to train their financial aid departments to be less rude, arrogant, and lacking in compassion toward the plight of the parents who are paying far more than they can afford for these educations. It's all sanctimony, judgment, and blame from these people. It's humiliating to have to beg for aid: how hard is that to grasp? If colleges want only the rich, they should be upfront about that. If not, they should have some micron of empathy. Second, middle class parents are forced to sent their kids to college because of the wealth divide. We had a child who, though extremely bright, would have preferred trade school--but we know that even if he eventually ends up in trade, if he is to stay in the middle class, he must have that college degree. People can fervently say otherwise, but it is not true in most cases that a kid today can take any other route. It is only the truly exceptional who make it without the degree--a risk comparable to buying a lottery ticket. Finally, yes, we feel a moral obligation to give our thee children what we had (ie college)--and it is shock to find it has become virtually impossible. Like other parents commenters, we nearly bankrupted ourselves to put three children through college. I fervently hope nobody in the future has to go through what we did.
11
As an Adjunct Professor starting my 11th year, I've learned a lot about the current state of higher education in the U.S.
A study conducted in the late 1960s found that 75% of faculty in higher education were full-time, tenure track. A study published 5-6 years ago found that number was down to 22%.
Another study published about 50 years ago looked at the number of administrators in colleges in universities. A follow-up study published a few years ago found that the number of administrators -- highly paid staff, such as deans and provosts -- had approximately doubled. That's where much of the tuition money is going.
I was offered a full-time contract for the 2017-2018 school year. I taught an unusually heavy course load, half of which consisted of graduate level classes. The salary was disappointingly low. This was around the time of the school teacher strikes in Oklahoma and West Virginia. I saw the teacher pay data for West Virginia and learned that my full-time pay was lower than the pay for the lowest paid first-year kindergarten teacher in West Virginia.
I'm nearing retirement age, so too old to be hired by anyone in my former well paying profession. I love teaching and am near the end of my career, so no complaints, just facts above. The people I'm very concerned about are the young adults in my classes. What kind of future do they face?
21
Our national priorities are upside down. Corporations can get loans at 1 or 2 percent interest rates. If times get tough they can get a fresh start by going bankrupt. Students borrow for college at 7 or 8 percent and cannot discharge student debt in bankruptcy. Corporate interest is a above the line deduction. Student loan interest is treated far less favorably if at all. Remember the Congress insisted on high student loan interest rates to balance the budget which is now a black hole of federal debt due to runaway deficit spending and tax cuts.
9
@keith it’s clear you didn't take any economics classes. Loans to businesses are secured. If the business doesn’t pay the loan back the lender can seize the business’ assets. If a student loan isn’t paid back can the lender seize the education and knowledge the student got in college?
1
Why are students and parents not considering community colleges?
I know everyone seems to be obsessed with the idea of finding the right school for them. But sometimes you have to be pragmatic and deal with the situation you have on hand. If sending your child to a four-year school is going to wipe out your retirement, do something that is within reach.
I was accepted into a state school and dropped out my first semester. Too much partying. I just wasn't mature enough. I have been working as a waitress since then. I kid you not when I say that I have earned more money than some of my friends who graduated with a four-year degree. Anyways, I went back to school last semester. I am going to a community college, Montgomery College. I'm not going to ask my parents for money after messing up the first time.
My first semester back I met with a school counselor and he said something to me that I can't forget. He said I need to take these classes seriously. That don't brush them off because I'm at a community college. That I need to make the most of my time here, and then I will be successful.
I know this is not a fix for the rising cost of our higher education system. But this is a real solution to a real problem. Community Colleges are viable options and they should be discussed as such when considering where to go to school.
8
The US needs other ways to educate children. I have a granddaughter who went through a three year apprentice school paid by the state to become an accountant after she finished high school. Two days in class and three days in an accounting firm weekly. At 24 she has an excellent job, her own apartment and a worthwhile future. She can even get a masters, 2 years of night school twice a week, if she wishes with financial help from her employer. Then she can hire her own accountants and train them. She was paid a small salary right when she started her apprenticeship.
12
My undergraduate and graduate education covered the entire decade of the 1970's and was entirely at state universities. At that time, compared to today, all these schools were funded by state and federal taxes and tuition was essentially free, otherwise I could not have done it. Naturally at that time state universities were quite competitive; today the standard is whether you have money. It's all a question of values. The first free university was founded by Thomas Jefferson. Free higher education was one of the astounding new ideas that America created.
1
As a professor, I can add here that the rising cost of tuition is not reflected in our salaries, or even in amenities for students related to actual learning. Our classrooms are out of date, but we have a brand new sports facility and other new buildings whose debt load far exceeds our ability to pay it.
Our last president was so incompetent we had to pick up the slack on critical decisions as part of "committees" and such, unpaid. Meanwhile the pres and entourage traveled first class around the world ostensibly to raise funds, but failed to, and in the meantime appears to have done many shady side deals for personal gain. Now they cry poor on funding for research, promotions, etc. while we're expected to pick up the slack on our own time.
It's like what investors have been doing for the past few decades in retail, manufacturing, etc., a kind of vulture capitalism, a pirate equity that extracts resources for the very few at the top, then leaves, saddling the once sound org with debt and conflict. There should be better regulations, and perhaps an acknowledgement that for some, these are not non-profits...
18
Why are no readers mentioning the proposals by Warren and Sanders to substantially reduce costs at public universities? I had the wisdom to be born at a time when tuition was affordable and upward mobility or middle class stability was viable with just moderate ambition. The staggering increases in tuition - not to mention the exorbitant cost of professional degrees- are political problems demanding a political solution. Why is it seen as radical to increases taxes on the very wealthy to invest in American youth so that they can contribute their talents to the future of the country? Why assume that the only solution is to run faster and faster on the hamster wheel when there are solutions that good governance can offer?
9
@Rmark6
They aren't mentioning it because it is a bad idea. If parents are willing to spend their own money on children who party for 4 years or take courses that do not result in a job during a time of virtually full employment that is entirely their decision. When someone else has to pay for it its not.
Isn't if remarkable that when government student loan guarantees increased that colleges and universities raised tuition and fees in lock step? Why would free tuition not also result in unintended consequences?
It was already said in an early post: You value what you pay for. Free tuition will result in huge cost increases and, since there will be no financial consequences, increased numbers of unemployable graduates. But hey, they had a great time.
1
@Rmark6
Because they are unrealistic proposals that won’t get adequately funded and will only feed the beast.
Want to lower college tuition? Do something about the rising costs. Create legislation that puts controls in place in all places of higher learning that stops them from building dandy dorms and student centers and then charging the kids. Ironically the high expenses and burn rates are making these colleges recruit from abroad to rich kids that can pay and subsidize the rest. The more we feed them, the more they’ll bloat.
.....and drying up the sources of employment and business investment through exorbitant wealth taxes will only compound the trouble of not finding jobs.
1
While it's true that the average cost of private college is a little over $50,000 per year, the average cost of public college is half that ($25,290) and the average cost of a two-year degree is a little under $18,000 per year. Most students pay between $6,000-$15,000 in tuition per year. Don't get me wrong, the cost is still incredibly high, but there are many options for students that are less expensive than private, 4-year colleges. FWIW, I'll still be paying my student loans when I start paying for my kids' college, and think every cent is and will be worth it.
We are putting both our children through college. We are middle class. Tuition costs are just one part of this situation. Room and board, books, and other “incidentals” are MORE than the cost of tuition per year.
6
Adam Smith did believe in government intervening, by the way. As someone who attended a public university in the 70s and did have a small student loan because my father died suddenly, loans were and are not the problem. The problem is that state legislatures (Florida in this case), decided to stop subsidizing the public universities...and who led this development? Republicans, of course.
8
Interesting to read this from a German perspective.
I am the 3rd out of 4 children of a middle class family, about to finish a master's degree at a respected public university, my oldest sister is a doctor, the other a psychologist, my brother is still in high school but will certainly go to uni later, too. Tuition cost for all this? Virtually none.Now supporting the three of us for a combined 19 years of university certainly cost my parents in the range of 100k Euros, even though we got some money through government support scheme, with payouts depending on income and number of supported children. It has certainly limited their ability to build up capital, as they only recently with just enough time left to repay most of the mortgage before their retirement.
They could have never afforded an education for all of us if there had been tuition fees in the range of 20-30 thousand per year. Already as it is, bringing up the four of us has left them with at a substantial life-time financial disadvantage compared to peers with no kids. Meanwhile, it will be their children (us) who will pay into the common pay-as-you-go pension fund, also paying for people with no kids who used that capital to buy real estate or amass capital.
6
@kaengurufan
I wonder how many more doctors the US might have if the cost was only time and effort.
It is odd that so many Americans think that the only motivation one might have to become a doctor is money. Like no person would want to become a doctor to help others.
4
First world problem. The author, who is employed at an elite university, complains about how hard it was to do research on the middle class families who struggle to pay for college. Yeah, because the middle class is shrinking by the day. How about research on why there are so many struggling to be considered middle class while more and more of the wealth is concentrated at the highest end. Solve this problem first and the issue of paying for college will take care of itself.
5
@Johnny
Pretty easy. There is no pressure on the corporations to share its wealth.
No pressure to pay the employees more, as there was when there were unions, so pay has stagnated for 40 years. In fact, companies are encouraged to have their employees get food stamps and Medicaid to subsidize company profits.
No pressure to pay taxes, as companies get breaks from the state and local governments for moving there. So local services are cut, including education.
No pressure to contribute to the community in any way, including the cleanliness of the environment.
Because, you know, socialism for the rich is good because the benefits will trickle down. Hollowing out the society for the benefit of the rich is what capitalism is supposed to do.
7
In-state tuition at your state university is still affordable and the education is the same as at fancier places.
@Ohioteach
Depends what one considers affordable. $20K a year is still quite a hit for most families, and $20K a year is cheap.
7
College has always been aspirational and expensive. It has only gotten more expensive as we throw more government money at it, and created this massive student loan crisis, wasting hundreds of billions in tax dollars. How many of us vote for the politician who says "college is not for everyone, and the government has made it unaffordable and a waste of money for millions?" Shame on us. And then we indulge in op eds that miss the reality.
4
There are many routes to avoiding heavy college debt. I chose community college, then transferred to a four year city University. I graduated with zero debt and actually money in my pocket because I also worked. I also had access to some of the best and seasoned Professor's and Education Professionals.
I wonder why so many people do not consider this route or some variation. Some of the biggest drivers of the cost are room and board, commuting is a great option which was what I did. However sometimes our emotions and willingness to please our kids get the best of us especially if the child is laser focused on a particular perceived college experience, we relent and let them have what they want which then leads to heavy college debt. My daughter fell into this trap for one year and almost 15k in debt. We quickly got her out she is now attending a community college and transferring to a state University, she is commuting.
In my opinion Higher Education is a fundamental human right and not a privilege or a luxury. A lot of these private institutions need to close down or be absorbed by state or local governments. Parents and advisers need to play the long game and think about the children's future ten, twenty years after graduation and what their future will be with and without heavy college debt.
Local and state are the way to go.
1
A reader wrote: "I was much more stunted than my classmates were because my parents didn't spend much on me during my childhood. "
You're joking, right?
I work in a marvelous community music school, and see the wheel to which our kids are strapped. Constant lessons and activities--which all add up to a hearty sum--in which they have no particular interest and certainly no time to practice. I think that parents are afraid of what the kids will do if left alone for an hour.
The ultimate insult was a parent complaining that, though the family earned over $93,000/year, they should get a discount on the kids' lessons because SF is so expensive.
Libraries. City-sponsored sports and rec centers. City- or community-sponsored lessons of all kinds. Free days at the museums. And, yes, the blessings of affordable--or even free--community colleges. Being a good parent has nothing to do with the amount of money you invest in the kids.
4
Corruption accounts for part of this problem. At public universities, administrators pull down $100,000 plus salaries, football and basketball just about break even but pay coaches exorbitantly, and top faculty in business school or medicine get huge salaries. Meantime, down on the rest of the campus, teachers in "non-paying" fields, even including some pre-med and basic science professors, as well as social studies and humanities, are replaced by low paid itinerant instructors. Got to change the system.
5
@Ro Mason,
Basketball and football do not just "Break even". At the University of Connecticut the Athletic Department lost $40.5 million last year. A $500 per student activities charge goes to fund athletics. Many schools are in an arms race over athletics. The smart schools will say enough and stop playing the game.
5
Every American should be forced to relearn Adam Smith's concept of The Invisible Hand. When government intervenes into the economy, it often doesn't make things better. When the government agreed to guarantee student loans, it allowed the colleges to raise tuition. If the money hadn't been there, they couldn't have raised the price. Responsible middle class students often refused to take out potentially crippling debt while poor students took risks. The responsible person spent his life paying off the loans of the irresponsible through higher taxes. Bankers, government bureaucrats, education bureaucrates and construction companies got rich.
6
@Michael Green Every single time Big Government throws mountains of cash at anything (education, healthcare, etc) the price always goes up. Do people really think that if Big Government throws money at something there won’t be people appearing to pick the money up?
3
@Micheal Green
As someone who saw zero benefit from the Trillion dollar tax break to the ultra rich, Adam Smith was wrong. The hand is visible, the fist is closed, and it just keeps punching down on the young and poor.
7
@Corbin Don't mix up one issue with another. My enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend. Just because Republicans aren't on my side doesn't mean that the Democratic agenda benefits me. Wasting money on education or social programs and creating an unfair system can exist along side an unfair tax system.
1
The close of the article: in the absence of real change, cost of college will continue to thin out the already thin middle class. With that said can we finally stop calling candidates like Sanders and Warren radical? Also, can we come to an agreement that “candidates of the status quo that is not Trump” (ie Biden) are NOT the way forward?
6
@Bret. The same Elizabeth Warren who lied about her ancestry and demanded $350,000 to teach one class is going to fix the high cost of education? She IS the problem!
3
There is one major issue that no one seems to be identifying: the states and the federal government no longer support their state schools. I went to a prestigious state university in the 60's, took out some modest Student Defense Loans, which were forgiven at the rate of 10% a year if we taught for 5 years, and had very little debt upon graduating. That same state university began to experience declines in state funding to the 80's. In the 80's, the state was providing approximately 50% of the university's budget. By 2012 it was giving only 25%. These figures are available online in many forms, and pretty much equate to the experiences of most state universities nationwide.
Where, precisely, does the money come from? Well, from parents and loans, of course. And where did the money that previously funded higher ed go? Well, to Medicaid, which saw its budgets double during the same period. Research by Douglas Webber, an associate professor in economics at Temple University, has found that colleges raise tuition by about $300 for every $1,000 in funds cut by the state.
There we go: back to the issue of health care costs. At a time when almost every child is pushed to go to a good 4 year school, and when parents are paying high medical insurance costs, it is, ultimately, the decline in funding for the state schools that makes higher ed so exorbitant.
6
The only thing more depressing than the article are the 1500 or so comments it has generated. As a proud Democrat, I had to bite my lip when I heard our candidates speak of "free college" While something has go be done to help Americans become educated and competitive, it seems that "colleges" have lost their way. While the amenities and cafeteria offerings have exploded, the same cannot be said of the quality of instruction. How much of the inflation in college costs have gone to hire and nurture tenured faculty? Not much. I have heard that at most colleges, many corses are taught by adjuncts and graduate students. This is another facet of a scandal that seems to have no end. Both my sons graduated in for years and have no debt. One is flourishing and the other continues to struggle. The difference between the two has many causes but the one doing well found a mentor who took an interest and helped guide him along. I too had a faculty mentor in college. It meant more than one can imagine.
10
@Carl Fiend
Your kids are both flourishing in my opinion because they have no debt. If someone paid for my college so would I.
My husband and I are both civil servants living in an extremely expensive city. It seems that our income is too high to qualify for aid, but there is no way we can pay full fare. Are private colleges these days just filled with the wealthy and the poor, with no middle class students?
12
On Monday our daughter will begin her college education at Sciences Po, ranked as the world's third-best school for politics and international relations.
A few of the benefits: focus on quality education instead of frat mentality and football games, she will gain an international perspective and language fluency in addition to her degree, the cost (for us because we are expected to pay full price) will be less than if she were to attend a UC in California at in-state price, and the campus (Reims) is a beautiful blend of historic 17th century buildings along with brand new modern buildings.
5
I believe that college tuition should be tax deductible. It would truly soften the financial burden for us if it were. I don't understand why no one brings that up.
7
I worked in higher ed for 17 years. Loved a lot of it but got tired of explaining how we always ran a budget deficit when we charged unbelievably high tuition (my last college cost 57k per year). I felt then and feel now it's largely because no one but the colleges themselves checked their costs, and encouraged people to take out the equity from their homes to pay. We kept hearing "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." Meanwhile, many students were pushed toward college that were not college-ready and what cushion their families had for emergencies was spent on a 4-6 year indulgent camp that encouraged not worrying about finding a job. I cannot divorce this way of thinking from all the many young people who have enormous loads of debt and no job in their field! It's as though everyone was encouraged to be educated the way very wealthy families were years ago (without the need for practical considerations) but don't have the bank accounts to back it up. Colleges exploited this and made very nice retirements for some, but not even for all faculty. Don't even start me on the kabuki dance of tenure.
Young people should try community school for two years, congress should examine why more credits cannot transfer, and parents should make their children have a part time job while attending college. And finally, keep their home equity intact so when their own parents needs assisted living, or some other life-saving occurrence, it's an option.
8
Send your child to university outside of the US. It is far cheaper, and they will learn about other cultures and possibly another language to boot. The money you save will be far, far more than the round trip airfare. It is simply not true that all the great schools are in the US.
If you are afraid of your child being so far away from home, also consider that many countries are safer than the US, too.
9
@Veny
Yes! Start by looking into these schools: Edinburgh University and Kings College in the UK, and Sciences Po in France.
1
The author's definition of 'middle class' doesn't take into account the disparity between older and younger parents. Have a baby when working parent is 18-21, work a middle class job and there isn't going to be enough salary to put aside to pay for college when you are 36-49. The compensation structure just doesn't work, nor does the financial aid calculation. Wait for that first baby until you are 28-31 and things change....you can give up your retirement savings if you don't have a pension, if you do you can get enough financial aid to make up the gap with savings.
3
My college today costs 8x what my parents paid for it. I seriously doubt the students are getting 8x as good of an education.
This article ends in a call to reform "how a college education is financed." No. College loans, private or governmental, are not the fundamental problem -- it's the cost of the education itself.
Why have colleges and universities ratcheted up their tuition so much? It's a mix of reasons, but it's similar to why hospitals and pharmaceutical companies have: because they can.
When politicians call for student debt forgiveness, they punish taxpayers instead of the real culprits: the colleges themselves.
11
This article is spot on for our situation. Fortunately our child got relatively well-paying jobs in the nonprofit sector, but we are facing a tighter retirement. Her college was generous; everything I've heard about NYU is that it is one of the worst for financial aid.
1
Start saving early and often and modify your lifestyle to match your long-term needs. Yes, it is about buying that cup of coffee each morning at Starbucks instead of making it at home. It adds up.
3
Our son did study at an in state public university, but was hit with the now common extra fees that are applied to anyone studying engineering. An extra financial burden that is wildly unfair.
2
the extra fees are typically justified by lab materials, equipment and software licensing deals the schools pay for student access. I'm not advocating for higher engineering tuition but I think given my own experience at the University of Michigan, often times liberal arts students are subsidizing the cost of specialized education tracks like engineering or nursing.
Why not write about the outrageous tuition universities and colleges charge?
They are able to do so because students can get easy loans.
The universities and colleges are the biggest part of the problem.
8
Visiting my college alma mater on several occasions throughout the years, I have seen a disproportionate amount of foreign exchange students enrolled.
It is my understanding that they pay the full tuition for the opportunity to study at elite Fine Arts School in New England. The college vigorously recruits overseas in order to bring in the high revenue sacrificing talent over profits.
4
@Michelle Courtois
I had a conversation once with the chairman of the physics department at a large Midwestern university. He explained that the additional fees paid by foreign students basically subsidized the cost of educating 2 to 3 in-state students.
You have to ask yourself if in essence foreign students are replacing the educational subsidies once given to state universities by state governments?
2
Yes, one problem is parental decisions on spending v. saving money. But let's not overlook the fact that the cost of higher ed is skyrocketing. Let's reign that in, and then maybe it'll be easier for students/parents to pay.
1
One hopes that some other commenter has noted that college is not for everyone. It would be a shame for the family to jeopardize its long term finance on a young adult who is not interested or motivated to get an academic education. We as a society need to do better at identifying these children at a younger age and giving them realistic options such as trade and vocational schooling that leads to sustainable middle class careers.
4
We sent my top of the class son to our own state college. He attended the honors program which was at least as good if not better than being at a private college - and any student could apply once accepted if he / she did not receive direct entry.
He loved college - and had his choice of Harvard or Stanford Law. He chose Stanford.
Don't get fooled by marketing - no matter where you are, your own state school is waiting for you. And you have already paid taxes to support it - take the lower tuition and know that your low cost / high value choice serves as a great lesson for your child.
10
Totally agree. I have 2 sons that went to our state schools. One went on to a prestigious MBA program and the other is in an excellent US Medical School. State schools get the job done .
5
'Paying for College' was what altered the political evolution of Millennials during the 2016 election cycle.
Before 2016, it wasn't until Millennials began hearing about some old-guy senator from Vermont touting 'free college educations', they didn't know Bernie Sanders from Colonel Sanders.
And nationally, neither did all those parents, grandparents, and relatives who eventually got on board the Bernie Bus once they were confronted with the 'Student Loan Debt' confronting their Millennial offspring.
3
Colleges and universities have done an extraordinary job of convincing students and parents to shell out huge sums for their experience. Having lived near a few exclusive 4-year colleges, I’ve heard more than a few grads wonder why they did THAT to themselves. The big irony is that families don’t do their homework before applying to colleges. The biggest question is: will our high school grad need an advanced degree, like MS, MBA, MPH, PhD, etc? If they answer is yes, then go to the community college, transfer to the state school, get really good grades, and then transfer to the major institution. I have found that most companies only look at the last school they attended. I went to few mediocre schools to earn my PhD. I did a postdoc fellow at an Ivy League school, and that opened the doors. I didn’t get a degree, no certificate, just a line on my resume, but it was enough. Throughout my career, the only thing that matter was that. Students can get their credentials on the cheap, but they have to do their homework....
