I wondered when President Obama would bring attention to the critical issue college tuition. Some economists refer to this as the next economic bubble ready to burst. In our multi-billion dollar higher education industry, that will mean declining enrollment, layoffs on campuses, and a generation of young people opting out of a college degree. Consider that Syracuse University is this region’s largest employer. Any furloughs on the hill would cut this community deep.
Has anyone noticed the number of Chinese and Indian students populating our campuses lately? No one is offering them visas to start their businesses here. They’ll continue to take their educations home while we send kids to vocational school or the work force because it’s all we can afford. It is in the best interest of every country of the world to provide the best education possible to the next generation of citizens. Unlike other countries, we place the full cost of this education squarely on the backs of individual students and their families.
The President wants to reward colleges and universities which hold down tuition costs, serve students well and provide good value. Public universities that continue to spike tuition and fees will receive fewer taxpayer dollars in return. It’s a start.
Until now the only response to outrageous tuition increases has been that there’s more financial aid too. This is like the crazy STAR program in New York state which created a bureaucracy to collect school taxes, only to give some of it back when taxpayers go through the trouble to fill out forms. Why not just collect less in the first place?
I attended college from 1975 until 1979 at a cost to my parents of $3,500. per year for everything. For the last two of those years that figure was cut in half because I got free room and board by working as a Resident Assistant in the dormitory. I recall my father earned about $75,000. a year as a judge in Massachusetts at the time, making tuition manageable for the household budget. In fact, my sisters followed me one after another. My poor dad had three girls in college at the same time for two years. Still, no one in my family had to take out a loan to make higher education happen for us. We started our young adult lives debt free.
How can we reduce costs and still remain competitive in a global market? In my opinion we can begin by stripping the college experience of luxury. We don’t need to return to the days when two strangers shared a monastic 9′ x12′ room with nothing more than two suitcases of clothing and personal effects, but think about it. After four years of living like that, how much do you need in your entry-level job to be happy?
Today’s students demand private bedrooms in suites with kitchenettes, bathrooms with soaking tubs and views of the hills or the city lights beyond. Fitness rooms have state of the art machines. Cafeterias offer more menu items in one night, than my school offered in one month, and I actually loved the food. We’ve lost our way.
The saddest part of all this is that college students hardly realize what they are signing up for. By assuming tens of thousands of dollars in loans for the promise of a better career on the other side, they are financing luxury now for austerity later on. The old model involved studying hard for four years to get out of that tiny room with the slob they lived with, so they could get a job, a used car and their own apartment.
So many college graduates are unable to find jobs that they’re back at home with mom and dad and chipping away at their loans with waitress and retail jobs. Others have found work in their fields, but can’t afford the low pay, so they’ve taken slightly higher paying jobs with dangerous or less satisfying work to make ends meet. These are signs of a bubble about to burst.
My dad used to tell me college was for “learning how to think”, not for career training. Though I still believe he is right, it is difficult to justify a near quarter-million dollar, four year investment, for thinking.
As much as I would like to think President Obama’s new focus on tuition will prompt change on campuses, this is really a bottom line issue. At kitchen tables around the country there are conversations about a college degree not being worth the high price tag. Tuition must return to a level that society as a whole can afford. As with so many economic issues today, the needs of 99 percent of the population can not be ignored any longer.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Good Mornin Maureen, I always wondered why two years of miltary service of some sort ,for 18 to 21 year olds, would not provide the experience and a quick reason to use your head and want go to college after the two years. The government would pick-up the first two years of college with education and learning. Class #1, how to stay alive, and college would be a breeze.
My daughter was in college up until last year, when she left due to illness. She has a sizable amount of loans and works in a restaurant. She is very close to a degree and at this point, it would seem the best option is to get her degree in history, then move on. A degree, no matter what the major is, is still worth something. However, a friend of mine worked very hard to earn his doctorate in chemistry from S.U., and he is back home in the Midwest in a job that is far below his ability. I find it difficult to believe that things are so bad in this economy that a PhD. doesn’t guarantee a job! College should be made more affordable and more pracitcal, and lifelong learning should be the norm. I got a paralegal certificate from University College when I was in my early 40′s, and that led to a better position within our company. Even then, though, most of my classmates did not get jobs. Unfortunately, the best way to become a paralegal then was to be established in a law firm already, and be able to function independently. Paralegals do not have secretaries. Most of my classmates did not have clerical skills, so that was another difficulty for them.
I think that the best graduation gift that parents can give a child is to leave college with little or no debt.
It is insane that children enter the workforce at their point of least earning power and tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
Higher education has become too much about the endless circle of money making and less about the education.
Great Blog Maureen. My grandson is a Jr. in high school. His parents have good jobs and work hard. My daughter in law worries about college for her kids. She wants him to do well and as an athelete earn a scholarship. She pushes him and is concerned as she is frugal and does not blow money. Hopefully our president will come up with a plan. The average family cannot afford to pay the tuition today. Keep on writing.
Carol so true, so true. Something must be done or future generations will tackle global problems with high school diplomas only.