7
Browsing through the comments, what most strikes me is the position of privilege of NYT readers.
They use the word "college" to automatically mean "elite liberal arts college" or "education at a major research university." Yet, our country has an amazing network of 2-year community colleges that provide two years of core classes to half of our nation's undergraduates. Community colleges are staffed by a dedicated faculty and offer students -- often first generation learners -- a caring learning environment. Many of these students -- like my husband -- go on to get higher degrees and successful, debt-free lives.
11
There are many great comments here on how broken the system is. I’ll only add some questions.
Which of the presidential candidates have a plan to address the outlandish, poverty-inducing cost of higher education in the US?
Do you plan to vote for them?
5
Not only is university free in a good amount of EU nations, but the variety of exchange and study abroad programs (Eramus, etc) is pretty astounding. As an older grad student, I get a dizzying number of offers in my inbox on a monthly or even weekly basis ... that always make me wish I could go back and do another few degrees. The EU knows what's it's doing when it comes to education. As with health care, Americans are misssing out. You're allowed the whole thing to become throughly corrupted through the profit motive, as with health care.
11
Here’s an easy solution to stop the outrageous continuing increasing private school tuition. Have the government refuse to back any loans that are used for schools (i)where tuition exceeds $45k (this is the out of state tuition for top state schools like Maryland and Wisconsin) or (ii) where the annual increase are more than the CPI. You will see universities quickly figure out a way to manage their tuition, potentially using their endowment treasure to pay for things as they should have for years.
The prices are a disgrace and the fact that parents buy into this instead of sending their children to State schools, and to Community College for two years adds to the problem. The reality is that if you’re not from a family with means (where financial considerations are meaningless), and your child does not get significant grants (not loans) to attend, there no reason for to go to a private college that is not at least in the Top 50. They should be attending a State school, which is just as prestigious as a low ranked private school. It will also offer better job and grad school placement. It’s a similar analysis based on a child’s career choice and earnings potential. It’s foolish to ignore this in making a college choice. We need lots of teachers, artists, journalists, etc., but with mostly lower salaries, the private/public college decision needs to be given much more consideration. Straddling young adults with crushing debt is not intelligent nor necessary.
7
Imagine going to school for free. Studying subjects you were curious about. Leaving college and going into a career where employers were interested in your intellectual curiosity, not your vocational training.
I was fortunate enough to live in that world, outside of the United States.
14
My wife and I paid for 2 kid's under grad college. We pay $30,000 per year for 5 years so our daughter, now 32, can complete her doctorate.
Between the 2 kids they have 6 degrees, all with very high honors - no loans.
No regrets. I am 70 and work 6 days per week.
3
My brother in law died last weekend. One of the finest I have ever known. He came here on a student visa from war torn Lebanon. Went to community college for two years then to Cleveland State university to study engineering. Nothing glamorous or expensive. He later went on to become CEO of one of the most admired firms in the city.
He didn’t need an Ivy League education to make him a great man. Times have changed. Time to foresake the allure of an expensive four year degree and the student debt that comes with it. It doesn’t make you a better person.
9
This study describes my family’s situation on every level. We made strategic decisions and commitments financially and professionally to ourselves and our kids. We currently have a sophomore and senior in college. We just learned that our sophomore’s school expects us to dip into our retirement accounts, paying penalties, to pay our “EFC”. We told them we will not, we are in the second half of our 50s. This contradicts advice we received nearly 20 years ago to set ourselves up for this time. The school reduced the grants “offered” for the second year package. Our child chose this school because it meant less debt and hardship, and is happy with the choice. There are federal laws invoked by schools, and then it is all subjective and there is wiggle room. Each school handling it all just a little differently. We are still negotiating and holding on dearly to our long term financial security. For all 4 of us.
7
I wonder when the American public and its leaders will ever wake-up to ask one simple question, “Why does a higher education cost so much?” An investigation into the causes for escalating tuition might reveal that institutions of learning are more interested in profit making to support high salaries, lucrative employee benefits and the acquisition of real estate. The writer discloses: “As an anthropologist and professor at New York University, one of the world’s most expensive institutions of higher education”…but doesn’t reveal that NYU (once almost the lowest ranking educational institution in NYC) now owns a huge real estate portfolio and lavishes benefits on it’s administrators and professional staff. Somehow, the public is intimidated by prestigious named institutions to pull back the curtain and reveal they are not the grand wizards but ordinary entrepreneurs.
8
Sure, but perhaps going to college is the first big decision for a middle class kid of 18. A state school or an expensive out of state school?
In my previous job, some of my colleagues asked to be relocated to N Carolina so their children could have a chance to apply to Chapel Hill as a state student. The families were still sacrificing, to be sure. And there are plenty of underrated institutions here. Instead of BC, BU gives out a lot of aides, thanks to the foreign students, until Trump scares the latter away. And the U Mass system is no slouch
1
I knew I could only afford state colleges for my kids, and I told them that that's what I was paying for and they would need to borrow the rest of the money if they chose more expensive private schools. I didn't drive they to look at fancier schools and they opted for the state schools. They studied for careers in STEM fields and got good jobs in their fields directly from college. They have commented since that some of their colleagues with the same jobs have a lot of debt as a result of attending private colleges.
I know several people who allowed their children to borrow $100K to study journalism. They could not find employment in their field. They are the most vociferous in complaining about the cost of college.
5
@Marianne Roken
Being smug about your situation doesn't mean that everyone else is responsible for the problems in higher ed. Spare me--everyone can't be in the glorious STEM fields--which frankly means technology only.
Four year college today is almost like a high school degree 50 yrs. ago. Today, it is more important where you get your graduate degree, not your undergraduate degree. The graduate degree is the new college degree. But even more important is the subject in which you get your degree. Some degrees are more apt to bring a middle class income than others. This is where practical choices are more important than idealistic goals. An engineering degree from State U. may be a more likely ticket into the middle class than a history degree from Ivy U. Parents need to help their kids make practical choices.
1
The Harvard kid with a history degree can become an investment banker or any number of things similar level things, so that state degree may be a more likely ticket to the middle class, but perhaps not in the way you meant.
3
College should not cost what it does. Colleges and universities raised prices as a result of easy money. Most of the money goes to taking care of buildings and grounds not into the direct education of their students. Many universities staff classes with adjuncts and grad students. I learned, when I though at Columbia university at the beginning of my career, that it is possible to go through the entire Columbia core curriculum and never get a professor.
2
Education happens to continue to be the best investment that any parent can make for their child. While the cost of education is indeed very steep, the author does not mention the huge difference in the price tag between private and public universities. Brown university, where the author got her undergraduate education, costs about 65,000 per year. The large public university where I’ve been on the faculty for over two decades costs 14,000 in tuition (for up to 18 credits), and about 8,000 for room and board, for a total of 22,000. In my school (business), the placement rate is 100% and the average pay is about 50,000 on graduation. The pay back for a degree from my (highly reputed but humble) university is less than four years. If a parent commits to saving $150 per month from the time their child is born, and invest it wisely, they can send their child to my university debt free.
2
Amen! One has to wonder how many full time classes the author actually teaches each semester? What cost is incurred driving tuition costs higher at NYU, when the author doesn’t teach or sends a TA to teach. In my opinion, after graduating from private schools for both undergrad and graduate, spotting a tenured professor who teaches more than a class or two a semester is like spotting Bigfoot. Yet, as I’m two years into paying for my daughters trip through college at a state school, the experience has been completely different. She has full access to her professors, and I’m impressed with the level of detail placed on the curriculum, and the support the students are given from the faculty. Great job ESU!
3
@jen: We have entered the realm of absurdity when $22k/yr ($88k for a Bachelor's degree if, and only if, the student graduates on time) is considered a bargain for a middle-class family. And, no, $150/month from birth is unlikely to get you there.
5
@jen: And I will further point out that your last statement is simply untrue. A parent with a newborn right now is not going to come even close to meeting the financial requirements of sending a child to university by following your advice. That might have worked for a parent of a child born in 2000, if the parent's investments did extremely well (and were not gutted by the 2008 recession), but you're giving young parents the wrong impression. My state's flagship university saw a 9% year on year increase for five years running. How on earth is a middle-class family supposed to keep up with that? We have a crisis in higher education, and we are doing young parents a tremendous disservice by implying that giving up their daily Starbucks visit will be sufficient. Young parents need to do their research and run the numbers before deciding that $150/month is enough. Spoiler alert: It's not even close.
2
Important points here, but the article leaves out the details of some of these other struggling middle class families: those of college teachers, especially contingent faculty. These families aren’t reaping any benefits of the soaring cost of college. For adjuncts and contingent faculty, the university has decided they’re good enough to teach your kids, but not good enough to pay, support their scholarship, or welcome them as peers. With up to 70% of faculty being paid less than minimum wage, what are you really paying for, parents? Free massages and popcorn machines.
Maybe the “right college” should be one that supports teachers so they can support students.
8
We started saving for my kids college when they were babies. We had one car and rented out half the small duplex we owned. My niece paid for her own college at a large public university by saving and working part time and during summers. She was debt free within a couple of years after graduating and now owns a house and rents to roommates. Now please explain to me why we should now be forced to subsidize other people’s college.
3
There is a lot of pain and regret in these comments. A lot of good advice too.
Before you borrow, find your passion
Shadow and interview those in jobs you admire.
Find schools that specialize in that major
Find a community college that can feed you to that school in that major after two years.
Check in with advisors from both schools to make sure you are on track
Get the best grades you can. Pay for tutoring if you need it. Apply for scholarships specific to the major.
There is a lot you can do to make it work or lower the costs.
3
This article does not mention partial solutions that can ease the burden. My parents could not afford college with 2 sisters and a brother coming up behind me. Job prospects after high school were mostly minimum wage jobs. I ended up enlisting in the military. That's one partial solution. It gave me a chance to mature plus the GI Benefits. Another possibility is to work full time living at home and attending college part time. Now let's look at planning for college. I am not unsympathetic to expenses like providing for sports and other extracurricular activities that can be quite important to learning accountability, team work, and other experiences instrumental in the maturing process, but come on and come clean. How many times did you go on vacation or traded in your 2-3 year old car for a new one or purchased a car for your teen when it was not a true necessity. Then there's the teen wanting to leave the house and be free of their parents' control. In the end, most parents knowingly avoid planning for their children's education to satisfy immediate desires and the teens are still not mature enough to go to college and live on their own.
2
Regarding families and college on this Labor Day weekend, I grew up in a single parent household after my father died when I was five.
My mother worked full time as a nurse to keep a home together; financial help for college was never even a remote notion.
Many graduating high school seniors have no idea of the path they will choose and college is often seen as a way to explore the options.
That was a problem I didn't have.
As a career I wanted more than anything to be a firefighter and I obtained an associate's degree as part of that effort.
Were my sights too low or my prospects stymied by my circumstance or lack of attributes?
Who knows, but what resulted was a fabulous and rewarding career full of meaning, adventure, thrill and life lessons.
Now two careers on I work with students and always remind them, perhaps to their parents chagrin, to choose a path they love.
And then be prepared to "pay for your path" in all the ways the phrase implies: financially, physically and psychologically.
I spent 22 years getting my hands dirty, and sometimes bloody, never receiving a four-year degree but with a deep appreciation for a true love of work as a rewarding way of life.
Parents, let your kids find the work they love and then expect them to help make their dream come true; you won't be disappointed even if their hands are dirty.
10
A beautiful essay on the value of meaningful work. The drive for expensive college degrees, for prestige and advanced degrees, and for desk jobs and high incomes, is not always the best pathway for everybody. Being a firefighter or paramedic — snd retiring at age 50 and getting a nice pension, and then moving onto a second career — sounds like a delightful and rewarding life. Thanks for sharing.
3
This story confirms how much the world has changed since I graduated from college in 1975 (followed by a masters degree, and a law degree in 1986). My parents paid for my undergraduate (out of state) tuition at the University of Wisconsin, without debt or much difficulty. Tuition was a few thousand a year, I think. I paid my own tuition in graduate and law schools--at the same school, but by then I was in-state. No debt whatsoever; part-time and summer jobs were adequate to finance my education and modest living expenses. None of this would be possible today. Why? Largely because of the conservative project over the last 50 years to defund public higher education (and in Wisconsin, that has extended to public education at all levels). What was once a public asset--good, affordable schools--is now considered a private private responsibility. The result has been that lives are fundamentally changed--mine has been comfortable and productive, but most kids today face enduring financial struggle and narrowing of life options (well documented in many comments here). It's shameful, tragic, and I'm afraid irreversible unless the nation wakes up to see what the Regan Revolution and the Koch Brothers have wrought.
16
I am American, teaching at an international school in Pakistan. I view the entire world as my potential employer and am living a much better lifestyle as a teacher teaching overseas than I ever would living and teaching in the United States. In much the same way as I view the entire world as my potential employer, I also view the entire world as my children's potential educator. It is entirely possible to attend excellent universities in countries other than The United States without having to deal with the insanely usurious prices. I do feel a moral obligation to provide my two precious daughters with an excellent university education. I do not feel obligated to go bankrupt in doing so.
2
@Jay Werba be careful out there Jay !!!
"The median American household has only about $12,000 in savings."
Americans portray themselves as far better off than they are. Do Americans live one big lie? My answer is yes. Americans lie about everything: finances, knowledge, accomplishments, etc. I guess lying has become the American pastime.
8
My nephew is joining the Navy for 4 years because his parents are (barely) middle class, and he cannot afford tuition to Maine Maritime Academy and cannot secure guaranteed loans for all four years.
That so many students start college with loans on a year to year basis and forces too many to quit college in the middle while having no degree but still its debt is another broken wing of this system.
4
The equation has changed dramatically. With scholarships, grant money, and a part time job I paid my way through college back in the late 70s. It would not be possible to do the same today. The debt load college grads are carrying is staggering.
6
People (are forced to pay) because corporations give priority in hiring to someone with higher-ed versus someone with 10 times the experience but no college degree, and even more so when the diploma is from an Ivy League school.
When I came to NYC after marrying my American husband, and I searched a job in TV, I was passed for every Ivy league graduate although at the time I had already produced and directed 10 long forms documentaries and hundreds of segments in 40 countries in Europe, and the recent grads of the Ivy schools had only one or two brief segments (packages) done for their thesis.
I felt that getting a new diploma in the US would be a waste of money, but I later saw it as a mandatory tax on being WELL and even properly employed, regardless if one already possessed the skills.
In the end, I got a job well bellow my capacity ad experience where I was stuck for years and depressed, so I eventually moved back to Europe and resumed my great career.
7
The article doesn't at all question two assertions: 1)that a 4-year college is the only way to a middle class job. 2) that it has to be a private school charging 40-50k/year in tuition. 1) is false. Plumbers, electricians etc all make middle class wages and don't need a four year college and are not going to be automated or outsourced and there is a shortage about to start as boomers retire 2) community colleges and state schools are excluded-why? No one has failed in life going this route. There's plenty of data suggesting this path adds much more value relative to the amount spent than many mediocre 4-year private schools. Kids that are going to grad school later don't need to go into a top 20 school, they just need to be able to get into grad school. Federal government loans are complicit in the debacle we've created. Controlling costs using the stick of their federal tax exemption is a policy idea worth considering: to still consider places charging 200k for four years non-profit because they don't pay their excess out to shareholders but instead to myriad administrators and on lavish buildings is a sick, absurd joke. The system is sick but proposals that would forgive debt on the back of all tax-payers without addressing cost inflation would actually make it worse.
3
Although the writer did pay homage to the decline in unionized manufacturing jobs, there was no mention of alternatives to collage. Not all students are collage material, but we place undue pressure on them to believe they are. The trades are in high demand and they get paid very well. Their education is a combination of community college and OJT. This is not emphasized enough in our credentialed society. As Americans, we have lost our value of work and of the people who do this work.
2
Once a family accepts that there are several ways to get a college education, then things get much easier, if education is really the goal. Many colleges today provide a very expensive "lifestyle experience," and education is really secondary to sports and other aspects of college life. Most states have public colleges and universities that are known for providing a good experience for less money--as in in-state tuition. And some community colleges are known for being good for getting started toward a four year degree. And the, of course, there are trade schools that have good reputations among employers for preparing workers for trade, tech and medical-related work. Skilled workers are needed more than ever and can earn a middle class income that way. But if a family believes that a "name brand" is essential, they are going to pay dearly and likely they or their child will be in significant debt for years to come. It's about choices and a degree of independent thinking. Most families should figure out what they can afford to pay towards college and let their student make the most of it. The more vulnerable are likely families who have enough money to be tempted into going for the Big Name school, and then really stretch to make it happen financially. I've noticed that small liberal arts colleges are in the news due to their financial predicaments. Many will be closing and others will be merging with other education entities--some will become for-profit organizations.
4
Yes! Parents should set a budget as to how much they will contribute to college each year, not have a budget dictated to them by the people at the financial aid office. The FAFSA used to be used to figure out who would qualify for grants, but it seems to have morphed into a tool to tell families how much they need to plan to pay for the school year.
529 plans are great if you have a crystal ball or a large family. Otherwise you are carefully saving in a form that will only be accessible without large penalties if your child chooses college and doesn't get merit-based assistance. If not, you are out of luck. They won't have it to invest in a business, buy a home, or other things that they might choose.
College doesn't guarantee a job. Our economy is changing and education itself is changing. In spite of the tax savings, 529 plans may not turn out to be the best place to save money.
2
I teach at a community college and manage a nonprofit behavioral health agency. What I frequently see is young people attending college because they didn't know what else to do, and giving a lackluster performance, leaving with plenty of debt and often no degree. And having a college degree is not a guarantee of a middle class lifestyle by any means--I hire young people with Masters degrees for salaries in the mid to high $30s; that's nobody's idea of a middle class life. I dearly wish we did a better job of showcasing vocational career tracks, that often result in higher paying jobs right out of school/training. And employers, particularly civil service jobs, could frequently drop the requirement of a Bachelor's degree to even apply. Civil service jobs were often solid careers with good benefits that did not require a degree.
4
The federal government should stop subsidizing student loans. Without this "free" money, the following would change:
1) Parents would be encouraged to invest in 529s early
2) Students and parents would find better incentives to start at a community college
3) Students and parents would emphasize state public schools over private schools
4) Students will be encouraged to research and choose an appropriate degree that is applicable in the marketplace
5) Students will be "working" while in school
6) Students will be applying for scholarships
7) Colleges would finally stop jacking up tuition rates that has "magically" grown faster than inflation for decades
8) Students will enter the workforce without student loans which will enable them to save and invest and be more productive in society which is what a college education and was intended to yield for society.
A bank would not give an 18-year old a $50,000 loan. So why is it smart for the government to guarantee the loan?
I support any policy that immediately ends the student loan subsidy.
1
Notice (in the paragraph below) the 'getting a quality education,' or 'becoming an educated person', etc., are not identified as either an intrinsic or extrinsic "emphasis" in finding the "right" college. It is mainly about social and financial advancement, not intellectual advancement.
"The second moral trap occurs when children begin applying for college. As nearly every family told me, the parents and the children place enormous value on finding the “right” college. This is far more than finding an affordable place to study; it is about finding the environment that best promises to help build a social network, generate life and career opportunities and allow young adults to discover who they are. With so much at stake, parents and children prioritize the “right” school — and then find ways to meet the cost, no matter what it takes."
2
The great thing about living in North Carolina is that we have an excellent taxpayer subsidized university system. We sent four children through that system and they obtained excellent degrees that allowed for advanced to graduate school or secure employment. The average cost was $18,000 per child per year including tuition, room, board and living expenses. We saved up the money from their birth and paid it from 529 plans once they were in school. I recommend public universities and this taxpayer subsidized form of tuition as it make the education accessible to all but doesn't result in the artificial inflation of college expenses as a result of student loan subsidization.
Why have college costs tripled in three decades? To pay for fancy new facilities and oodles of highly-paid administrators. The money for all this mostly comes from increasing student loans. Instead of funding student loans, the government should have just given the money to colleges and universities. That might have kept tuition down to more reasonable levels.
5
What in the world is wrong with starting off at a State supported Community College like my two daughters and I did. My older daughter and I transferred to a 4 year state school and completed our degrees, and my younger daughter received her Associates degree and is working in her chosen field. None of us had student loans at the end. When will parents act responsibly and tell their sons and daughters that Community colleges and State supported 4 year schools offer a quality education at an affordable price. This elitist attitude among many parents and students is, along with obscenely increasing college costs, responsible for the student debt crises. My wife, who is also a native New Yorker, was told by her father "I'll pay for your education as long as the college has a SUNY (State University of New York) in front of it. Would that more parents took that attitude.
6
Exactly on the money.
NYC has a plethora of excellent colleges and universities, stay home, take the subway, brown bag and work a bit especially during breaks and you will graduate with very little debt.
5
Wake up parents: trade schools are wonderful options.
4
Especially if you don’t want a job after you graduate because many of the for-profit vocational schools have poor job placement records.
4
Higher education is another example of government involvement with unintended consequences. Identifying an educated citizenry as desirable, government financial support for individuals wanting to pursue higher education simply fed dollars into a education machinery that enjoyed students pursuing a dream at whatever cost could be charged for it. Unlike any other loan one might want, the value of the purchase was never analyzed by the lender....you want to spend $50,000 a year pursuing your studio art degree or your chemical engineering degree? The fact that one prepares you for, more likely than not, a lower income possibility than the other was simply not a consideration. So, these students roll out of college then have to start paying this money back.
Unfortunately this has increasingly led over the last 30-40 years of whopping increases in the cost of higher education as colleges and universities have lathered new buildings and programs creating room for the pursuit of just about everyone’s “passion”.
I attended the University of Texas in the 1970s; a large school then in a sleepy college town called Austin. Tuition and fees were something along the lines of around $100/ semester hour. One could work part time jobs and pay for your education.
Moreover, as opposed to today’s nanny state, universities rejected in loco parentis. Today, the University has to cater its students with safe spaces, fancy on campus restaurants and coffee shops. Laughable, expensive, Priorities
3
What is changing middle class life is the wealthy robbing the country blind, not college costs.
6
There is an unfortunate conflation that has emerged in the last few decades. College and University used to be considered solely an avenue to an advanced education, an enlightenment of self in the arcane of the Arts, Sciences, etc. It still is.
But somehow we've come to conflate the pursuit of it with the prospects of a good job and social standing. While it is true it can help, from a strictly job-oriented perspective there is never a guarantee. Overlooked is the reality that there are other avenues one can pursue post high school.
There are the trade skills schools. The last time I looked America is in dire lack of sufficiently trained folks to stoke our economy, to say nothing of the (re)build of national infrastructure in all its forms, etc.
And here's the thing about the trades; it does not preclude an advanced education in the traditional sense. It's still there for those with a curious mind and a desire to learn in accordance with proclivities. "Advanced" education is not a lock-step straight out of High School process is it? Not really. It's not an assembly line, though we treat it as such.
Life, after all, is a journey and your education, which actually started at the moment of your conception, will proceed apace up to the point of your death. And who knows, perhaps even beyond it. So "advanced" is a misnomer. Live your life, and let your curiosity lead you forward.
John~
American Net'Zen
4
Sorry, but trade schools are often a rip-off, They push the loan papers into your hands and then they get the money without any guaranty of job placement success for their students who often end up stuck with the debt and with no money to pay for it.
3
@Edward: True enough. Some trades are scams, as are some institutions of "advanced" education. Anyone (else) remember Trump University? (There, I just went and injected the name into this separate conversation - heh.).
So sorry, I did not mean to imply that going to a trade school absolves you of any of the usual due diligence you should be doing as a consumer of a potential product. Charlatans exist in all endeavors. It's on you to do the proper research in order to make an informed decision. Do not be fooled by the propaganda emitted by the institution you might find of interest. This applies, too, to Universities and such. That said, to me this does not negate the logic of my argument.
Regards!
1
The cost of education and housing and health-care and transportation are obscene. We have been treating these costs as 'variables' that 'change' - but although adapting to rising costs is unpleasant, it is also necessary.
These costs are not merely unpleasant. They are socially crippling. In most instances these costs are closed doors to opportunity. It's as if we were in a trance... accepting these unacceptable situations - as they might be merely troubling social challenges. The impact of these costs are far reaching - and a death knell to a large number of young person's hopes hopes.
Thank you for writing this essay (and book). I am fortunate that my children passed through this education phase and are not saddled with extravagant debt. In my job I talk with 20-35 year olds with incredible student debt. Not unusual to hear adults with 10-20 times the amount of debt I had coming out of college. This is severely impacting their life choices. I hear justifiable cynicism about middle class rewards and obligations. Throwing more government money at the problem only appears to drive tuition costs even higher. If there is ever an industry that needs technological disruption it is the whole college system.
1
Isn't this outcome to be expected as the competition for a globe's limited resources becomes more intense? I think poorly understood "social laws" are operating to raise the costs of having offspring to be commensurate with the resources available - currently taking the form of "good jobs with good benefits."
To that end, any and all efforts of parents with some instinct for the struggle are directed towards giving their offspring "a leg up" in the race. The often-cited fear of a child's "falling behind," expresses this driving imperative very well.
1
As long as people continue to pay this problem won't end and will only get worse as time goes on.
1
The whole system is set up to enslave the population. Everything that people need to have a high quality of life, education and health care are not only run for profit but are also highly complex systems with perverse incentives where the consumer and the vendor are arms length apart. In health care insurance companies control pricing and the actual cost of anything is hard to find out. In the education system a complex system of "Financial Aid" makes the actual cost of college a big mystery. In both healthcare and education you don't actually know the cost of anything before you are knee deep in the mess. In both cases the government is at the best incompetent and at the worst complicit in maintaining the complexity to allow outrageous profits to be made. America is the only developed country which allows this. I don't think it's random.
7
There is zero justification for the cost of a college degree having exploded to four times what it cost for 40 years ago except for excess greed on the part of the academic administrations along with incredible incompetence.
A ream of paper or roll of toilet paper costs less than it did in real terms 40 years ago. The cost of electricity and gasoline are less than is less than 40 years ago. Computers and technology cost a tiny proportion of what the cost 40 years ago. Overhead as a proportion of income or revenue in the private sector cost less than 40 years ago.
The cost of instruction is lower today because graduate students and adjunct lecturers barely making minimum wage have increased their proportion of teaching responsibilities and tenured professors, whose pay has inflated, are teaching fewer classes for more pay.
What has changed? University presidents and the executive elite are being paid seven figure salaries. Coached are paid eight an nine figure salaries. The number of administrative employees has exploded. And dormitories, athletic centers, student centers have become more luxurious despite the fact that having a private bathroom and full kitchen is not related to a core mission nor is having an overpriced cafeteria system.
How about some super smart business faculty put together a cost res=duction plan. They can recruit some of their graduates from the private sector, but they won't be happy with the criticism of their lack of productivity.
9
If the vast majority of Americans would be hard pressed to cover a $400 emergency, (which has been repeated in the media ad nauseum), then how can this author cite median retirement savings of $12,000? Something's off.
The college years, typically 18 or 19 to 22 or 23 are a period of growing up--leaving childhood. To do so in an academic setting seems like a nice idea but, unless the child in question is truly an academic at heart (very rare), perhaps some other form of adult day care/sleep away camp makes more sense financially.
4
Here’s a thought going forward, we no longer need families with 8 kids to work the farm. As millennials become parents I sincerely hope they realize that they don’t have to have 5 or even 3 kids. Folks, we are pushing 8 billion people in a planet built for maybe 3. Understand the consequences of having more kids than you can reasonably care for and that part of that care is making sure your child has enough opportunities in life to avoid abject poverty.
6
Where did you get the idea that the average family has 3 or 5 kids? Two-kid families are the norm. An American woman bears, on average, 2.07 children in her lifetime.
4
Seems fairly simply. Only pay top dollar for truly top schools. It is insane to pay full price for a school like NYU, however for a Harvard, MIT, or Stanford then it will probably work out. A truly elite school really is different than an average state school. I did undergrad at the state school and grad school at an elite one, so have some personal experience in the matter. Look for schools with programs for loan forgiveness, the school I went to cuts a check to cover at least some student loan costs for alumni working in public service jobs each year. Also, if you have no desire for an elite level job/career field where brand and connections and a certain learned social style don’t matter, go to the state school.
6
I studied abroad one semester at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands. It’s an excellent school with a fabulous reputation throughout Europe. There is a library, classroom buildings, some administrative offices and... not much else. The city of Maastricht is the campus. Students come from all over Europe and make use of the local cafes, pubs, and each other’s apartments to socialize. Guess how much tuition is? Last I checked, a few thousand Euro per year. A great education, and affordable! As a former college administrator, I can say there is a lot of administrative bloat at American universities that contributes to the high cost of education.
17
I'm disappointed that this article considered only the financial impact of this pattern. As a university teacher I meet students who are pressured to choose a seemingly more lucrative major by their parents, and often these students do poorly.
Parents wield power by virtual of family relationships, but making these relationships more monetized that they need be can increase family tensions, parental resentments, and the denial of true independence to young adults.
6
Since all state schools must take at least 50% of their own state's students to get gov't help, that means 1/2 of today's college kids are in state schools.
While many parents want to send their kids where they want, I used my cousin's college rule: pick any state school including our own, within 1 day's drive (7 hrs) so that there are no plane rides home for holidays or visits and to keep costs down.
The costs were around 27K/year for each child 10 years ago for tuition, room and board. The parameters helped keep everyone out of debt then, but I'm not sure we'd be able to say that if paying for it today.
2
I went to grad school in United States and got a advanced degree in physics. Majority of the top students and who were Americans (not considering Chinese, Korean and Indian) one aspect stood out was that for their undergraduate degree they went to community colleges for the first two years, transferred and got their degree from Universities. One thing that was mentioned frequently by these students were the benefit of one on one frequent interaction that they got with their Professors because of the small classes. They were debt free (or almost) and doing very well in their life.
On the other hand, I was a physics Graduate Teaching Assistant for a freshman class 200+ students. It more resembled a zoo where Prof attitude of rather than nurturing, guiding and looking at ways to improve their teaching method were more interested - pardon my language - in culling.
Low on money at all times, I decided to help myself as well as help tutor only desperate kids who were failing. For scores of students who I helped, all passed with top grades. So I question exploitation of these large colleges, big name Universities to their motive of having over 200+ size classes.
My advice to any parents/students would be to look carefully at even these big name Universities, first two years at community college with decent faculty and decent University for last two years: path to success is inscribed many ways.
8
More evidence that Bernie Sanders is right and US need tuition free collage and debt cancellation.
5
This article makes me feel that not having children has its upsides, even though our society fetishizes it.
10
Great article and great comments on a top topic for our country.
I have young children ( plural) and got sweaty palms and heart palpitations when I saw the average " 50,000 dollar per year" quote for undergraduate costs.
I calmed down when I pulled up the University of North Texas total annualized costs, inlcuding room and board, fees, tuition , books and extra spend money cpming in at under $25 k annually for instate residents.
In reality, the comments section reveals many solutions; 2 year community college first ( very reasonable path) , military service, Canada, europe, concepts of order of sacrifice and the very key point in the article of finding the right fit school for the individual child.
My solution at this time will be blended; go with the focus on fit concept first; working with my children and understanding who they are and what school choices would work for them, and then have a financial reality filter. Something should fall out as a solution.
If nothing falls out, then a backup plan comes into play: cheaper selection first year or two then transfer to the better fit list.
The pitfall? -- Graduate school of some sort looms large as a distinct possibility. The lottery theory in the article then kicks in.
1
If Canada and Europe come as solutions doesn't it prove that US system is broken?
8
@Robert
Respectfully, I would offer this bigger picture; cost of living for a large percentage of the middle class in the US is no longer affordable. Educational costs factor into this seeming truism for many American households these days.
5
Colleges are competing with each other to provide nice dorms, excellent food, stellar sporting facilities and innovative educational opportunities. At the elite institutions, there’s an assumption that students and their families can either easily afford their staggering price or that they will receive financial aid to cover the gap. While there seems to be a sense that a price increase should be held in check to under a 5% increase, there doesn’t seem to be any understanding that these increases are not easily sustained by families and impact them in very real ways. The tuition hikes have added a staggering a $20k onto the price of my daughters college from the time we started looking. We budgeted at the cost of tuition in her junior year of high school and are now anticipating that we’ll have to add a minimum of 20k to that figure and probably more as tuition continues to rise. We’re definitely using funding that would otherwise have been allocated towards our retirement. My husband and I don’t resent this as our parents paid for our college education but I do really resent the assumption on the part of elite institutions that tuition hikes don’t matter. Don’t give my daughter sushi! Be responsible, prioritize spending and don't keep hiking up the rates! These increases are not simply covered by immense family wealth or financial aid - they have very real impacts on families like mine. And I bet we’re a far larger portion of the clientele than college administrators think.
5
Until we stop looking for if—AND WHERE—a person went to college on a résumé, listening in conversation for same or even scanning obituaries for this information, college will be analogous to the brand, year and model of car we own. Whether it operates superbly doesn’t matter, the neighbors’ and coworkers’ opinions are what matter.
There are many professions that don’t require a college degree.
5
This issue is a soapbox of mine. The people who are suggesting community colleges as a starting point are certainly on to something. I have not studied the issue of rising college costs but two factors are obvious; the increase in administrators and the investments in campus facilities. College campuses have become spas which offer an incidental opportunity to further one's education.
We have four children, three of which graduated from US universities five to ten years ago. The cost was enormous but we're more fortunate than most and could afford it. Our fourth child, a caboose kid, has grown up in Switzerland. She's now in high school and last week attended an open house at the University of Basel. Among other things, she learned that the tuition there is the equivalent of $850 per semester. This is a standard figure across all of the Swiss universities. Does this translate into an inferior education? Clearly not. Perhaps a lack of climbing walls or athletic facilities. The tuition in Germany is even cheaper. There is a solution here but don't expect the university administrators to work towards it.
13
My son joined the Coast Guard and completed university via the GI Bill. Thank God. My husband and I paid his graduate school education. He never asked us for anything so it was the least we could do.
1
a huge number of college students attend relatively less expensive community colleges and other public institutions of higher learning with financial aid in their home towns, and they most often gain invaluable work experience that helps pay their expenses.
motivated students continue to do very well at college and in their careers.
as has always been the case highly motivated students do well regardless of income level, and the less motivated students will not regardless of how wealthy their parents are.
Financial aid is much more readily available now than in generations past.
I can appreciate that it's interesting to study how middle-class families are being impacted by the high cost of college, but why not study how colleges and the government can and should improve the current system. Let's shift the focus from what families aren't doing right to what colleges and the government aren't doing right. Why hasn't the FAFSA calculation, for determining what a family needs to pay, been updated? Why aren't colleges forced to have accurate net price calculators? Why doesn't the government regulate that colleges must publicly share the same set of cost and academic information so families (consumers) can compare colleges on an apples to apples comparison. Let's not overlook the huge lobbying efforts colleges have in place in Washington. Families are making poor choices because no one is looking out for them to give them the same basic consumer information they should have, just like when buying a car.
6
The middle class is getting really squeezed by stagnant wages and college costs.There are two key issues/fixes:
1) The staggering increase increase in college tuition has been fueled by easy money from government-backed student loans, but which ultimately need to be paid back. The answer to controlling costs is for the government to get out of the student loan business. When students can't pay the costs, the costs WILL come down. Colleges will spend less on fancy dorms and lecture rooms.
2) College education is increasingly seen as a rite of passage, when perhaps less than half of college degrees have any economic worth. In 1990 only 20% of US population 25+ was college educated, and today that has climbed to 35%. However, inflation-adjusted median incomes for college graduates are the same as 30 years ago. Not everyone needs to/should go to college.
9
I wish my state of Missouri would change its lottery to be like Georgia's: All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia's HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia's Pre-K Program. More than 1.8 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.6 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program. They have payed out 20 billion thru the years.
4
We have it so wrong.
In Germany, only about 20% of high school graduates go on to graduate from college.
Most people go into various forms of apprenticeship and vocational training. For which they take on no debt or loans, and are in fact paid to take the training.
The result is a highly skilled, highly paid workforce. And the highest productivity in the world.
A very successful model in which college graduates only represent a minority.
The snobbish belief that only college prepares one for adulthood is proven wrong.
And the terrible American college teaching environments, where bogus and irrelevant research is celebrated, actual teaching devalued, is revealed for what it is. A socially agreed upon scam.
23
We are a couple of retired schoolteachers with two adult children. We started saving for their college before they were born. That and our retirement savings have always been our two financial goals.
To do this, we have always lived below our means, which were modest. We never had a big or a fancy house. But that made it much easier to pay off our mortgage early. We didn't ever have fancy cars, but we maintained them well, despite the many miles a rural lifestyle required. We kept every car for as long as we could.
The money we did spend on our kids was for things you mentioned in the article--music lessons, travel, sports, recreation--but here too we were conservative about expenses, with occasional splurges.
Our son, who worked through college, graduated from a state non-research college with only one small loan. And our daughter, who has disabilities and took 9 years to get a community college degree, had none. And we, according to an article in this newspaper, are at the 85th percentile for wealth for folks our age. Our only debt is a car loan at 0% interest.
Saving for college is not impossible. You just have to have the right attitude; if keeping up with the Jones is important to you, it will be a lot harder.
4
I applied for a faculty job at a liberal arts university that pays 8$ an hour and REQUIRES a master's degree and knowledge of database software. After I pay for the required health care plan I will have 900$ a month left over, before anything else. I qualify for government aid working full time at a university. So, it's not like all this money is going towards paying faculty a living wage.
My masters degree, in instructional technology, wasn't a ticket to the middle class. It's a joke. A very expensive joke. What nobody tells you is that if you don't go to Name Brand U, or In-State U it's all the same to HR. They aren't gonna look up how good the program at whatever hick college is. They will ALWAYS hire familar and safe university graduates first.
Don't believe the lie that community college then transferring is "helpful". The ONLY ticket into the middle class is an Ivy League or your kid staying in the state of a Big Brand Name state University.
6
@Eli
Now sir, that is just silliness, with a shot of bitter.
You sound qualified for many other jobs out there besides working at a small college for $8.00 per hour.
It's true that people should be more circumspect before pursuing a master's. But I've known so many people who have worked their way into relative comfort with a just a bachelor's degree from a state school --- often after transferring from comm. college, like myself -- that I must call you out on this.
I worked in both large corporations and state government and trust me neither cared about the Ivy League.
2
In 1979 I was an undergrad at the University of Chicago. The University announced a 20% increase in tuition the following year. Little did I know then how lucky I was to be paying so little compared to students today!
I came from a family with few means, and though the University had provided some financial aid, I was already holding down a part-time job and taking loans. An extra $750 seemed particularly onerous.
I confronted the Dean at a student event and asked him the reason for the steep hike.
He responded that Harvard had just raised its tuition 20%, and no corresponding action in kind would damage the College's reputation among potential applicants.
I value my U of C education and am grateful to all my teachers, but that 30 second explanation was the best lesson I ever received on the economics of higher education in America.
8
Almost all the middle-class jobs that until one or two generations ago only required a high-school education and a brief apprenticeship on the job, now require not only a college degree but also masters. from kindergarten educators to various medical technical positions below the med level, to social media managers.
Just look at all the job listings issued by corporations: higher-ed is mandatory. Why? Are the high-schools less capable of delivering functional adults with reasonable cognitive abilities today than in the past? Or is it a vast conspiracy to squeeze more and more people into debt, the same way banks have stopped giving sufficient interest for savings and are forcing people to put their hard-earned cash, willy nilly, into the riskier stock market where many will be shafted?
Hence, higher-ed has become an immoral crushing tax on almost all professional opportunities.
1
The whole discussion is being side track by using the wrong terminology.
Talking about college "costs" is all wrong.
College is supposed to be an "investment". You invest some money, time, effort. And in "return" you get an education, experience, a chance for a lifetime of much higher earnings, fulfillment, etc, etc.
As most investments with upfront (4 years) cost and long term (40+ years) return, it is properly paid for with financing.
The only problem that can arise are people going in not understanding how to realize the returns.
It is immaterial how much college costs. All that matters is the ratio of return/costs. And today that ratio is much higher than it ever was, so long as you go at it as a financial investment and focus on the return.
Stop whining America. People as "investing" in college, because the returns are enormous for all the savvy investors that focus on that return.
1
Maybe the universities that my children will attend are not the perfect “fit”, but they currently cost about a thousand a year. Because they were born in Europe and have European passports.
I am still paying off my own debts from undergrad and grad school. When I tell people here what I owed (80k) they were astounded — no one here has those kind of debts just from studying.
And I am sorry but it’s just not worth 50k or more, what exactly are you getting out of it? I think to my private undergrad education college courses and a lot of them were useless. I could learn more from free online courses than I did on many of those. Some were real gems, but not worth 50k. The costs are out of control and don’t represent that you “pay for what you get”.
Oh, and it costs nothing extra for children’s health insurance.
Our system is broken.
7
Of all the political proposals (currently all Democrat) to make college more accessible/affordable, why do none of the them include a law to cap tuition and fees? Do we really feel the recent value of a degree has tripled similar the tuition rates? Is there fear among Democrats to force their college president allies to make this change?
If this were ever proposed, I would have a hard time not voting for that candidate.
5
Is there fear among Republicans of government regulation?
1
I am a professor in an elite school. However as an adjunct, I make the equivalent of minimum wage with graduate degrees. Though I love my job, I am barely middle class. I hang on by teaching year round, with no vacations. I drive a pre-owned (used) car. I have a son and I am widowed. It's exhausting. Many college classes are taught by lowly adjuncts. But colleges have a lot of administrative staff and student amenities that help to drive up cost. If colleges would again focus on teaching, eliminate their tedious (and often redundant) ways of doing business by streamlining services, and stopped treating students like customers, it might both reduce cost and increase educational quality. College costs are now unsustainable and soon, will not be affordable to most people in this nation. One thing keeping costs high is the search by many elite schools for international students. As long as the world holds rich individuals willing to pay $200,000+ for a four year college education, there is no incentive to change. It is reaching a crisis point. Yes, there are community colleges and state schools. But we need to be careful and not create a two tiered educational system - one for the wealthy, in this nation and the world; and one for everyone else.
20
Only in America would higher education collude with an innate competitive culture with links to college corporations. Why should one have to pay $50K/yr to attend a Mid-conference college? For Middle-class Americans, it is cheaper to attend Princeton or Wellesley than Kalamazoo College ($48K/yr) - ranked #65 by USNews. I am sure the latter offers salient education experience, but it is not Wellesley.
Why is tuition not reflective of the quality difference? A parallel is perhaps healthcare where costs are not always justified, accessing data on quality of physicians is murky. By contrast, there is abundantly accessible ways to access college institution data.
Perhaps Dr. Zaloom can offer us insights into the eliding principles which form 'moral obligations'. What is the cultural paradigm informing a Flint MI kid to choose Kalamazoo College over MSU at 4 times the cost?
This hyper-inflation reflects the aspirations of an insidious industry not reflecting the true cost of higher education. If I had to take a stag at the underpinning issue, it rests on Zaloom's term, 'the Right School', leavened from specious marketing - viz. Kalamazoo vs. Wellesley.
A solution is to increase our investment in public schools. With decrease in public funding over the past 30yrs, previously prestigious schools like UW-Madison and UNC have fallen dramatically in rankings. We only need to look at which government is in Madison and Raleigh get to the bottom of our quandary!
1
I think college needs to be reimagined. What is the purpose of college anyway? For a majority of students it’s career training with superfluous classes added. Long gone are the days where the university offered an education for a relative handful of elites on the topics deemed necessary to take the reigns of a culture at the highest levels. We no longer need the ritual of class elevation that college ostensibly suggests. These days you need a masters degree to fly a kite, and its frankly unnecessary for many. Perhaps we’d be better off creating lower cost, post high school institutions focused on training specific vocations sans the years of classes in things like “Gender and Representation in French Renaissance Theater”. I think as a culture we can live without the pageantry of ancient gowns and caps followed by the decades of monumental debt for the charade.
13
Why does the cost of college consistently rise faster than the rate of inflation? Where do colleges spend this money other than to build more fancy new buildings, renovate extremely old buildings, and pay coddled tenured professors for what amounts to a part-time workload? Some college presidents are getting seven figure salaries. And to be sure, a big part of their job is fundraising to pad—in some cases—multi-billion-dollar endowments.
This is insane. Meanwhile, the political class protects the colleges —indeed the government helps finance them and makes college loans easily available to anyone — while their progeny are routinely offered admission to the most competitive schools. Meanwhile, the tax payers are on the hook for defaulted loans while middle class parents are forced to make extremely difficult choices about financing their children’s academic enrichment in the present and funding their retirement in the future.
I recently visited a small very distinguished liberal arts college in New England. The school had opened a new several-hundred-million-dollar science facility. The enormous and beautiful new building was full of pristine scientific equipment. But what struck me was how completely devoid of people it was—other than for one small classroom and a couple of students reading in a lounge. It looked like a monument to this collective insanity.
11
There are very few college “coddled tenured professors” more and more professors are “adjunct” and paid what amounts to minimum wage to teach students who are paying exorbitant tuitions.
If you want to eliminate your student loans look into the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program.
1
As a college professor, I have an oddball, but very logical piece of advice for young couples starting their families. If at all possible, MOVE TO A LARGE STATE! (California, New York, Texas, etc.) The reason for this is simple: The larger the state, the more universities, and the chances are greater that your state will have a world class institution in your children's chosen field of study. Many of these states have especially generous savings programs if your kids stay in state, and of course in-state tuition is a bargain. Then, put your foot down and tell them that they have to stay in state for college. If they refuse, or go to a pricey private institution, tell them they'll have to go into debt.
6
First, let’s differentiate between “middle class” and “upper middle class”. Most truly middle class families will get some financial aid. Upper middle class families will get none.
Second, many of the children of middle class families have no business going to college. These children are of average intelligence and have little drive or focus for higher education. Many drop out, leaving debt for someone to pay, but not very high earnings.many of these parents paid a fortune for “sports opportunities”, often for social reasons.
Third - while these children talk about their child going to college, they do little to encourage excellence. They don’t have their children “challenge the curriculum” - they just want their children to “be happy” - they are proud they aren’t “pushy parents”.
It’s a different story for upper middle class families. They do push education and have high academic expectations. They may pay for sports but only to help get into college, not get an athletic scholarship. They typically do save - many since child was born. If an Ivy is the goal, that will require they save nearly $300,000 be age 18...for one child. They make a good salary but not that good!
The expectations of all must be lowered. Average family, average income should look at living at home and community college for 2 years. If this is a success, a state school is next.
Upper middle class families are going to have to lower their sights and go public or chase merit scholarships.
7
No one NEEDS to go to a $50,000/year college. In fact, most Americans don't. Instead, they go to the state U, often starting out at a community college, and they work while going to school. Yea, it's not glamorous. But it can be done, and with minimal debt IF WE'RE RATIONAL about our choices. I have little sympathy for the middle class family that insists on saddling their child with college loans because of absurd upper class aspirations they can't afford.
1
The few are locking the rest of of us out. The rich bribe their kids way into the best colleges, best institutions, best networks. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are both correct, time for this to become a national standard - COLLEGE for middle class kids. I have sent both my children to State colleges and easily covered the costs because of my income. My kids friends are not so lucky.
6
When I entered Berkeley in 1962, I recall the instate tuition was free, with a student activities fee of $25. per term.
In 2008, our younger son chose the small liberal arts school, Macalister, in Minnesota. He too was lucky to receive a financial aid package that covered tuition. Four years room and board in St Paul ran into $30,000. in student loans.
My kids are lucky they were good students and had parents willing and able to make sure they were not saddled with debilitating student debt. America is the only industrialized nation that makes money off of the students who will be our future.
There are some programs that help with student debt right now!
Our younger son worked for a non-profit after graduation, before entering a grad program at Tufts. Again scholarships covered school fees, but living in Boston for three years ran up $75,000. in student loans.
Both our kids knew grad school was on their dime. So how is he going to pay for this staggering sum while working at a non-profit In a previous comment, a parent lamented her daughters $100,000. debt. while working for a non-profit.
The answer for student loan debtors is if you work for a qualifying non-profit or government entity and you make 120 consecutive income based interest payments ...YOUR LOAN WILL FORGIVEN for your service.
Programs like this are a start, but the federal and state governments need to do much more to bring our educational costs in line with other civilized societies!
College education needs serious consideration and appropriate reasoning to decide what is best and what will ensure a job matching the skills. A lot student loan burden is due to impulsive behaviour.
2
I think it is important to consider why college costs have increased so dramatically. Is it, like Eastern Michigan University, where they built a multi-million dollar mansion for the president? How much goes to pay the scouts and recruiters for all the various sports teams? Exactly how much of the average college student's tuition goes to support the elite athetes who will go onto earn million dollar salaries in the pros, leaving the science and liberal arts students to foot the bill for the stadiums and sports staff through their loans. Sounds like a Congressional investigation is needed!
7
What this article and the study behind it leave out is that more than a moral obligation, parents and children are FORCED into buying these expensive diplomas they can't afford. Almost all the middle-class jobs that until one or two generations ago only required a high-school education and a brief apprenticeship on the job, now require not only a college degree but also masters. Just look at all the job listings issued by corporations: higher-ed is mandatory. Why? Are the high-schools less capable of delivering functional adults with reasonable cognitive abilities today than in the past? Or is it a vast conspiracy to squeeze more and more people into debt, the same way banks have stopped giving sufficient interest for savings and are forcing people to put their hard-earned cash, willy nilly, into the riskier stock market where many will be shafted?
Hence, higher-ed has become an immoral crushing tax on almost all professional opportunities.
7
@Alexgri
Whether or not people are forced to pursue higher education is debatable, but what's not debatable is that no one is forced to have children in the first place. Perhaps adults should be giving more thought to their future responsibilities and expenses before they make the decision to have kids, and especially before they have more kids than they can afford.
NYU is a huge culprit charging $58,000 tuition. Middle class hardly gets scholarship. Now they are considered privileged according to social engineers and so top schools don’t want them. Everything is down the hill. Some politicians now want to waive all debt to punish those patent who saved or students who worked hard to pay off debt.
Lower tier schools can’t attract bright faculty who do research.
The net result of attacking merit will show up 10-15 years from now. Innovations don’t happen with social engineering.
1
There is a very clear history of US legislation over the last 35-40 years making education less and less accessible. My parents came to California in the 1970s because of things like a “free University system”. That public system is so expensive now, it is almost as bad as private college. We used to fund education but literally we as a country have been duped out of supporting it. It is an issue which has trickled down from Washington, starting with Reagan and our 1980s belief in privatization. Why do we pay such high interest in student loans!?! To our own government!?!? We are in the midst of funding our child’s college but absolutely are going to pay the consequences of $160,000 debt to pay off at the end...
3
@Gwynne Cropsey. The cost of attending California state universities is determined by California's state government. Public colleges in each state are run by the state's government. Trickle down from Washington is a nonsense explanation. Hopefully, your children, with their educations, will understand how government works. Then they can explain it to you, which will be a major return on your investment.
Gwynne is correct. states received *Federal* dollars earmarked for state universities until Reagan stopped that in the 1980s. That’s when school costs started to rise—and they haven’t stopped since.
4
@Aileen Delaney Reagan cut student loan programs. Gwynne talks about the cost of state colleges, which has nothing to to do with the feds. You want to talk about loan money. That's legitimate. But it's not what Gwynne and I are debating. The way comments are supposed to work is that if you are addressing someone else's issue, you write a reply. If you want introduce a new topic, write your own comment.
1
Our daughter graduated High School in 2014. We had paid into our state’s prepaid tuition plan, but didn’t want to limit her choices. So when she had 4 options at out-of-state private schools with some scholarship money we supported her choice. That first year we covered about half her tuition ($20,000, plus room and board)- then she applied for and successfully received a Northern NV specific full tuition scholarship for the next three years. It was an amazing gift, we are very grateful to the Raymond Berner Family for helping her. Now she is starting a graduate program here in NV because with her remaining prepay units, and the lower instate cost it offers the most affordable option anywhere. We are doing our best to get her through graduate school debt free, but she just learned that UNR has decided to prolong this Masters Program to 3 years instead of 2. Seems counter productive to me.
1
Why are people sending their kids to prestigious schools?! State universities are excellent. Our four attended and graduated from state universities and are gainfully employed, working in their chosen fields. You don’t have to go into major debt unless you’re going into medical school or law school.
5
College enrollment in the US is much too high. Higher than any European country. Higher than any country with a top 10 GDP. The answer to the problem of family bankruptcy due to excessive college expenses is not to charge all Americans for every eighteen year old's college education. The answer is for countless year olds to reconcile themselves to the fact that they are not college material.
3
I graduated with a PhD 30 years ago from a state university and owed about 7K total. We have paid for 2 colleges educations for our kids which cost ~60-70K *each*. What is wrong with this picture?
8
Besides it costing too much, aren't the jobs paying too little? Something's got to give. I think really well defined payment plans that are accessible to all would be one answer. I think 10 percent of income is too much, 25 years way too long. If the payment plans are reasonable - 5 percent of income for 10 years. It would force colleges to adjust costs. Perhaps the payment plans can be more progressive like our tax system is supposed to be. A teacher pays less for undergrad than a lawyer. Maybe overly complicated, but seems more fair. We aren't talking about making money off people for their educational choices, were talking about the future of our country.
5
Let's discard the growing belief that a college education is perhaps unnecessary, given its high costs, in the current economy. A college education not only gives a young person a general and specialized knowledge, but also provides her/him with the personal confidence that she/he is a learned person in other's perception. As parents, I agree with the author that paying for children's college is a moral obligation and a gamble that might not pay off in today's brutally capitalist economy, but this is exactly the point. In order to ensure that their children have a better chance of maintaining the middle class status, middle class parents have no choice but to gamble with their own financial future. I also agree that most if not all children of middle class parent don't qualify for federal grants because the parents' income is above the qualifying level. The current system is unsustainable. College education should be free or at least very affordable for all Americans. Until then, middle class parents will keep mortgaging their financial well being.
6
our bona fides: our only child is in 5th year of a college "coop" program - this means our child is now working at the 3rd paid job of the program. we received some grants and the $6,500/year subsided/non-subsided loans [ we have started paying off the non-subsided ] - we do have a college-savings plan and savings/investments - happily our child is both cognizant of and appreciative of this - will be working part-time in the fall, while back in classes, at current job with the likelihood of job offers there next year
this is not to brag, but to illustrate my astonishment at the facts laid out in this very well-written article - along with the recent articles on the sacrifices made for caring for family members in need of assistance, this is evidence of serious national structural fault-lines
certainly food for thought - keep the articles and analysis coming
1
We MUST return to a place where state universities are more easily affordable. Loading our children up with debt or jeopardizing our own retirement are not good for the American economy in either the short or long run.
I’ve managed- my only child is a stellar student and half of her tuition is covered by scholarships. My best friend is not in the same place. Sending three kids through college has made retirement for her and her husband really concerning.
7
College is incredibly expensive. But honestly, with the exception of maybe the Ivies and a few other schools like UVA, University of Michigan, Stanford, does it really matter WHERE you go to school? Seriously ponder the question. I am now retired and I've worked with people who attended community college, state schools, private schools, and elite schools. For the most part, it's what you do with what you've learned not where you've learned it. Many parents won't accept that the best, most cost efficient option for little Johnny may be the community college or the state school.
14
@Raven Senior
The schools mentioned in the above post are great for legacy/alumni networking. It also depends on what field you want to major in. Skip the Ivy league and the Ivy wanna-be schools unless they are top five in the nation/top 10 in the world or you wish to major in business, economics, political science or law where who you know and what School is listed on your diploma is 1000x more important and helpful than what you know.
6
I went to a average state school for undergrad and a elite school for grad school. Anybody who says that there is no difference doesn’t know what they are talking about. If the price difference isn’t say twice as much, I’d say hands down in most case the elite school is the better choice.
6
@Raven Senior My son went to Harvey Mudd College, a private engineering school you have probably never heard of. It was worth every penny we paid for it. My daughter went to Wesleyan, a private school you probably have heard of. It was a waste of money. This private school thing is all about the right fit. And for parents, it is a crap shoot. I broke even. I feel lucky.
The education system needs change. You can learn anything online nowadays. With Massive Open Online Courses, knowledge is available for anyone who is curious. Degrees are indications that you are persistent, but often don't confer knowledge or expertise.
2
I was lucky to graduate in 2000 before college tuition began to skyrocket. I took out Federal loans. My parents never offered to pay for college and I never expected they would. It was just unspoken. It was the same with buying a home.
Over the past couple of decades I have wondered if parents had not chipped and kids had held fast to affordability, then perhaps the gratuitous rise in tuition and starter homes would have been prevented?
My senior year I was chided by a close friend’s mother for only applying to state schools. This led to an argument in another room where I overheard my friend’s mother say “She’s a bright girl and I’m worried she is throwing her life away.” I appreciate that she cared about me that much but I still opted for a B.A. state school. (Later I also ignored any advice to get a M.A. because I was already earning money.)
My friend went to a semi-Ivy League school then onto to more prestigious schools and earned a doctorate in a scientific field of study. We spoke briefly about 15 years after high school and my friend disclosed how low income and big debts were hindering his life goals. At the time of the conversation, I had paid off half my loans and accumulated about $100K in a 401k. Three years later I was happily married and bought a home.
I have been floored by women older than me taking second jobs because one or more of their children decided to pursue an advanced degree. Where does it stop? Why is it their responsibility? It’s not sane.
14
My daughter is staring college next week! She is going to a State University where she will get the education we need. With federal loan and a small scholarship, we end up paying about $20.000 for tuition, room and board! Not too bad!!Dont go to a college you can’t afford.
5
$20,000 per year is "not too bad"? That's exactly the problem.
14
Until we stop making student loans so easy to access, colleges will be unrestrained about raising tuition. And no, the benefits of attending college does not always exceed the costs, as manu undoubtedly find. But don't expect college marketing departments to tell them that.
10
Who says parents have to pay for college? I grew up poor and the 4th daughter of 1st generation Americans who informed their children that they were all going to college. Difference was my under ecudated parents announced they were not able to pay for it, but that we all would find a way to go. I have no less than 15 cousins who all graduated colleges either with scholarships and/or loans and half of whom graduated with graduate degrees.
Parents, teach your children that once they are 18, they are responsible for their lives. It can and should be done. You owe a child a childhood, not a life.
9
Average college tuition: $50K per year. Average student/teacher ratio: 10:1.
With benefits, an average professor costs about $100K. At full rate, the combined tuitions of 2 students should therefore cover teaching costs.
Colleges have expenses, of course, such as buildings, maintenance, administration, etc. And grants and scholarships. However, a university is not a manufacturing enterprise. The chief product is the labor of professors (and cheaper adjuncts, assistants, and so on).
The numbers don't seem to add up.
7
It's the overpriced room and board, meals, athletic facilities, football and basketball programs that plunder parents' wallets.
5
In the last 40 years, the state and federal government have greatly reduced aid to students for college and the cost burden has shifted to the family, Loans have replaced grants. Pell grants have not kept up with inflation; during the 1970s the most generous grant paid for 60-plus percent of college tuition but now only pays for 25 percent. It is time for parents and students to be smart customers where college is concerned.
We are middle class, and we told our kids that unless they got into Harvard (they didn't), they were going to have to attend state colleges with a price tag we could afford to pay. If they had a dream school, we encouraged them to plan to attend that dream school for a masters degree and pay for it themselves. Both kids graduated close to debt-free, which was our goal.
Most of the time the huge cost to attend college, particularly private school, is simply not worth it. Find lower cost alternatives like attending community college first, then transferring to a 4-year school. The cost of college has become absurd.
9
The cost of a college education is now out of proportion to the value of the knowledge imparted. How much of the money you spend is used for actual education? My guess is about 25-30 percent. The rest goes to things that contribute little, if anything, to educating the students. Private universities are more expensive than state schools, but the problem and the percentages are probably about the same.
6
An excellent piece with one flaw. The author talks about the need for policies that will help the middle class pay for college. I would argue that the real problem is that college is too expensive.
23
The arms race at these colleges is crazy. Have toured many colleges with our kids and there are cranes everywhere. All the amenities - private bathrooms, climbing walls, food courts. Spent my first year in an all girls dorm in a single room redesigned for two people with bunk beds, communal bathroom, and no a/c. Could only eat at that dining hall. Loved every minute of it.
College is billed as an experience as much as education. And our generation of parents have lost our minds with all the experiences we think our kids need to have to get there.
17
These articles always make me feel like people are being duped to spend more money than they have to achieve some illusive dream. I'm a single mom with twin boys who are seniors in high school. Friends started a 529 fund for each kid when they were infants. We're very middle class, drive a Prius, vacation every couple of years, etc., but putting money away monthly has made all the difference. I've saved enough in the 529 that the kids can graduate from an in-state four year college debt-free. Plus, the kids have been taking college classes in high school which will transfer to an in-state four year college. They're not going to Stanford or Boston College but they'll have a degree in a subject they love, make new friends for life, and won't owe a penny!
17
There are plenty of good colleges and universities out there that cost considerably less than $50,000 for 4 years. State universities, regional branches of state systems, community colleges, small religious affiliated or secular colleges, junior colleges, two year campuses all offer much less expensive and still very good alternatives to very expensive private universities. Parents and students are being sold a bill of goods with the "class-based" selling of institutions of higher learning. It's time to dial back and seek quality at reasonable prices.
9
I was raised with education being highly valued, a sort of “you can’t put a price on education” attitude. My parents of modest means saved really hard and sent all 3 of us to Ivies and similar.
Now 15 yrs out of college, I’ve decided that it’s a lot easier to say that you can’t put a price on education when the cost of it is a lot lower than it is today. I don’t buy into the “pay it at any cost” mindset at all.
I have 3 kids and my spouse and I plan on saving as much as we can, and then letting our savings and income determine where our kids can go. I’ve seen so many people regret taking out crushing levels of debt, and I’m
Unwilling to let my kids do that. I am unwilling to sacrifice my own retirement. We were also unwilling to stop at just 1 or 2 kids for the sake of affording college—a reason several of our friends have cited for not having more kids.
And tho we happily live below our means, I’m only willing to go so far in self-sacrifice for the sake of an experience that lasts 4 yrs’ of my kid’s life. My kids will go to state school (itself pretty expensive these days) and will probably be fine.
Still, I feel a bit guilty that I won’t give my kids the same experience that I had. I always thought I highly valued education, but when I hear about the debt and sacrifice other people make these days for the sake of college, I realize some people do value it more than me.
16
I started college in 1960. It was actually inexpensive then, at least at a good state affiliated university. Academic scholarships, independent of need, were also quite available. A four year degree in almost anything was a guarantee of a white collar job. None of those things are true today. College costs astronomically more, and is no guarantee of a job. Even a doctorate is no guarantee of a job. This is a far more difficult economic environment to navigate than it was when I was young.
15
I feel there should be substantial tax deductions for the taxpayers for educating children till they graduate from college. In addition at least mortgage interest payment should be permitted tax free if not done already. Further college education must be made affordable to so that citizens’ retirement life can be peaceful.
4
I have 9 yr old twins. There is NO WAY in God's green earth that my wife and I will ever be able to pay for their college education (if they decide to go to college).
We opened a 529, but it will be a drop of water in a huge ocean.
Between medical premiums, mortgage, property taxes...just isn't enough money to go around.
12
Reading the article, is reading about the Indian middle class. And excuse me if I seem to change the subject, but this is exactly where the focus on immigrations is hurting America. Mind you, I am not saying immigration is harming America but a focus on imbibing the cultural habits they bring from an environment that is different and is based on a different set of aspirations and interests, that should be discarded in due time by immigrants who should imbibe aspirations and interests that define America as unique in the world. After all that is why immigration was the choice in the first place.
At least eighty percent of immigrants from India [ among my relatives and colleagues ] are 'forcing' their kids into professions which were chosen because they were the key to entry into America from India. Those same professions may no longer necessarily be right for kids born and brought up in America. Yet the new immigrant youth which still choose those same professions as the earlier generation, as a key to entry, are held up as beacons to those who should be allowed to choose professions and careers more in keeping with how they were brought up in a different country with different values and mindset.
To my thinking this is the larger problem of immigration which leads to me reading an article which shows American society as a mirror of my colleagues who left for USA instead of an article where I read about how those Indian colleagues now stand for American culture and values.
4
The author is correct that families first choose the “right” school, then figure out how to pay for it no matter the cost. Families instead should decide how much they are willing/able to pay and how much debt they are willing to take on, then choose among those schools.
If families took this approach, there would be a lot more incentive for schools to keep costs low . As it stands, they know they can charge just about anything and still find quality students willing to pay it.
My kids are little, and my spouse and I have already decided to take this approach. We’ve seen too many friends crushed by student debt that we won’t let our kids take on more than a nominal amount. We aren’t willing to take on loans ourselves, as we already worked hard to pay off our own student debt and also will be nearing retirement when our kids graduate. We are saving for college now, and will allow our kids to consider only schools that we can afford with a combination of savings, cash flow, and nominal debt on their part.
6
I can't help but think of this in terms of supply and demand. The tragic part is that half of the students who start college do not graduate. If counsellors, parents, teachers, and communities were more aware of alternatives like apprenticeships, vocational training, and the military then the bottom of the demand curve would pivot inward, so in theory prices for everyone should fall (granted, more for ordinary/state college schools than for top universities). I also guarantee that the half of high school grads who start college but drop out would be a lot happier as union electricians, plumbers, nurses (yes, you can become an RN without a bachelor's degree), in the military, or as entrepreneurs.
https://www.gccaz.edu/academics/departments/automotive-technology/ford-program
http://www.ibewlocal551.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_page.cfm&page=Apprenticeship
https://www.ccsf.edu/en/educational-programs/school-and-departments/school-of-health-and-physical-education/registered_nursing.html
5
You said it so well. I think the same applies to home prices too.
Parents, please stop loaning or giving your kids money, the educational and real estate industries just keep raising the costs.
4
Go overseas for a world class, and cheaper education. I received my education in Israel, where the cost to study at any one of the nation's six universities--two or three of which are world class schools-- was equivalent to $2,500 per annum. It seems that this would be true with regard to schools in the English speaking world, too, such as Scotland and Ireland. Four years at any of these nations' schools would not only be far cheaper than their American equivalent, but the experience of living overseas would be an education in of itself.
5
1) I can’t speak for the rest of Europe, but English and Scottish universities are just as hard as any first-rate non ‘Ivy League’ school to get into. They are competitive and serious.
2) European universities have caught onto the fact that US students are an interested market, and they charge US students as non-residents accordingly.
Your suggestion is a lovely solution for college-bound young people who already had more options available to them and does nothing for the kids most at risk for not being able to attend college.
1
I’ll be 70 next week. My family was working class. Like my brothers and sisters, I was expected to go to college. I did and learned a great deal. However, as I became more and more “middle class” in terms of my general outlook on the world, an emotional distance grew between my parents and I. I no longer saw the world in the way I was raised to see it, but my parents did, and must have they must have felt betrayed on some level. Of, course this was happening throughout the culture and was described as the “generation gap”. I think sometimes people fail to realize the full consequences of their stated goals. It also good to remember that in the aggregate, college grads do better financially than non-college grads, however those numbers are skewed by the small percentage of millionaires and billionaires who happen to also have degrees.
2
Bless Caitlin Zaloom. We are among the many (middle-class) people who just didn't fully imagine the true cost of sending a child, and soon two, to college. But we will definitely feel it even more acutely still, in the next decade or so, when retirement will almost certainly be a luxury we can't afford. I'm really glad smart people are on this issue -- and the NYT too.
6
My family and I fit squarely into this group. We didn't receive any grants. What we did have was 3 kids going to college in two years (I am a twin, and I have a sister one grade below as well). My twin sister received a half tuition scholarship to a small private school. I went to a state institution on an ROTC scholarship. After my freshmen year I elected to leave ROTC, losing my scholarship. I received immense pressure from my parents to continue ROTC, despite the fact that I could not specialize in the military fields I was interested in as I have "deficient" color vision. My parents and I battled for weeks, and this singular experience has been difficult to reconcile for all of us. I felt the only reason they wanted me to continue ROTC was to reduce their financial risk. I didn't feel that they believed in me. I ended up continuing at my state school, but of course I had to take out private loans as the government student loans did not cover the cost of tuition/living expenses. After a long battle, my parents co-signed my loans.
I am going to be finished paying off the private loans within the next month. I doubled down and went to professional school, adding a few hundred thousand dollars more that I will have to deal with moving forward.
My primary point is, not only did we have to get creative to cover costs, it was at times devastating to my relationship with my parents.
Also, don't have multiples.
8
At least in California community colleges or junior colleges provide the first two years at an affordable cost to parents and/or students. Once the community college education is complete there are many affordable state colleges and universities to get a college degree. I took that route and it worked very well for me. After getting my degree I worked 38 years eventually to an executive position in a major corporation notwithstanding I took a very an affordable route to get my education. I might also say my daughter also went the community college and state university route as well and is doing well. Part of the problem today is too many parents and their kids feel that they must go to highly rate and expensive college or to an out-of-state college which significantly increases the cost of their education. Frankly much of college debt crisis is self imposed and ego driven. Parent and kids need to mange their expectation and find local colleges that fit their budget as well as their educational needs.
4
My problem is like so many other grandparents. I have had to pay for my grandson because his parents were addicts and they couldn't hang on to a nickel. I feel guilty because I can't do more for him. He wants to specialize in robotics but the tuition is so high. Then adding housing and books etc. and everything else it's insane. What he has done already at 18 in a few weeks is amazing. However, our country should have free tuition. So many great minds that want to learn are just not able to because of their lot in life. Some kids are born with not a chance in life to succeed. Everyone should have the opportunity to get a free education. Our tax money is so wasted. Very heartbreaking.
15
I went to a small, but highly ranked private liberal arts college in the late 80s. The $15K a year tuition seemed like a fortune back then and after financial aid, my parents paid $5k per year. Doesn't seem like much, but it was when they only earned $40K per year and I was the oldest of four kids. Still, we made it work because that's what we were supposed to do.
Now, I got a great education and made friends I still have today, even though I had to spend way less time partying than they did because I had three jobs to support myself. Still, it was a good time and I have fond memories of my college years.
Flash forward and that college now costs $70K per year. Sad to say it, but I would not send my children to my alma mater, nor would I recommend anyone else go there if they weren't sitting on a fat trust fund. Even with generous financial aid, the average middle-income family would have to shell out $10-20K a year out-of-pocket, *plus* take out student loans. It's just not feasible. And, literally every one of my friends ended up in grad school, which meant more debt (liberal arts only goes so far!) I was in my late 30s when I paid off my last student loan. If you can't get a well-paying job after shelling out over six figures, sorry, the return on investment just isn't worth it. For that reason, I also do not contribute to my alma mater. I cannot support this trend when there's just no end in sight.
19
Two things:
1) First, this discussion is EXACTLY like the housing cost discussion. It goes on and on and on about how "XXX is too expensive." XXX = rent, mortgage, down payment, homes, college, whatever. What's always lost in the discussion is how seriously lacking American INCOMES are! That's never discussed. Median American wages have been stagnant for not years, but DECADES! Well, this stagnation has caught up with us. We were TOLD by corporate America, "We have to off-shore to stay competitive." Sold a bill of goods!
2) Second, whenever the idea of "free college education" is mentioned, it's immediately shot down as some financially irresponsible pipe dream. Well, guess what? WE USED TO HAVE FREE COLLEGE! My parents attended college for virtually free. My father attended the best public university in the country with NO TUITION! There was only a bi-annual "administrative" fee. My mother's tuition, something that set her up for a solid professional career, was easily paid for by summer work and her lower-middle class family income.
Currently, UC receives a paltry 10% of its budget from the state of California. So much for a "public" school.
Remember the lottery promise? I do. But our schools received NO ADDITIONAL income from the lottery. What Paul gave from the lottery, Peter took away from the state.
Hoodwinked into tax cuts for "prosperity," whereas tax cuts only enriched the already wealthy and accelerated the income and wealth gaps.
18
It happens over and over. The "government" well intentioned, funds a cause, education, healthcare, whatever, but fails to assume and protect against criminal behavior attracted to to the honey pot. Without safeguards, this will happen repeatedly.
Institute policing with such efforts, please, and fund the policing realists.
3
Having had the pleasure of incurring 90,000 in debt for my education, I have resolved that my children will not go to an American university. They will go somewhere with free or inexpensive college.
Letting children start their lives tens of thousands of dollars in debt is no favor to them and I won’t let my kids do it.
I fully expect that they will remain in whatever country in which they choose to study.
America’s loss.
And the kids’ gain... they will most likely have guaranteed healthcare and decent working conditions as well, two other things Americans doesn’t have.
17
@Serrated Thoughts
My father told me to my face that he did not believe in paying for higher education.
And my younger brother has resisted social pressure from relatives who immigrated to America and stayed over in France instead. He cites similar reasons to yours.
Thx.
5
The Proposal: Banks lend money to students and the government guarantees the loan. The Acceptance: The conservatives in government agree, (they love this kind of public-private-partnership as it enriches the banks/investors/stockholders with no risk). The Pawns: Students and parents. The Sin: Usurious interest rates charged by the banks. The Advantagers: Colleges who raised tuition because they COULD. The Enforcers: The Supreme Court who voted 9-0 , yes NINE to ZERO to exempt student loans from bankruptcy forgiveness. The Happy Ending: (I wish.) All existing student loans forgiven, (even for rich kids). Banks take a hit and the US Treasury takes a hit. Future student loans come from the US Treasury directly and have ZERO interest rate. Banks, Sallie Mae, and others have no part in the student loan business, forever.
10
While I agree with all of this, I will share my story. I have one child (that helps). Her first two years of college were community college. Then I told her she could transfer to any in-state public institution. When she was in first grade we bought the 529 program with the help of an interest-free loan from my parents which was paid off by the time she finished elementary school. It paid her undergrad and most of grad school. I paid the rest. She has no student debt and I am retired. I am a middle class educator (not rich). Take from it what you will.
3
Education is like an Italian Wedding.
We can all pay for it up front, and start the next generation out right, or we can saddle them with the dept for a lifetime.
When a couple get married, the community, and family come together to pay for the wedding, if possible they buy them a house, make sure they have a good job if they can arrange it, and they start their new life together without dept.
What the community and family asks in return, is that when that new couple gets invited to their next wedding they better bring their wallet and give generously as everyone did for them.
The same way, we can all pay for education up front with our taxes, and end up with a smarter overall population that also will pay when their taxes comes due for the next generation behind them.
Or we can do like we are doing now, and saddle kids with 10x the dept we took on to go to college and universities, and end up with 50-60,000 in dept that will take them years to pay off. There is a downside to having the kids take that dept. They won't buy cars, won't buy houses. They are drowning in dept already and they are reluctant to take more.
10
It's ironic that the author of this piece decrying the costs of higher education teaches at one of the most egregiously overpriced schools in the country.
I for one will not be forking over 300k so my daughter can attend the likes of NYU. But I'm happy to finance her studies at the local community college, which offers a plethora of career oriented programs at a very reasonable cost.
It's either that or the Electoral College, which I understand has a campus in each of the 50 states.
7
Q: How much does this college cost?
A: We'll tell you, but you have to first let us see your bank records, income, investments, income tax, the value of your house, and the tuition you pay for your other kids. Based on our special wisdom, we think that you can afford to pay THIS amount and finance a loan for THAT amount. We know that this adds up to a hugely burdensome amount, but this is a sacrifice we think that you're willing to make!
13
The cost of education will continue to increase as long as we treat it like something that can be bought and sold to the highest bidders. Those families with the money now will pay more to ensure they get in and those with same money and credit will borrow now and pay later for the same privilege. Institutions will increase their prices because we equate quality with cost like everything else. A $20 hamburger must taste better than a $5 one. The wrapper is nicer, the atmosphere is better, the table service is more attentive. Consumerism has trained us to pay more for a better version of something. We need unlearn this lesson.
10
I went through this process 7 years ago with a highly motivated daughter who was top notch student. The congratulatory letter to the student is followed by the miserable letter to the parent stating that the EPC (expected parental contribution) is 100%.
That being said, my real gripe is with my California state college systems which prize "out of state" higher tuition candidates at the expense of qualified "in state" candidates. Additionally, changing the admission policies at large commuter schools to become destination schools that fail to admit "local students" is a major disservice to the middle class that struggle to pay exorbitant tuition, room, board and meals plans.
13
In terms of the cost of colleges and the relation to the general cost of living, Robert Reich pointed out that when he attended college the cost of a year at a private college (maybe $2500?) was roughly equivalent of the cost of a Chevy Corvair (the cheapo car--NOT Corvette!), but when he was speaking (maybe 2016?) the cost was equivalent to a Porsche.
That's a HUGE difference, no matter how we spin the cost of college / cars and the rate of inflation.
8
@NYer When Reich attended college it was probably during the 70s, when I did, and costs were unusually low. I had Physics teaching assistants with PhDs in physics who made a pittance. There were many stories on tv about how professors, not just adjuncts, made little and could not get by. In those days it didn't necessarily pay to go to college and college was not only much more heavily subsidized by the states, it was also less expensive because of lower salaries and lower health insurance premiums for the college to pay.
Colleges haven't been successful at reducing their payroll thru automation the way other industries have and rising health insurance has hit them harder. Inflation in the 70s was largely about unions forcing employers to increase wages rapidly but college professors see themselves as professionals, like doctors and so didn't partake in that. This resulted in lower wages for professors at that time relative to workers as a whole.
3
The state of Washington has two main sources of income, the property tax and the sales tax (a little above 8%). And there are a four big expenses k-12, higher ed., health and human services, criminal justice. You don't need a higher education to see that increasing higher ed means either decreasing one of the others, which would be a very bad idea, or increasing one of the two main taxes, which is not very popular. As a matter of fact there is currently ongoing big increases in k-12 due to a court decision and this has effected higher ed. and health and human services. Fortunately the economy is strong. Personally, I'd vote for higher sales taxes or an income tax in order to better fund all 4 of the big state responsibilities, and I always have been. I've also always been in the minority. You wanted lower taxes and that's what you got. Now everybody's complaining about the cost of what used to be paid for by the state.
3
I spent my entire life in academia as a student, high school teacher, and professor.
It’s a given that those who are looking in from outside believe the current high cost of a degree from a public college or university is the direct result of inefficiency, waste and excess. Isn’t it always? There may be a modicum of truth in the critique, as there is in most criticism, but the greater truth is that low cost public education was available when the public supported it with taxes and the demand that their government prioritize education beyond K-12. The GI Bill is a shining example, but the loss of support for higher education demonstrates a lack of appreciation of how important education is to the social and economic wellbeing. When we lose sight of this, the only alternative is to ramp up competition, so that every school is looking for luxury add-ons in order to be more appealing to prospective students. Want more more education and fewer frills? Yell at your representatives. Demand it.
8
My parenting mantra to my daughters was always: avoid debt.
It was never “get into a prestigious college and we’ll figure out how to pay for it somehow”.
The community college transfer credits for my older twins are almost complete, and when they transfer to a bigger college next year, they’ll be older, more mature, debt free and they might even keep their part time jobs at the mall.
If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I would not change a single thing :)
8
Who should be responsible for fixing college inflation rates that have been much, much higher than general inflation rates for decades? Who should be responsible for fixing middle class wages that have been stagnant for decades? Who should be responsible for all the new items and experiences that middle class families today now expect that decades ago they did not, such as expensive vacations, home computers, smartphones and huge TV’s?
2
What about 3 years of college. Wesleyan and UT offers programs in 3 years and it seems to work well in England for that country.
Why don't more schools offer it? Maybe they like the idea of charging $300K+ for four years of tuition...
4
@Observer In England 3 years is the norm but it varies by degree program. The scheme hinges on students declaring a major before being admitted. Changing majors usually means starting over at the beginning, university doesn't include any general ed courses such as English or History 101, and electives are not even considered. For many students it's a great idea, but a total mindset-change from college in the US.
1
I recently retired from the CSU system in California. I routinely tell parents of future college age students to have their kid start off at a community college. If they succeed then it's on to the most cost effective four year school that supports their kid's major. If the kid wants to go on to graduate school then they need to find the very best graduate program they can find. For students in the sciences it means a Research 1 university. Undergraduate degrees are a dime a dozen. Don't spend a lot of money on them.
8
The answer lies in decreasing the cost not in taxpayer subsidy. Impose strict requirements on Universities to provide an education and degree for a deeply discounted fee just like Medicare and Medicaid force physicians to provide world class care for less than the cost of providing it. Call it USED, for US Education. Every University would have to participate or their accreditation could be appended with an asterisk.
1
Why aren't we talking about how universities waste money, causing education to be needlessly expensive? Students and parents, or taxpayers in general, have no direct influence on how funds are spending. Administrative costs have grown, as have lavish buildings projects on many campuses. Textbooks are also needlessly expensive. More financial aid is not the answer because there is no mechanism to keep universities from simply raising tuition to match the increased aid. Furthermore, competition is suppressed because students cannot spend their state per student subsidy at a private university which may spend less per student and would actually cost less. Students, parents, employers and taxpayers in general should have a direct pipeline into how money is spent on campus. Most taxpayers want to see more degrees with direct job prospects or major research potential rather than money spent on less useful degrees. Instead of talking about how to pay for college, we need to have a serious discussion about how to lower costs and involve the key stakeholders in bread and butter decisions about what gets funded on campus. There is no excuse for the fact that tuition has gone up 1000% in 40 years.
9
Yes, there is. State funding for public higher education has been slashed by billions over the last 40 years. And of course we can lay that right at the feet of the usual culprits, the Republicans. All done in the name of “reducing the size of government.” AKA destroying government and hollowing out our democracy. AKA concentrating 40 percent of the nation’s wealth among just 1 percent of its people. AKA converting our once great middle class into the new new working poor. AKA ensuring that nothing is done about climate change, which is as another poster states, just “suicidally stupid”.
I am curious how the role of athletic programs factor into college tuition costs? The football coaches make millions of dollars per year. For example, the number one ranked school (Alamba) pays their coach $8.3 million per year. How do these large sports program costs affect affordability?
9
College is great. And I encourage anyone who wants to go to figure out a way to go. Two years at a J.C. is a good start. But, at the same time, the guy who does our plumbing and heating work is always really busy, happy, he vacations in Hawaii with his family. That works too. College is not always the answer.
(disclosure: I went to college and law school, but it was much much cheaper back then)
12
High cost indeed. The author might also consider drilling down on how many elite colleges claim to have admissions policies that are "need-blind," which may sound like a policy that levels the playing field. What "need-blind" admissions really means is that the colleges will control for middle class recruits and work hand-in-glove with FASFA to ensure that middle class families are cut to the marrow.
Maybe even a harder look at admissions and tuition would explain how and why NYU maintains its high tuition, elite status. . .but a person can only bite the hand that feeds it so much.
4
Keep in mind that “middle class” is relative term dependent upon cost of living. Nationally, our family is not middle class and we would not qualify for government funding yet paying $50k a year would be a massive financial stretch because of our high cost of living, even with two full-time employed parents and decent savings. Our plan is to take advantage of a free city college program and then send them to the UC. Or, they could end up like me, with my student loans being paid on top of my children’s college education.
4
We need to consider the impact of all this sacrifice on the relationships involved.
Whether it is framed as mutual moral obligation or as an invest-now-for-future rewards deal, the higher the price paid in parental sacrifice for the child's education, the greater the risk to family ties and well-being if the deal fails.
Young people change their minds, or get sick, or get their hearts broken and they often fail to complete the course of study that their parents invested years of sacrifice to give them. The more hardship is imposed in the name of a dream, the harder it is for both sides to simply forgive the debt and allow what will be to be should that dream fail or change.
3
College debt is just the beginning these days right? Professional and graduate school debt can easily move into the low to mid six figures. How many newly minted doctors end up with 400 or even 500K in various loans? It is all just too crazy.
How many people never dig themselves out of debt?
4
In Canada, we put our two boys through undergraduate studies and they both emerged with no student debt. This was partly because they both had education savings accounts in which we put government child allowances and a small contribution from the grandparents. But the main reason is that tuition fees are not ruinous. One graduated from McGill a decade ago when tuition for someone born in the province was less than 4 K. I get the sense that too many universities have transformed into corporations, with the top salaries going to sports coaches and the people who look after the endowment. I lectured at Penn recently and couldn’t believe the general opulence and total disconnect with the town around it. By some quirk neither of my offspring show much interest in traditional middle class professions, but with no debt to worry about they at least have the freedom of choice without the debt collectors hounding them. The total amount of student debt in the US is in the trillions and has to be a colossal drag on the economy.
4
The manufacturing jobs have gone to China. What we are supposed to do is increase our education so we can be employed at a higher level of value add. Meanwhile, though, the cost of that education is inflating out of reach.
We have had "free" education through high school for quite a long time now. I graduated out of that level in 1957. (Yes, I'm that old!) By now we should have recognized that the whole populace needs schooling beyond grade 12 and that it should also be "free."
3
There are more USA colleges than ever in the 2000s and most of them are lower tier and offer degrees that are not worth much in the working world. This topic is _never_ talked about in the mass media. It isnt what folks want to hear.
3
I obtained a BA, MA, and PhD without any debt. I am profoundly grateful, particularly when I consider what young people face today. As an undergrad in the late 80s, I attended a state university and paid the modest tuition through scholarships and the generosity of my father, whose own 8th grade education did not prevent him from getting a decent-paying, union-protected, truck driving job. Grad school funding came from awards and teaching assistant positions, enabled by frugal living. I am an academic, and after witnessing the skyrocketing costs and, frankly, mediocre outcomes, of even the most prestigious institutions, I left the US for a position in Europe. My own son, soon 14, will be able to attend university here, at minimal cost, or seek one of the many alternatives to university that provides a diverse pathway to an education and career. Cost is not the only problem in the US - though it is monumental. Our one-size-fits-all model of higher ed is, too, failing our society and our children.
8
Just this summer my husband and I sat our daughter down and these discussions. Her dream out of state school (whose campus visit felt like a state tourism ad and barely addressed the educational components) had, over 4 years, a $100K differential over a reciprocity state school. As we showed her, the out of state school would have changed everyone's lifestyle and financial picture for the next 20 years (or more) and compromised her ability to reach some of her long term goals. When laid out in such stark terms and the trade offs, she's at the cheaper state school and we can breathe a little easier and maybe still retire at 70, instead of never. And as this article points out, many of these students that came from the middle class will struggle to retain or regain the middle class in their own lifetimes.
8
The idea that paying your children's college expenses is a "moral" issue is just ridiculous. What moral lesson does a child learn by having their parents pay their expenses, jeopardizing their own futures - that one should rely on others to meet your obligations?
As many others have pointed out, the crucial issue is the huge and completely unjustified tuition/fee increase over the past decades, beginning in the 1980's, driven by outrageous spending on administration and luxury facilities. Thirty-five years ago, a friend at my private college organized "spontaneous tuition riots" annually in front of the president's office - he knew what was beginning. Why exactly does a public university need a highly-paid "vice president for community development"? Why does a meal plan have to cost $200+/week? The availability of huge student loans of course enables all this - without them, it simply couldn't be supported.
Why do so many parents fall for the high-tuition trap? I fear this is another sign of the shallowness in our society. People are looking for meaning in a basically nonexistent culture, and they think they can find it in the biggest houses, the fanciest cars, and in gilding their children with the fanciest possible lettering on the diploma.
4
Wake up parents: I did....after spending a bloody fortune on sending my daughter to NYU.
As one of 8 kids going thru college in the late early 70s/to early 80s, my parents insisted that we start at a junior colllege (all 8 of us did) with 5 of us going on to graduate from UC Berkeley. (a footnote--we all had P/T jobs; always).
They could not, would not bankrupt THEIR futures to send us to a private school or any school outside of the UC system, a much less expensive propositon then than it is today.
Here's the zinger: 10 years after graduating from college, my daughter's friends are only NOW getting jobs in their field after crashing at their Mom & Dad's for a few years to begin to work off their loans.
Please listen when I say that what might be best for your child is to start their undergrad education at a community college and transfer as a junior to a 4 yr.college or university. Some of my most enriching classes were small ones taught by great instructors at my alma mater (Foothill College in the bay area (now Silicon Valley).
Have some backbone and tell your kid that you cannot afford their "dream" school. It will not be the worst thing or biggest disappointment in their lives--I guarantee it!
728
@Julie Renalds. Comm College can be useful but it wont replace a 4 year degree from NYU. I know NYU is crazy expensive but NYU is a globally respected 2nd tier university.
25
@Julie Renalds I also suplemented my college (during the early 80's) experience with attending classes at Foothill. I think you need to take your experience with a grain of salt. In the shadow of Stanford University, Foothill was a CC the way Olympic athletes are amateurs. While I agree with your overall point. I don't think everyone will get the same experience as we did.
36
She is not saying that. She is saying attend a community college for 2 years and then transfer as a junior to a four-year school. No one cares where you completed your first two years, which is largely gen ed anyway. Huge numbers of students do this in California, starting at community colleges and then transferring on to prestigious schools like UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Davis, which are among the most highly regarded universities, public or private, in the world. This makes a lot of sense in more than just financial ways. Many new college students have no idea what they want to do with their lives. Does it make sense to spend (I mean borrow) 50, 60, 70,000 a year so they can “figure it out”?
164
Once upon a time, Federal or State agencies actually loaned the money and there was a max. Many schools made an effort to keep tuition under or at least near to the max. that was certainly the case at Temple here in Philly and Penn State was not way over the max.
IOt was Bush Junior who privatized college borrowing with, astonishingly, Federal guaranties of repayment. So, schools just started increasing tuition and spending because the banks would loan any amount-this was the early 2000s, remember.
Ursinus out in Montgomery County actually increased tuition to make itself seem more prestigious. Applications soared.
The whole thing was a massive scam
5
If only college administrators and faculty were almost all liberal I’m sure this problem wouldn’t exist.
3
Before your child even starts to look at schools, have a very frank discussion about what you can contribute* and that the rest has to come from them (scholarships, loans) along with a detailed analysis of what varying loan amounts will cost them after college. They need this information so they can target the right schools both academically and financially. Nothing wrong with staying at home and going to a local state school for two years then transferring to the dream school. In the end where the final piece of paper is what maters, not how you got it.
* don't you dare go broke paying for your kids' education. Don't pay unless your retirement and emergency funds are in excellent shape. Don't take on loans for it either. If you can help them pay down some loans later, that's great. But don't put yourself at risk.
3
Republicans have ensured that higher education is unaffordable for a reason. And no, it isn't simply that they're against "handouts". Since Reagan, Republicans in both state and federal government have stripped financial support for public universities. Why? Because they do not want an educated America.
The 1960's and 1970's were the decades in which public education was most affordable in this country. I know. I went to a state university for both college and law school in the 1970's. I had in-state residency, and my law school books cost more than my tuition. Young people now simply cannot imagine this.
But back to that era - it is no surprise that the 1960's and 1970's were the most liberal times we have ever seen in this country. And this liberalism was driven by a well-educated generation that reaped the benefits of higher education.
The Republicans have understood for more than fifty years now that they will not win on ideas. They will not win on policies. What they will win on is tribalism, and an ignorant populace that will believe their outrageous lies.
Trump is the culmination of their policies. Nearly half of us would do literally anything for this ignorant man. Nearly half of us believe all of his ridiculous lies.
The 2016 election was no fluke. The Republicans understand that they may keep power indefinitely, as long as higher education is out of reach for most Americans.
11
@Jackson Curtis
I hate to admit it but I think you are right. What's better than a population that is addicted to online shopping, banal facebook exchanges, game playing, etc & who have gamely forfeited their constitutional right to privacy. Even well educated individuals seem to be willing tools of corporate/government propaganda. Where ever happened to the educational value of independent thinking. Ain't technology great!
5
But when you tell someone that you can have a medical or law, or STEM, or any other degree for virtually no cost in Germany, France, etc...they scream "SOCIALISM" (yet they want their medicare, SS benefits, and free entrance to the national parks). Oh well...
6
We are not investing in our work force but burdening them with heavy debt and crippling them and their parents financially.
2
This is an anthropologist's view. There are field were getting a degree is essential to succeed later.
And there are field were you do, in many US States, not have to go to college. Law is one. All you need to become a successful lawyer is pass the bar . Going to Yale might help but, Hillary Clinton failed the one in Washington DC.
In fast moving fields, losing time at a University can be a hindrance . Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, realizing this , quit College within one year.
I worked in high tech. Your past history gets you nowhere. All that counts is what you can do, right now, for the company. How you got this point is irrelevant. My IT department was run by a guy who never set a foot into a University. He started out as a summer job between High School and University. He never left for University - and moved up
1
FAFSA is a complete scam. Even with an annual income of just $60K, they counted my IRA as disposable income and also counted my (no mortgage) home as a disposable asset. My children only qualified for federal loans.
3
We have to look at Asian countries to witness the extremes in this matter.
The cramming the kids have to do in order to compete to get into good universities. They have no life. After school hours , weekends and vacations are spend tutoring.
Parents pour all their income and savings into education and then in turn depend on the kids to support them in their old age.
3
The U.S. is one of the WORST RUN countries in the world. It has a poor sense of its priorities. The fact that the daily chaos we get from the White House continues just proves my point.
7
As I read the comments here, It strikes me how stupid we middle class Americans are! We let the bureaucrats run up our national debt with tax cuts like Trump's that reward foreign investors and corporations with billions of dollars, gives deficit funded welfare checks to wealthy soybean farmers, gives billions to corporation that already pay zero taxes . Yet, we worry night and day about how we are going to fund our kids college educations without going broke or take on huge debts for them. When we hear people like Bernie and Warren talk about free college, we cringe and recoil and say how can we as a country afford it? I don't believe college should be free, unless it requires public service in exchange for it. But college should be affordable and I would rather have my tax dollars go to subsidizing the education of young Americans/future tax payers than to wealthy Saudis, Russians, German and Chinese investors benefiting from foolish tax cuts and policies that help the really rich. We need to rethink our education system because it is clearly broken.
9
We toured colleges two years ago. The guides said things like: Sushi for lunch! Brand new fitness center! State of the art blah, blah, blah!
The material expectations of parents and kids nowadays are ridiculous. What happened to one phone down the hall for fifty people? One dining hall? No rock walls? No cars? No a.c.?
And all the robber barons pursue their vanity philanthropy. Big, excessive high tech buildings with their names front and center.
Then the kids graduate and never live like that again.
This is an arms race. My kid chose Canada. I couldn't be more proud.
624
@A Little Grumpy, I wished my kid had chosen Germany where higher education is not affordable, or cheap. No, it's FREE!
The University of Berlin is now offering all instruction in English. Why? To attract foreign students. They also just spent €300 million expanding their university to accommodate the additional enrollment. Still free tuition.
Talk about different priorities! The US would much rather spend money enriching the elite (for that second or third Ferrari) instead of educating the next generation and ensuring continued prosperity. They also have a far better educated populace. Visit Germany and not only will they know more about their economy, society and politics, they'll probably know more than you about the US too!
84
@A Little Grumpy My kid chose England. UK and (for now) EU students pay a few thousand yearly in tuition and have access to low-interest loans. At the university my daughter attends dorm costs are about 20% lower than our in-state college. But most students are in a single for that price, and accommodation includes a big, full kitchen in each suite, which makes up for the lack of dining hall. With the exception of one dorm that is being mothballed next year, all the dorms were very nice and either new or refurbished. There is a large, new sports complex/gym/pool for student use. The campus is filled with beautiful gardens and public art. There is a small, very good museum with no entrance fee. No need for a fancy health clinic because students are on NHS.
It seems it's possible to have a nice lifestyle during the college years without it costing a fortune.
We pay much more than the locals, and of course there are travel expenses, but given the program is only 3 years she will come out ahead of any private or out-of-state college here in the US. And we are off the hook for any pricey "year abroad" options!
52
@A Little Grumpy, my kid chose Canada too. The tuition is half of a US school, the cost of living is low, and with the currently favorable exchange rate, it's a real bargain. I see far less frills there compared to here but it's not like the schools are spartan, they just don't have all the silly unnecessary amenities and excess administrative staff that seem to be ubiquitous here. And the academics have been top notch.
College it supposed to be fun too, but from what I remember if you group a large amount of young adults together, add some beer, music, and stir - the rock walls really aren't really necessary.
Canada also does something much better than we do - they try to make college affordable to everyone. In-province tuition where my daughter goes is something like $2,500 CAD. Canadian resident but out-of-province is about $10,000 CAD. We pay $22,000 CAD (around $16K USD) per year.
Until the US gets serious about educating for the future, nothing is going to change here. It's one of the big reasons I'm watching Liz Warren closely.
78
Having moved two years ago from the mid-west to the east coast, it's mind-blowing the hyper-competitive academic environment that high schoolers face, hoping to get into prestigious school regardless of the cost. My oldest daughter graduated from one of the midwest state schools last May. Between her scholarships and part-time jobs, she paid the greater share of her education and is proud of herself for doing so. We obviously helped her, but we told her, she would value her education more if she paid for it herself. And she does. She just signed with a DC firm that she interned with this past summer and couldn't believe the debt and loans her fellow interns had taken on--all to earn the same amount money for the same job at the end of the day. Our younger daughter who is a now a senior out here will also attend another midwest state school and won't have to endure the pressure of college applications like the rest of her peers. She's completely fine with that.
5
Not mentioned is that with federal loans, if the FAFSA shows you don’t have enough to cover tuition, they “offer” PLUS loans to your parents! That is how households with $10k in savings are paying $50k for school. Federal student loan program, for the parents.
Also not mentioned are the kids whose FAFSAs say their parents will contribute significantly but they don’t. So you don’t qualify for additional aid and you’re not getting what the govt thinks your parents are contributing. To the students it is an enormous burden and can result in dropping out or no education at all.
There is always community college to start out; while not cheap, you can probably get enough loans to cover the much lower cost before transferring to university.
4
We did things a little differently. We passed on 3000 sq ft houses, drove used cars bought with cash, no smart phones, cable, gym memberships, etc., and saved money in the bank. A little each and every week. Payed off the mortgage early, too. Some people looked at us with pity for not have all the latest new stuff, but, guess what, they were swimming in debt!
And (gasp!) my wife stayed home with the kids (how shocking!) and I worked a part time job in addition to my full time job to make ends meet.
Fast forward 20 years, and we now pay tuition cash. Kids will graduate with NO debt! Easy access to college loans is the single biggest driver in ever increasing tuition costs.
823
@Steve
Every time an article related to the current state of student debt comes out, the comment section becomes filled with snarky posts of either: A) I graduated in 1976 and worked full time, passing up buying a house, and I paid off my debt in 4 years, or, B) We lived frugally, ate porridge, never took vacations, didn't own a car, and we managed to scrape together the money to pay for our kids school.
Both of these comments grossly miss the point. Comment A ignores the fact the state of higher education in America has changed dramatically over the last 30 years, and comment B essentially proves this articles thesis. Good on you for being a great saver, but if your kids were entering college 30 years ago you would not have had to make as many compromises between middle class milestones and paying for school.
The system is broken, but we all put such heavy emphasis into getting a higher education it is essentially inescapable. Parents need to find methods to save, students need to adjust their expectations, and the government needs to intervene to address the skyrocketing costs associated with a higher education as it is more and more becoming a requirement to function in our service and tech based society.
1134
@Mash Life's tough and requires sacrifices, discomfort, and tough choices. It always has.
67
@Steve So allow things to continue getting worse, not try to fix it, or offer any suggestions? That's the "American Way?" You don't just look down at others who weren't as frugal and go on your way.
I can tell you this that if everyone figures out that community college is the way to go the system will be overwhelmed, not the only solution.
The system is broken, getting worse and if it is not dealt with your children may not have the options you have even if they penny pinch to the max - not that simple.
271
Does the expression "socioeconomic imbecility" ring a bell? Fees are insanely high, particularly when the future will reprogram the whole idea of careers.
Qualifications and training are so essential, and this obstacle course is imposed on young families? Suddenly training which can easily be delivered online or digitally like cornflakes is so expensive? UCLA and others have been offering free online courses for about 20 years, and nobody's got the message?
You can digitally mass produce the entire content of a degree for a few cents. Yet people have to save and pay for years for that content? Come off it.
Friend of mine is a supply chain specialist, a senior guy. I asked him where all the money in fees goes. The answer - Administration. Not faculty. Not research. Not in upgrades. Does that sound right to you?
Education is another service sector racket where prices are basically gouging exercises. Status pays for nothing. You pay for everything upfront. The equation is wrong, and so is the outcome.
3
One should expect that the government should subsidize or at least minimize loan interest rates. 5% or more interest rates on Federal and State College Access Loans are outrageously high. Why students cannot get lower rates when mortgage rates are some 2% lower ? Federal loan APRs must be 2% or less. In a true democracy , tax payers' money should be directly used to subsidize education and health first. Tax payers money seems to be used for financing wars and military operations outside US . Unless one lives outside US or has an open mind to understand how other developed countries allocate tax payers money , paying a lot of money for college and healthcare will remain to be quite acceptable .
4
"So I embarked on a research project to better understand middle-class families who are taking on debt to pay for higher education."
Why didn't you embark on a research project to better understand why the cost of college has tripled at public colleges and universities in the past three decades?
4
would love if you posted the interviews. I want to see the discussions they've had with their kids vice versa.
3
As long as the student loan money is relatively easy to get colleges will continue to charge way too much. I'm hoping the student debt bubble bursts soon, loans become hard to get, and colleges will have to do something about costs since kids (and parents) won't be able to get in over their heads in debt.
4
@JP: Ultimately, I blame the colleges for this. My own alma mater preaches social justice to the tune of over $70k/year. Give me a break.
Send ‘em overseas. Europe’s a good start. Fees just a fraction of the cost here. Travel back and forth easily covered by the amount you’ll save. Many undergraduate courses only three years. Not a chance of helicopter parenting. Kid is forced to become independent quickly and get to know another culture intimately. Let our institutions survive by catering to wealthy Asians. Win-win, and you keep your savings.
7
Thank you for this analysis.It covers all the bases, from children's birth to parents' death. As a parent of adult chldren, if I knew then what I know now, I would have spent a lot less money on my children's education and social development from the very beginning. There are no guarantees for anything we do for our children. Nobody, parent or child, should go into debt for higher education, or shortchange their retirement nest egg. If our country does not want college-educated workers, voters and leaders enough to help pay for them, so be it. I suppose we can import our brains. Let other countries pay to educate them. .
1
I spent four years in the Marines and four in the reserves while attending college. Graduated without a penny of debt and a few bucks in the bank, after four years at a small Catholic College. Mom and Dad gave me a few bucks for spending money here and there. Did it on my Dads advice, best I ever got.
2
We are a middle class family with two small children facing exactly this calculation. We live in a small, older home, have one car which we bought used and have no payments on, and our vacations consist of an annual car trip to see grandparents. We don't eat out, wear clothes until they fray, and are generally frugal all around. But despite the fact that both of us have jobs that pay well, we cannot fund retirement savings, childcare, and a college fund. We can pick two. College savings is on hold for now, and we will re-evaluate the financial situation in a few when the children start school. We will do what we can for them, and cross the college debt bridge when we come to it.
6
"In reality, though, parents act just as they would on the airplane. They take care of their children first."
Yes.
Amy Klobacher's ideas on college were good. Double Pell Grant money, double the threshold for qualification. Spend more on community and state college.
Parents and kids need to realistically look at what they really need in the way of college. If you want to be an elementary school teacher, why go to Harvard. If you've got the talent and ability that you need to be at an elite school you'll probably get scholarships.
For most people, state and community college is fine.
We are committed to financing our kids education, so they finish debt free or almost so. But we're realistic about spending and where they go to school. They work to help pay tuition or living expenses.
Another issue that isn't usually mentioned in discussions about college, expense and loans is that the jobs people get coming out don't pay any more than they did 35 years ago. A lot of those STEM jobs you hear so much about don't pay like they used to.
Finance industry has done well by student loans. Would college costs have skyrocketed without easy access to $$$$$ as high interest loans.
What about debt and no degree? Look at the graduation rates. Not a pretty picture.
4
@Sharon: Why would an academically-talented future teacher go to Harvard? Because endowments mean that few Harvard students need to borrow much money to pay their tuition bills. Only 4% of undergraduates utilize federal student loans. Harvard is actually much more generous with needs-based financial aid than "more affordable" state universities.
2
Where is all this money going? THAT is the question.
Many universities now rely heavily on adjunct faculty....low-paid, part-time workers with few benefits.
Many universities complain about being squeezed with fewer and fewer state/federal subsidies.
And yet many universities seem to have endless funds for new construction projects and ever more administrators. AND, like our state university here in Missouri, can somehow afford to pay the football coach $3 million! Even the line coaches make $500k each!
Something is very, very wrong with this system.
9
@shstl
If your NYU the money is going towards real estate.
What about the disadvantage faced by these students in getting into college in the first place?
Students whose families are able to pay full tuition do not have to take financial packages offered by colleges into consideration; they can apply early decision and commit to the college knowing they will not need any financial aid. A cursory look at acceptance rates for early decision applicants as opposed to regular admission (at most colleges) reveals a large discrepancy. A much higher percentage of early applicants are accepted. Are these early decision applicants being accepted because they can afford to pay full tuition and will not need any financial aid? After 27 years in the education field, the cynic in me says, "Absolutely!"
Paying for college once accepted is a tremendous obstacle for middle class families; getting accepted despite middle class finances is the first obstacle.
3
I was hoping this article would dive into the problem causing the financial strain, rather than just dance around it spouting moral conundrum. The problem isn't that college is expensive, but that the price tag serves a purpose. To restrict who can have it, and to reduce the chance of leaping into a new income bracket. If your anything but white, your likely to get less in financial aid (which sounds fake, but is all to real). If you can't afford school, you'll be plunged into debt. Making any real financial gain difficult. And to support the growing populis that wants a degree, the financial aid amount gets bumped up, so schools do the same. The disappointing part; no one aims to fix the problem. Just like with healthcare; since there's a ludicrous amount of money to be made, and a chance to discriminate, this is likely to never change. The only way to fix the problem is through government intervention, whether it be higher education provided by or strickt regulations.
P.S. looking back at this, it sounds like I'm upset with the author. Not the case, I was just hoping for more of a look at the problem rather than a symptom.
When I started at the University of Virginia in 1964 tuition was $1756 for a non-resident student. If I had stayed in California my tuition would have been $0. I could afford UVa because I had a full National Merit Scholarship. My parents combined income in 1964 was approximately $I0,000. Inflated to 2019 dollars, that is approximately $14,500 tuition for an income of about $83,000 in income. Today my wife and I have a combined income a little more than $200,000 and we are trying to figure out how we can pay for college for our grand children. Forget about their parents being able to pay! And forget about NYU, or UVa, or any school other than an in-state public university. And don't even think about the cost of graduate school. My wife has two MS degrees earned while working full time. One was paid for by her company and one we paid for personally to the tune of $70,000. Meanwhile, friends in Latin America and Europe pay no tuition for their children to attend the finest universities in their countries.
4
True. In Germany the Universities only charge a fee around 150 euro every semester and 230 euro for public transport. I attended Humboldt University and TU Berlin and paid for two degrees (Law & Art History) less than 5.000 €.
4
How many of these kids will pick up the tab for elderly Mom and Dad who depleted their retirement to educate them? I have siblings who cut to the bone to put their kids through college and I don’t see much gratitude coming back. Was a time when such sacrifice was reciprocal.
5
I have great sympathy for the families interviewed, but citing the average cost of college is just a way to make the story more dramatic. Median cost makes more sense.
2
Professor Emeritus here . My daughters went the fine state university where I taught. The older is now an FDA Scientist the younger an assistant attorney general. Both are married and have two children. I rejected the nonsense that college required a vast investment for a "social network, generate life and career opportunities and allow young adults to discover who they are." That is the nonsense expensive schools sell. DONT listen. College is where you get an education. Life is all around you at the same time. Grab it with both hands but not a checkbook.
4
When my daughter started at college last year she told me there were signs around campus touting the idea that her generation would routinely live to be 100. Since I'm in the same position most people are in - I make too much to qualify for financial aid but I'm struggling to pay her tuition and living expenses - I suggested she leave college and come back at age 24 when she'd easily qualify for financial aid since my income would no longer be part of the calculation. After all, the presumed medical advances in her lifetime mean she could start a few years later and would still have plenty of time for a 40 - 50 year career. She wasn't interested. I still think the idea has merit - wait until you're 24 and most likely you'll qualify for full financial aid. Maybe get a job and go to JC in the meantime.
13
@Sara I have been thinking about this also - I'm surprised no one is seriously talking about it. Career trajectories just aren't what they used to be, where you start with a job at 22 and work until you're 65, then retire. You are more likely to cycle through a couple of different careers, and you certainly can't adequately plan for a 35 year retirement. I have often thought 18 was a terrible time to force kids into choosing a career. Why not extend high school for another year, encourage gap years, so kids are entering college as emancipated adults, and then shorten undergraduate years to 3 instead of 4. we need to be creative about the future of education.
2
It's a simple matter of "investing in human resources"--and in the money-rules, private-property United States, there is no support for financing policies that would benefit all.
In my opinion, that's why the lower economic tiers are falling behind, and most of the upper tier is emerging from the college-financing years with long-term debt.
It's a question of national commitment to citizen empowerment and enrichment--which would empower and enrich the whole country. If you fail to invest in your most valuable asset (human beings), you're maximizing current value for a few, but mortgaging the future to underproduction, lagging creativity, and sagging quality of life.
The Asian countries are, I think, the best examples of how a commitment to real family values and the development of the young (in the form of financial support) can bring backward communities into modernity.
We need to commit to universal education for all, to the highest level that a student can attain and show value added.
5
Extend your research. Show how other nations do it. How the US once did it. Why is it always up to reader comments to cite low tuition in our past, and now abroad? Why isn't the op ed about that?
Discuss how low/free tutition at US state universities was once centrist policy & helped expand our middle class. Details please --how did they finance it?.
In past eras, many grads were the 1st in their families to get a degree, then they entered higher paying occupations, and paid higher taxes that paid back the low tuition the state subsidized for them. Win win.
Why is that contrast not spotlighted now in for the 2020 election?
How do other capitalist democracies pay for low/free tuition? with support of their public and parties?
Even medical school grads abroad don't have huge debt, so don't have to charge patients high fees to pay off.
We need contrasting example to throw at our congress, and ask:
Why do hundreds of millions of citizens around the world have what we need and lack:
Low cost or free college tuition.
Apprenticeship training for youth by unions.
Guaranteed health care for all.
Instead, America has the world's most expensive AND PROFITABLE college tuition, health care, AND---- ELECTIONS. All works together.
Here, the primary supports for citizen well being and security. are high profit centers.
Where is our free, independent, proud US media on this? Our media is high profit, too.
7
My parents refused to pay for college, although I was a straight-A student in high school and participated in a wide range of activities, from theater to marching band to debate. They were both attorneys and could have afforded it, but their attitude was that if we kids wanted to go to college, we would have to figure out how to pay for it ourselves. It was, as I compare it with all the parents of all my friends who scrimped and saved to pay for their kids' college, a pretty selfish attitude - but it did force my sister and me to be self-sufficient. Back in the 1980s, when I graduated from high school, I was able to declare myself an independent student and apply for grants and loans. I received quite a few grants due to my own penurious state, and took on a lot of student loan debts. I finally paid everything off, every penny, in my late 30s. Needless to say we don't have a tremendously close relationship with our parents, but I do have a sense of pride that I was able to put myself through the university, got a B.A. and M.A. degree and have a great career now. I wonder if parents nowadays can just sever financial ties with their kids and the kids can go for grants and loans as independent students -- is that still a thing?
5
“…Such speculative, wishful thinking may seem irrational. But until we reform how a college education is financed…
Wishful irrational thinking on your part…
Until we reform how a college major is selected – we’re just popping opioids to relieve a pain…
You academics always carp on decreasing academic mobility – go study yourselves…
Two questions:
1. What’s the ratio of your school’s total cost per year to the starting salary of an anthropologist, for each of the last 25 years
2. What’s the ratio of US anthropology PhD graduates to the number of anthropology PhDs granted tenure in the US, for each of the last 25 years
Few professions have done more to lessen opportunity or lower journeyman wages in the past 25 years, than the academic liberal arts…
The more savvy parents are already crowding their spawn into state schools for the undergraduate degree, and keeping their powder dry for graduate and professional schools…
Even there, though – opportunities in law following a trajectory like your chosen profession…
The only entities out there more profitable than our non-profit universities are our non-profit hospitals...
3
Take the millions of dollars that are being paid to Football Coaches and put it into EDUCATION.
17
A BACHELORS DEGREE IS USELESS!! There. I said it. My son is a union electrician that required 5 (paid) years of apprenticing on the job.
My daughter is a licensed CPA and the other an LCSW which both require a masters degree AND additional on the
job training.
A bachelors degree is the new high school diploma.
5
As someone who attended two expensive, top 25 universities, I have a personal stake in the way higher education is financed and viewed today.
College #1 was a private, midsize school in the south that I spent much of my youth preparing to attend. While I did not know that it would be my post-high school home until my Senior Year, all of the classwork, grades, extracurriculars, and saving that I did growing up was geared for this one place that should have had me set for the rest of my life...
...until it didn’t. Both the challenging academics of my weed-out major and the high cost of tuition nearly put me under as I never fully matriculated there. Bitter and upset, I stayed away from college for years.
Eventually, the cries of “You have to go, period” and “You’ll never amount to anything without a degree” won over and I grudgingly returned to an Ivy with a non-traditional
approach, nearly a decade later. Yes, I earned my Bachelors but I also was left with a massive bill that once again, nearly put me under.
The pressure placed on kids to attend the right school and major in the right field, at all costs, needs to go away as it’s not worth it for many of us. I also believe that the Federal Government needs to stop subsidizing loans, so that schools will be forced to reign in yearly increases in tuition. The financial and emotional debt that college incurs on students is not what we should be taking away after years of hard work...
http://gothamchronicles.net
1
My first semester at Colorado State in 1978 cost under 500.00 for 18 credit hours. Factor in inflation and were looking at 2000.00 give or take a few dollars. Why then, is education so costly now? Greed on the part of universities and lenders for the most part. Education is NOT a commodity and should be available to those with the intelligence and work ethic to see it through! We need to invest in the future of our nation, like most other "advanced" countries rather than drain every penny possible and move on to the next opportunity. American capitalism is fundamentally flawed and needs some huge changes!
3
My parents drained their savings and mortgaged their house (again) for me to go to an Ivy League school fifteen years ago. I went on to get a PhD and now teach at that same school.
By the sounds of it, their social speculation worked out. I went to a fancier school and have a higher degree than anyone in my family. But prestige is not wealth. And in fact, I'm barely middle class--as a single parent, I can't even afford a bedroom for my child.
564
@Hunter What does "teaching at that school" mean? Are you a tenure-track professor? a lecturer? an adjunct? Professors make enough to house their families and a lot more. Adjuncting is not a career path. Sad to say, a lot of universities are drawing in graduate students to go for their doctorates, using fellowships and teachng assistantships as bait, without ever telling them how dismal the chances are that they'll ever be tenure-track professors or what the other career choices might be. That happened to my daughter who got her Ph.D. in English lit from one of the top five rated schools in that field. Only one Ph.D. from that cohort has a tenure-track job four years later and it's not she.
I'm not a believer that education is for going out and getting jobs. Education is a beautiful thing unto itself and I applaud you for your accomplishment. But I think you're agreeing with me that schools should give students the career realities and let them decide for themselves.
43
@thinking
You're right to raise the question of what "teaching" means. Adjunct pay is generally sub-minimum wage when the hours involved are added up.
Some professors are well paid but your generalization is wrong. Some are paid modestly.
25
@Hunter I realized a long time ago that teaching k-12 with a PhD in a well-paying district provides a lot more financial stability than teaching college as anything other than a tenured professor. It’s not prestigious, but I’ve always paid my bills. And those 90+ accrued sick days and union benefits were pretty nice when I got cancer.
31
The real question is why college costs have risen so much faster than inflation in the past 30 years. I believe that the availability of student loans foisted upon unsuspecting 17-years-olds by financial institutions--who then slice, dice and sell these loans as investments--are the cause. It is a question of supply and demand. Colleges can only charge $60,000 for tuition if there are families with the ability to pay. And, given the moral imperative, most students and their families can only pay if there are loans available: loans that will destroy a family more assuredly than a college education will benefit a student. In other words, the price tag for college is artificially propped-up by student loans. An example: when I went to college in the 1980s, loans didn't exist as they do today, and I know that for a fact because I would have grabbed every loan I could if it had been there. Instead, I dropped out of college twice because I had no ability to pay. Yet I eventually graduated... with less that $10k in debt. The loans just didn't exist, so colleges couldn't charge what they do today. When these loans became the raw materials through which financial institutions create "products" to sell to the investor class, the cost of college began to rise. Start there and you'll find the solution.
661
@J It's the loans, but also - have you seen college campuses these days? They are beautifully landscaped places with state of the art facilities and dorms, most of it unnecessary. Go back to colleges being just the buildings where the classes are held + spartan dorms, and maybe prices will stop rising so fast.
70
@J
I agree that it's the nearly unlimited availability of borrowed money for tuition that allows colleges and universities to charge more.
The way to stop it is to change our laws so that student loans can be forgiven in bankruptcy, which is not possible now. Students loans are the only class of debt that cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy. If lenders had more risk, they'd loan less. If they loan less, colleges and universities would be forced to keep their tuition low or they'd have no students.
81
@J You have hit the nail mail right on the head. One might also wonder what the colleges do with all that revenue? I have worked in academia for years, and I have many friends working in colleges across the country. What I see are beautiful, well-appointed facilities, plentiful amenities, large numbers of courses taught by poorly-paid adjuncts with no benefits, and legions of mid-level administrators (staff of 24 just in the department monitoring Title IX, for example). What does this say about what it costs to provide a college education?
124
Again, I hate to state the obvious, but the United States is not the only country in the world that has top notch universities. You can go to many excellent universities in Europe and elsewhere for a fraction of the cost or even less. The best schools abroad are still a mere fifth of what Americans pay. The best thing to do is to go elsewhere...and long-term, perhaps it will make these business institutions in the U.S. (I no longer call them educational since they treat education like a corporation) lower their fees because they realize there is competition...elsewhere in the world, for the same quality. These families need to stop being so American-centric when thinking about universities. I made that mistake when I was 18 but not for my Masters, much later. It is also good for Americans to educate themselves abroad and live abroad...and open their eyes to this great wonderful world of ours and to cultures that live, dare I say it, better...finding solutions to problems that we still can't seem to deal with, such as universal healthcare and higher education for all.
972
Not always an option for many families, especially for undergraduate study. Tuition may be less but living and travel costs can be much more. Financial aid in the form of grants (as opposed to loans) is also more scarce at overseas institutions.
54
@S You are correct that it is a good thing for Americans to live abroad. But foreign universities often fall behind American ones in terms of services: writing centers, disability support services, internship offices, etc. Further, the different academic cultures often mean no office hours for faculty and no expectation that the faculty has obligations to the students outside of mere lecturing. The education in the classroom might be comparable, but the institutional cultures are different. Finally, depending on one's discipline and one's university, a foreign degree might limit opportunities for graduate or professional schools. There are a lot of factors to consider.
30
A large percentage of courses are taught by adjuncts who don’t really have office hours.
25
Misses the point completely. The point is that there are no constraints on the tuition and fees that college administrators can charge students. In a credential-driven society this gives college administrators a blank check. I know whereof I speak -- having been an administrator at a Top 25 university.
5
College isn't for everyone from an academic perspective. Don't try and fit a round peg into a square hole. Tech schools are producing a superior product at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, that $50K/yr art history degree ain't a ticket to the good life.
2
Hey, there was no minor at my school but I took 20 credits of Art History and although it added little to my now finished career it is what I enjoy most along with literature and sports neither of which earned me much money but sure did make me rich. Life is so much more than income. Go art history and be brave but as debt free as possible.
2
I know two young women with art history degrees. One is now a curator at a small museum and one works for Sotheby’s. Neither makes as much as a Wall Streeter but both can afford their own apartments and both are happy.
I am really sorry to read this article. It is an indictment of the idiocy that has taken over the USA. I won a Regents scholarship and went to a SUNY University for free. I had another scholarship from my father’s union, IBEW ( remember good union jobs?) so in essence I was being paid to study. Plus a lucrative summer business of digging clams off of Fire Island( respect to all fellow bay men) meant I wanted for nothing. I even studied abroad in Dublin my junior year. This opened my eyes to other cultures and to the possibility that perhaps not everything was better in the USA. Forty years on, a career in France and voila my children were all educated in Europe. Excellent French Universities, computer science colleges, Science Po, Law School, Elite art colleges. For almost free. No impact on household budget.
I pine for my family back in the states spending fortunes for their deserving children to go to the right school. How lucky I have been to escape the preprogrammed madness that awaited all of my generation concerning our children’s education. I have deep respect for the tribulations and financial maneuvering that American families have to go through just to replace what was stolen from under them while they were being blindsided by those espousing the themes of shareholder value, job déplacement, union busting, free market capitalism, trickle down et al. Ad nauseum.
8
Thank you for running this article. Heartened to hear that someone is studying this social/cultural phenomenon (which many of us are living). Now we can only hope that our representatives in government and the stakeholders in higher education start finding creative and innovative solutions.
1
A national strike against the private university industrial complex, and the student loan industrial complex, is the only solution toward the bald-faced exploitation of hardworking families. Nobody should have to sacrifice three decades of their life to pay for an education which is required to obtain a 50+ hour a week job. C'mon now...
4
i went to a public university, UCLA, for about $1000 a year. then the republicans took over the government for a few decades and that has become about $14,000. tuition and fees now make up the largest percentage of operating costs.
public colleges and universities must return to a model where public money makes up the largest percentage of operating costs and students do no have to go into life long debt, and parents dont have to forgo their retirement fund in order to get a college education.
2
Vote for Bernie Sanders and our tax money will go towards education and health care instead of lining oligarchs’ pockets.
5
Because we've sold college (and even secondary education) as a commodity that equals $$$$, we're stuck with being customers competing for a cheapened, surface product. This makes us minor pawns in this twisted life scenario, devalues/disappears what the mission and payoff of a college education should be. and further corrupts and undermines our society and political order. This article accepts all of this without a murmur. Proving my point?
2
Federally guaranteed student loans created massive tuition inflation. Intended to help the poor afford college, now no one can afford college. When the government caves to liberal activist groups to subsidise something in high demand to help the poor, massive inflation is the result.
4
If you are borrowing for room and board you need to think about schools that are closer to home. Borrowing for living and then complaining about the debt is not a good reason to saddle American tax payers with your student loans
Tuition and major and employment options is a whole other story
1
I suggest the Dem nominee run on a platform of returning the country to pre-Reagan and his assault on the middle class. A sure winner.
2
Bottom line: personal debts are accruing because society finds it intolerable to pay taxes. We have one of the lowest rates of taxation in the world. College can be funded the same way high school is, but preferably not through a property tax.
1
We have created enormous perversions in our economic systems around higher education and health care.
Because of subsidies, loans, grants, insurance, in this two areas, the pricing of the product is completely twisted.
Not that basic health care services could ever be properly priced, forcing a your money or your life proposition in health care decision making.
But the inflation of prices for education and health care is undermining the provision and accessibility of both.
Time to simplify.
2
My 15 year old STEM smart grandson is pondering his college options and I’m encouraging him to join the Air Force or the Coast Guard so his college education will be courtesy of Uncle Sam. In addition, if he picks a smart MOS in the service he will have a career waiting for him when he gets out. My son did exactly that 20 years ago. He was a military air traffic controller, and is now a civilian ATC. He has a 4 year degree in Aviation and has many credits towards a BSN, should he ever decide to leave air traffic controlling, or become unable to pass the flight physical for medical reasons as he ages. If my grandson doesn’t opt for the military he will go to a community college for the first two years. I intend to help him as much as I can so he has minimal debt when he graduates after he transfers to a 4 year college. I’m determined he isn’t going to be burdened with monumental debt that will suck the joy out of his life and limit his buying a house or starting a business. What is happening out there to college graduates is truly appalling and infuriating.
152
@Mary Ellen
My son attended and graduated from community college prior to joining the Navy. It was a good choice because his rate was E3 when he entered thanks to his degree which enabled him to earn more while in the service as well as have more leadership and promotion opportunities early on. He left the service an E5. He is completing his undergraduate degree this year with the GI Bill and has no student debt. However, he is planning to attend graduate school which will take about 5 years and will still likely end up having to take student loans. However, his major/PhD will be in clinical psychiatry, a profession that is now and is projected to be in high demand and which he can practice well into his 80's so he will have plenty of time to pay off those loans.
4
@Mary Ellen,
Another option to consider: the Coast Guard and Air Force Academies (along with West Point and Annapolis) are fantastic schools that are completely no-cost, plus a guaranteed job upon graduation. Enlisting and going to school after being discharged is also, of course, a great path.
3
@Kathy Psychiatry or psychology? A psychiatrist is a medical doctor- so you have to go to medical school. A psychologist usually gets a PhD from a university- both are "doctors" but there is a difference.
BTW-my daughter just started in our local community college- close to home, reasonable cost of $2700/semester. She is thinking about psychology pretty seriously. Military is NOT an option for her.
But-finishing in Germany or Netherlands may be. We are both starting our fifth year of german school, and I think both countries offer a lot of English language classes now.
2
I work for a public university partly funded by the state. When state tax revenue dried up during the great recession of 2008, the tuition at state colleges increased by double digits for several years. Critics said it will drive out lower income students from attending but the university and donors promised to increase scholarships for the low income. High income students, of course, will continue to do fine. Low income students got help. Middle income students and families got shafted.
3
Community college is overlooked by most. Middle class people don't see it as an acceptable option (they think it is below their class level). Also, if the college debt is going to be very large compared to what jobs pay in the field of study, then it just is not worth it to be in debt (for decades). Surprisingly, most college students do not know how much debt they will have to take on and find out how much debt they have incurred around the time they graduate.
If there is difficulty in paying for regular public college, go to community college for the first 2 years and then transfer into the public college. It will literally save thousands of dollars in tuition and being able to live with parents. Community colleges know what courses will get transferred to the state college, take just those ones.
2
We were able to pay our son’s way through his university as we went. It helped that he graduated in three years with honors. He had no debt. My issue with many students is they do not seek out a vocational course of study. Liberal arts does not give any bang for the buck. Our boy took liberal arts with a graduate degree planned. He is getting his vocational education now through law school which he is going to pay for.
1
I’m sorry but I guess I don’t really understand your complaint re the value of a liberal arts education. To use your son’s example, in this country, to be a lawyer you need to have an advanced degree, a law degree; this means that regardless of your 4-year undergrad degree, you’ll still need to go to law school. What would you have had your son study as an undergrad? Regardless of his undergrad major, he would still have required this “vocational” law degree to work in that field; that happens to be our system for a number of professions.
4
A college education isn’t supposed to be vocational training.
@Kirk Karver
I left out the part where he eeked out a marginal living for six years after university before he recognized his need for vocational training.
Best thing I ever did was work full-time to pay my own way through good colleges to get a B.A. and an M.Ed. so I wouldn't care what job my parents really wanted me to take. Or push me to be the rich rich lawyer I'd hate.
I know colleges are more expensive, yes, still Google and Facebook and Amazon pay $100,000 right outta college while we made $10,000 at same age and education in 1980s.
@Sid Leader
Yeah but those jobs are really, really difficult to get and not at all representative.
"Few parents choose saving over spending on child development."
As someone whose parents did choose to save for my college education rather than spend on my social and emotional development, it was absolutely miserable. It was dreary. This was the 1970's and 80's so there wasn't as much of an emphasis on child development anyway. I didn't have many toys. My clothes were mostly hand-me-downs. I didn't go to camp. I wasn't in Scouts. I would have loved to have taken dance lessons and cooking classes but my parents couldn't pay for them. Thank god for the public library and the city pool.
Although I do appreciate that I didn't graduate with student loans like most of my classmates did, I was much more stunted than my classmates were because my parents didn't spend much on me during my childhood. I've never been able to catch up with what I didn't have during childhood. It is impossible.
572
@the quiet one
Thank for this needed perspective. More people need to hear it.
74
@the quiet one I could not agree more. I had more childhood development opportunities than what you describe but still limited compared with my peers once I got to university. It was a painful adjustment and even though I’ve “made it” into upper middle class, I will never feel that I belong. I vowed that my kids would not endure this. My children, who are just tweens, have a confidence and ability to try new things and a sense of the world I could only have imagined at 18. And we have been fortunate and disciplined enough to establish very healthy post secondary savings for them (we are religious about it and started when our eldest was born). Even at that, I don’t think we will have enough set aside for two kids born two years apart. My husband and I are prepared to delay our retirements and continue working until we are 60, if necessary, to foot the bill and ensure they do not have student loans. Despite my other disadvantages, graduating debt free has given me a freedom in life that I want to give y children as well (for example, because I had no student loans, I was mortgage free by age 40). Great article and discussion.
28
@the quiet one I grew up in the 1970s, and most of the people I knew didn't have dance or cooking lessons or go to camp. No one had heard of soccer and girls had no access to organized sports outside of PE class. We went to the library and the mall, rode our bikes everywhere, explored the woods, and grew up to be pretty decent people -- some financially successful, some with great careers, some with loving families and fulfilling private lives. Some have it all -- but I don't think it is because of the amount of money their parents spent on their childhoods.
173
No one should go into a fine restaurant, order a great meal, a $5000 bottle of wine and then complain when the bill comes due. My life is different because I put myself through college BS '82. Having a degree was an important and so I made the choices in life that made that made a degree possible. My loving family allowed me to have values that honored education. Higher education is ennobling, a luxury, a privilege and not a right. Not everyone with whom I graduated high school went to college, they made different choices.
The explosive of growth in educational institutions in the last 50 years has created a product for which its real market may decline. The cost of education is finally catching up to colleges and universities. It is ironic that the supply of college classroom seats has increased and the cost has skyrocketed. The supply/demand rules of economics seem not to apply to education. Banks are happy loan you money to build a house, get a car or an education, but in the end the person who enters into the loan agreement is responsible for the note.
The tax cut that Trump gave to wealthy people in his first year in office precluded our government's ability to subsidize educational initiatives. When you cannot afford to send your son or daughter to college, recall that the Trump's friends and supporters are enjoying luxuries at your children's expense.
4
College was far more affordable in 1982. You were privleged.
50 years ago, you could attend a four-year private university for about $10,000 for everything (RBT), and expect to get a job after graduation that would pay an annual salary equal to your four-year college costs.
For students that commuted, this situation even held true well into the 1970s and early 1980s.
Now, it's impractical to expect a job that will pay over $100k right out of school, unless you have connections or are joining a family business.
Not everyone needs to go to college. Plenty of people in the trades make very good money with a basic technical education, followed by forms of apprenticeship and on-the-job learning.
It's nice to live on a residential campus, but a more practical approach is two years at community college (much, MUCH cheaper for state and county residents) combined with a part-time job. Get your associates degree and then apply to come in as a junior at a four-year school.
Plenty of young adults have done it that way and are debt-free in short order...plus, sometimes they land a part-time job that provides useful work experience related to their major.
The real crime is the escalating cost of tuition at state universities. Some are as expensive as private schools charging the out-of-state tuition rate. It's not sustainable.
3
@hdtvpeteAs in healthcare in the US profit comes before purposes of healing and education.
3
My kids are out of college, what struck me on the numerous college tours we took was the substantial construction underway at every college we visited. To me, it was akin to ignorant applicants buying a car on credit; oh, the student center is nice, the new sports complex and dorm suites are just what I was looking for in a college, all on credit. Meantime, who can afford that spending back in the real world? Unfortunately, I doubt it was any time for fiscal restraint at these colleges; leadership including boards of trustees who ought to have done their jobs and kept things grounded in reality not fantasy, all bought into the notion they were locked in battles for ignorant applicants shopping misguidedly and somehow the colleges had mandates to meet “the marketplace.” Here we are.
4
"Everyone knows that higher education is expensive."
I have a graduate degree in physics. I didn't cost me anything. I went to school in Germany.
In case you feel that a degree that cost nothing, can't be any good: The physics department of my Alma Mater has three Nobel prizes under its belt. And I don't mean, they hired three Nobel prize winners to work there. I mean the Nobel prize was awarded for research done there. The third time, while I was a student there.
2
"The average annual price tag for attending an American college is now around $50,000."
Really? Here's New Jersey where college costs are high.
Community College -- tuition ($3996); fees ($1068) = $5064
Rutgers University -- tuition ($11619); fees ($3019); room ($7602); meal plan ($4850) = $27,090 plus books
Graduate from community college and you're guaranteed a place at Rutgers University to complete your education.
3
@ellen1910
your community college numbers are off by half. A full year is at least $10,000 for my local community college in Morris county.
Still there is a big difference and it is all in room and board. If one needs to borrow to learn then one should focus on commuter schools.
2
@Deirdre
Hunh? Are you looking at IN-STATE rates? Check IN-DISTRICT rates.
County College of Morris is $4920.
This article makes me loathe middle-class families. I have long suspected that the college wage premium was creating a feudal middle caste, not particularly educated but very inclined to keep the gates for their overlords. "The kind of family they are," will soon be (if they aren't already) the new barons, standing between the 1% and the rest of us with their fancy loafers on our necks.
2
Paying for a College Education is similar to navigating a visit to the Emergency Room. Unlike an ER visit, Parents are willingly getting scammed because they've been brainwashed about the value of an education. This article barely touched on the scam that College Education has become. The headlines of upper middle class families giving up custody of their kids so they can qualify for need based aid or parents bribing Sports Programs barely touch the surface of the scam and the desperation of Parents.
Parents are sold during College visit that tax breaks and financial aid will help cover the cost until they realized that financial aid is a loan with compounded interest that can at times be higher than your typical car loan.
Whenever the Government doles out the taxpayer money with no strings attached and no cost control requirements you get pseudo capitalism run amok in Higher Education, Health Care and Real Estate.
1
I totally support free higher public education (e.g. SUNY or CUNY) but should a family making $250K/year have their children's $400,000 college education (two children at NYU) be subsidized by families making $50K / year and struggling to send their kids to CUNY? If the parents don't pay the college bills, someone else does, so unless you're close friends with Bill Gates, everyone else kicks in (either through taxes or diverting government money from other programs).
2
The problem for me with this research, at least as it's presented here, is that it's based on self-reporting by parents. This is especially problematic for the conclusion that saving for college requires unacceptable trade-offs for young middle class families. I wonder if the writer has any hard evidence to support this claim. Budgeting is about money, which is easily quantified, and it should be possible to determine where families are spending their money and why they aren't saving. Is it really true that travel and extra-curriculars are absorbing all surpluses, or do expensive cars and cell phones, and nice clothes or large homes play a role? Absent this sort of data, this research looks like a conclusion in search of an argument.
My parents blew money right and left on a second home, on new clothes, and on fancy dinners, and still saved money. It cost me 215$ a quarter to attend a UC in the 1980s. So, there is absolutely no doubt that financial security today requires a good deal more self-discipline than it did back in those days. But the implication of this research, and of so much of our current dialogue, is that individuals are powerless to influence their outcomes. And that the solution is for the state to intervene to see to our comforts. This policy direction has been demosnstrated repesatedly to be fiscally infeasible. And worse, it's a small step from there to the abdication of responsibility for our own lives. We should be worried.
1
Many U.S. parents fall for what I call the "Disney trap". Visiting a Disney park is almost obligatory for U.S. families, no matter what the vacation cost. And yet many of those walking around Disney's Main Street on most mornings have spent money or credit that wrecks their family's yearly budget. They visit because it is the intangible Disney experience, and they usually buy the tee shirts to mark the occasion.
Universities are the same theme parks, with the same type of name-branding and tee shirts. Only most Americans don't understand the cost/value relationships of the thousands of American colleges. Many families pay over $50,000 per year for a school with poor academic standards, when a cheaper community college and state university would far surpass it in educational prowess and future opportunities. I shudder when I listen to someone proudly sharing that their child is going to a pricey unknown school with no endowment (and thus no aid). This type of choice is like buying a knockoff Disney tee shirt and visiting a shabby local carnival for the cost of the real trip to Orlando.
State colleges and universities represent some of the best sticker price values on the planet. And well-endowed private universities with generous aid packages often have lower real costs than the sticker price. Please don't make the mistake of going to a costly college that is unknown outside of its local geographic area! You will have a $200,000 worthless Mickey Mouse degree.
4
I hear this argument, but I don't have total sympathy. Both my kids really wanted to go to "name brand" schools - good private or Ivy or out of state schools. But the financial aid packages offered to them consisted mostly of just loans. So both my kids went to decent state schools while their friends went to well-known private schools or Ivies. I feel deep regret that my kids were not able to attend the colleges of their choice. But at least they have no debt.
When I hear folks hoping that their debt will be wiped away by Warren or Sanders, I have mixed emotions because then my choice not to have my kids or me incur debt would have been for nothing.
6
It’s less about how we feel about continuing to pay debt that others don’t have to deal with, than whether we want to live in a country with more people who are educated and value education and logical thinking based on evidence instead of feelings. I’m sure WWI veterans were unhappy they didn’t have a GI bill to restart their lives as WWII veterans did, but we all benefited from that change. I teach at a research university and universities are under assault from faux-corporate thinking within and also from without by GOP politicians who want voters who are ignorant and illogical. I suspect they also have never forgiven their teachers for that C they got in 4th-grade geometry... So universities need to stop paying inflated upper administrative salaries, stop paying coaches multi-million-dollar salaries, stop building mall-style pointless buildings, and invest in classrooms, libraries, faculty, and thereby in students’ quality of education.
4
There is no connection between college tuition and the cost of living anymore.
In the mid 70's college tuition was about $3500, adjusted for inflation that would be about $16,000 today - not $50,000.
While there have been technological advances and insurance factors - how could a liberal arts college justify those expenses when the classrooms haven't changed so much in 45 years?
Has the cost of blackboards, desks, chairs and lightbulbs gone up that much?
Really?
4
At age 18 a person is an adult. I think it's odd that parents have any obligation to pay for a student's college, yet my income will count against my son's when he applies for financial aid. If I lose my job, his financial aid goes up. If I get a promotion, his financial aid goes down. If I have saved more in my life, his financial aid goes down; if I have saved less, his financial aid goes up.
Are college students adults, or are they kids? If they are adults, then why does the behavior and income of the parents bear on their eligibility for financial aid? I am not apply for college--my adult son is.
5
@tanstaafl Sometimes I wonder if colleges and funding sources view students not so much as students, but as assets.
2
I'm very late to this discussion, but I fit the description of the middle class family in the article to a T. My wife and I sank well more than $200,000 in Parent Plus loans so that our son and daughter could reach for the schools they really, really wanted to attend.
The above sum does not count loans each of our children also took out to help defray college costs.
Yes, we indulged our children. Yes, we most likely acted irresponsibly, if not downright stupidly. But both our kids prospered in college not just academically but also in forming last friendships, as well as learning the difference between education and pretending to be educated.
We will go to our graves in debt. Many thousands of others like us will, too. The only gnawing regret -- and it's a big one -- is that reprehensible characters like Trump wrack up huge debts, but are then able to declare bankruptcy and start over as if nothing had happened. Not us. If we had declared bankruptcy, the loans would still have to be paid, insuring that we would never get our finances and security back to even.
A long way of saying that in the upcoming Presidential election, the only candidate who seems to understand bankruptcy law and how it has ruined middle class families is Elizabeth Warren.
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@PaulB67 I have a problem with taking on debt in the expectation of later declaring bankruptcy - no matter who it is.
Making college debt dischargeable is not the answer. By your own admission, you are looking to escape the consequences of acting "irresponsibly, if not downright stupidly."
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We've seen this same pattern in housing, health care, and other industries.
When there's lots of money available for a high demand product, providers will raise prices beyond the ability for most to pay cash.
Its unsustainable. I learned that in Econ 101.
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@Patrick Talley
Nothing in America is exempt from the exploitative "free market" mentality.
We do need change, and a lot more affordable options for college, but it's important to point out that there are ways get an affordable degree NOW. This isn't about being virtuous, it's about finding affordable options. They might be in-state schools: look for two year options or schools other than the flagship. It might be private colleges that provide big merit aid awards. It might be private schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need. It might mean pursuing dual credit and other opportunities to spend less time on campus. It definitely means getting through in four years and being careful about grad school debt.
There are good, or at least better options for middle class families if you plan and do your homework.
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I realize college costs have increased astronomically. But I also wonder whether these students are going to college for an education or the (party) experience.
I was the first in my family to graduate from college. I lived at home. I worked a part time job. I had little time for a social life. I started at a community college then went on to a state school. I took semesters off to work more hours so I could save more money for tuition. It took me six years to graduate. I had a small amount of debt that I paid off in two years.
I graduated in 1979 and costs are certainly different now. But maybe folks need to remember the term “delayed gratification “. You don’t need to go away, spend $200,000, join a sorority etc to get a good education.
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@Kathleen Your comment highlights a typical Boomer imagining of the stereotypical modern day college experience as viewed through TV and movies. Many, many, many students do all the things you did and still graduate under a mountain of debt. That says nothing of those of us who graduated at the bottom of the recession in '08/'09 when those student loans came knocking even though there were no jobs to be had. Myself, I worked 2 jobs during school and 60+ hours a week during the summer. Cheap apartment, used books when I could find them, working at the library rather than buying a fancy laptop. State schools, adjusted for inflation, cost more than 3 times what they did when you graduated. Instead of saying, "I did this, you should, too" possibly spend more time thinking about how the current system is broken and ways to change that so future students can graduate and thrive. Because they currently are not.
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When I was in college you could work over summer and earn a huge chunk towards tuition. This is not even remotely to true now.
I think community colleges are a better option for our kids financially.
For the first year our community didn’t publish a list of where all the graduating seniors will be going. I think this is a step in the right direction. I see more and more parents admit to considering a community college. Why should you get straight A’s and stress out for 4 years of high school and then pay through the nose to go to a fancy college. Especially if an actual high paying job is no longer a reality. This strategy does not compute.
Also we had to spend a lot more on housing because we wanted out our kids in a good school district so they can get into a good (enough) college. The Bay Area has a brutal housing market and some pretty iffy public schools.
I look back sometimes and wonder how we’ve made it this far. I look forward and fear for what challenges my children will face. Currently our country continues to go down a meaner crueler route at every opportunity. It has gotten to the point where there is very little room to make a mistake.
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My question?
What are the specific additional costs that have created such notable increase in college tuition costs?
My understanding is that many schools now have fewer tenured teaching positions with the shortfall being filled by teaching assistants.
What has been the area with the greatest cost increases in the last 2 decades? From what I've heard from folks in academia much of the increase has been in administrative costs such as salaries and perks.
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@jb
Facilities. I work in higher education, and I can tell you one of the things at the top of the list to the consumer in the higher education market: facilities and ameneties. Every year our institutioin
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There are so, so many cheaper and better options overseas. Middle-class families throughout the developing world have sent their children to college abroad in order to secure their succession into the middle class. Now it is time for the American middle class to do the same.
Rather than enrolling your children in football (or whatever sport), send them to Germany every summer so that they are fluent by the time they are 18. Tuition in most German states is only a few hundred bucks per semester. Or forget the German and keep the sports and have them enroll in one of the English-taught BA programs offerred in Norway (tuition-free). Even Canada or the UK, while pricey compared to Europe, are cheaper than the US by far. South Africa has excellent universities that are dirt cheap too: Stellenbosch, Wittwaterstrand, Cape Town (Western Cape is quite up and coming!). The list goes on and on.
Oh and many of these institutions do not charge application fees.
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My children have chosen well--one is at McGill in Canada, and the other at U. of Edinburgh in Scotland. Several other friends have sent their children to universities in the Netherlands (many English-speaking programs there), which is under 3000 euros/year tuition. Even with international student tuition rates and travel costs, it is usually a better deal. Plus, they get an excellent education as well as having the opportunity to study/live abroad.
Americans need to think out of the box, and look into cost-effective study abroad!
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I always knew American college education was significantly more expensive, but I was shocked to read in this article that the average ANNUAL cost is $50,000. This is light-years beyond the cost here in Canada, and of course, many European countries, where higher education is 100% publicly funded. Such a high price tag on U.S. public education is, along with an unaffordable healthcare system contribute greatly to the huge wealth disparities in the country.
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@Barry I think the average sticker price of tuition/room and board may be $50k but I don't think that is the average amount people pay. Most schools give a fair amount of aid to reduce costs, even for middle class families.
Two problems - both arising from the fact that the oligarchs own us:
First, they see no use for a middle class, and are almost done destroying it. Why would you let the people you own have a middle-class lifestyle, when it is $$$ out of your pocket? Time spent learning or staying home to raise children or volunteering or mowing the lawn and cooking dinner? That is time your little profit bees are not spending at work, making you money. Retirement savings or piano lessons or a family vacation? That's *your* money the peons are wasting on things beyond just living long enough to come to work tomorrow.
Spots in the middle class are disappearing like a game of musical chairs, and people who still have seats are going all out to keep them for their kids. It's why a moderately okay job requires a bachelor's from the right school and maybe a master's, plus the right connections and the right internships and the right manner. And why getting the right college means $240k, plus the right sports, the right extracurriculars, the right musical instrument, and the right AP classes from the right high school.
We are desperately clawing for those last few seats, even as the oligarchs snatch away more chairs.
So maybe instead we should turn all of this insanity - the rat race, the frenzy, the willingness to sacrifice it all for the sake of our kids - and think about what else that desperation and that energy could do. What if we used it to take back what the oligarchs stole?
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I attended a SUNY school from 1984 to 1988 to get my B.A. in chemistry education. I lived at home. My tuition was $747.50 per semester plus books. I worked Friday afternoons and weekends washing pots at a local resort hotel for just over minimum wage, which was $3.15 an hour back then,. I worked there full-time over the summer. I graduated without any loans. I did not get grants or scholarships. Back then you could do it if you sacrificed. Can't do it now. We are setting ourselves and our children seriously back with this investment nowadays. I always recommend to my students to stay home for two years if they can, get their prerequisites out of the way at the local community college (also a SUNY school) and then see where they stand for the rest of it.
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I just wish that colleges would stop calling themselves "non-profits" when they essentially operate as for profit businesses.
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I'm in the group of live-at-home, go-to-community-college then transfer-to-the-local-state-U. My kids did it recently in California. Cal State is about $6,000 per year. Community college starting this year is free for two years. After tax rebates you can get a bachelor's degree for about $10,000 total.
My kids were good students and would have thrived academically and socially at UCLA or UC Berkeley. I told them that unfortunately we are just regular middle class; the on-campus experience at a prestigious university is now only for the upper-middle class (who still struggle to pay) and the rich.
I look at it like I look at cars. A "best-fit" may be a nice Audi or BMW, but with our reality we drive Hyundais.
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It's economics - supply and demand. We now tell kids that they all should go to college - college is for everyone - increasing the number of college grads and decreasing their employment prospects afterward - for there is more competition for a job requiring a degree. And with more competition to get into a college, particularly a good college, and the same or fewer spaces available, colleges can feel free to raise the price tag. This is contrary to most European countries where college is affordable but limited to those who are deemed to be able to succeed by having a college education. This also plays out in the disparity of the growth of college costs vs income. With so many additional people in the workforce, companies can choose to offer lower salaries (or not raise them as much) as there is more demand for these jobs but desirable universities can continue to raise tuition and not worry about filling their seats. A return to selectivity for college education and more training for vocational and other jobs would help alleviate some of these problems families are facing.
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I will read the study, but I must say, the interview on Chris Hayes was not promising. The author opened with an example of one of her students at NYU who ended "needing" to take a job offshoring other people's jobs so that she could pay back her student loans. The example is such an outlier and so absurd as to undermine trust in the entire project. First, perhaps she should not have attended NYU if she neither received a large scholarship nor came from a well-to-do family, nor was ready to take one of the thousands of jobs in banking, business, law et cet that should could have found in walking distance of Washington Square. I hope that the study addresses the challenges for families and students who are looking at state schools including the second tier state four year universities. As of now, my initial conclusion is that the professor / author is astoundingly out of touch, but it could just be an unfortunate first impression.
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Part of the high cost of college is that most campuses are now much more like an upscale hotel—fitness center, good meals, plenty of high speed internet, and lots of extracurricular activities—along with lots of administrative overhead. Our kids are indulged while there are now many adjunct professors who are also scraping by yet want to teach.
I recall an Econ prof telling me while I was in grad school that since I stood to make more, I too should pay more for tuition. That was in the 1980’s and boy did the administration hear him as they jacked up the costs. Was it worth it at those prices? Yes. But at today’s prices I am afraid I would have never left my excellent state undergraduate school for a higher degree.
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Please tell me why college costs so much today as
compared to previous years. I went to the University
of Iowa in the mid sixties and it did not cost fifty
thousand dollars.So what is different today. I think that corporate America is making
lots of money on student loans.
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When I attended Columbia University in the late 1960s, tuition was $2400 a year. I also attended the University of Washington in the mid 1970s - where tuition was $166 per quarter - and the University of Oregon School of Law in the 1980s, where tuition for a state resident was about $3000 per year.
Today, tuition at Columbia is $55,000. Tuition at the University of Washington has recently been reduced substantially - to a mere $12,000 per year. Law School tuition for a state resident at the University of Oregon runs $38,000 per year. That hasn't 'tripled,' it has been multiplied by 12. And in all three cases, we haven't begun to speak of the cost of a place to live, food, and the other necessities during the course of an academic year.
As with all of the services essential to the quality of life for all but the wealthiest Americans -- like health care and child care and housing -- we are fast falling behind other 'advanced nations' and for obvious reasons. Our tax structure permits the concentration of wealth at the top, we prioritize spending on the military and have squandered trillions on warfare that has done nothing but create chaos and enemies, and we now decry as "socialism" the public services we were once able to take for granted.
Affordable education and housing were the touchstones of America's middle class and the envy of the world in the decades after WW II. We threw it all away for The Big Lie: "The tax cuts will pay for themselves."
No, they haven't.
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The tax system does not cause disparities in wealth. The tax system penalizes high earners; for example, about half the people who have earned income pay no,federal,income taxes. Wealth comes from hard work, diligent saving, sensible risk-taking in investments and some amount of good luck.
@Working Stiff The wealthy people I know inherited it and live on dividends that are taxed at a lower rate than I pay with a job.
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@Working Stiff That is absurd. And I say that as a "high earner". That "half" that pays no federal income taxes? Those people earn $15 per hour or less. Yes, nearly half of ALL wage earners in this country earn $15 an hour or less. The tax system most decidedly does not "penalize" high earners. On average folks making a million a year pay about the same percentage of income for ALL taxes as a guy making $40k a year.
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I wish American researchers would look abroad as a way to compare how insane the American University systems have become. This type of financial catastrophe doesn't arise in Europe because universities are publicly subsidized. Our elder child went to Cambridge, which costs about $23K per year for 3 years; you start with your major chosen. Our son is going to medical school, which is undergraduate in Europe, which will cost a total of $92K for 4 years, with an additional year when the government pays for him to work and train. Even though there are advantages to liberal arts exploration at a SLAC, it would have been nuts to spend 4 to 8 times more for degrees in the US.
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In my job as a financial planner, I can attest that even the affluent clients struggle with this challenge. Instead of asking ourselves how we can mortgage our collective futures to help out our children, we should be asking 1) why the cost of college has grown exponentially; 2) why young adults are ill-prepared for adult life despite being in a publicly funded education system for nearly all of their first 18 years of life; and 3) why college is seen as the one ticket to a better economic position even as many other jobs go unfilled.
When we begin to talk openly about how we got to this place, then perhaps we can begin to make the fundamental changes that we all desperately need for the future of our society.
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My teen is a rising senior and will be applying to college in the next two months. As a single parent, in a very expensive state, college for my child is elusive. At a national level, i make “too” much for any significant financial aid package but “too” little to afford anything out there with the savings we have. The FAFSA calculator doesn’t account for high taxed states nor high cost of living. It treats every income as equal and every family as the same type. No, we don’t want free college. We just want affordable education. And affordable is not even $40k per year. We don’t really know the future in the next 6-9 months. But the one thing i am certain, we are not getting in such kind of debt. Abroad seems the best option, unfortunately, because the US Academia will be the one missing the revenue.
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College costs go up because they can. Yes, universities hire overpaid do-nothing administrators which cause some costs to go up, but on the other hand they hire cheap underpaid overworked adjuncts instead of professors and their endowments keep going up making for even larger profits for these not-for-profit institutions.
NYU is a finishing school for the uber-wealthy and for the poor on scholarship. Middle class families cannot afford such luxuries, no matter how convoluted you define middle class.
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