*Originally posted on December 3, 2011 on a previous, now defunct, blog site. Re-posted here for historical purposes.
I was walking through O'hare Airport earlier this week and I saw a graphic being shown on CNN that illustrated the disparate rise in Tuition vs Income over the last 20 years. Would you believe that the average tuition costs have risen 130% over the last 20 years? Here is an article from CNN Money that has the graphic at the very top:
CNN Money Article about Tuition vs Income
I am trying to remember for sure, but I swore that in 1989, I paid $56/credit hour to go to college. Today that same school charges $203.50/credit hour for In-state Undergraduate Students. In 2002-2003, it was $137, according to their website. This means that in 9 years, tuition has risen 48.54% alone. This is not an indictment against one particular University. I believe that this is a national issue and thus I am refraining from naming just one particular University.
According to Inflationdata.com, the cumulative inflation increase from August 2002 to August 2011 was 25.37%. This means that tuition in the last 9 years has increased almost TWICE the rate of inflation in the same period? Adding insult to injury, if you go back to the graph in the above article, you will see that the median income has not grown substantially in that same period. In fact it has remained rather stagnant despite inflation. I would be interested in seeing a statistic on the amount of grants offered by the Government and Scholarships offered by the schools themselves comparing that same time period? Did the amount of such aid increase at the same rate?
I can completely understand the frustration of many on this issue. While I don't share a lot of the sentiment of "Hey government, forgive my student loans!", I do believe that this issue needs to be looked at. How can Universities justify an increase in tuition that is nearly double the rate of inflation? I would welcome feedback on this issue. I would love to understand.
What does a student get in an education today, vs those received 9 years ago that can justify an increase in tuition nearly twice the rate of inflation?
While I agree that the Middle-class is probably the largest victim from this, I don't believe that this is some "class warfare" conspiracy of the rich trying to keep the middle-class down. I could not find a variable tuition rate based upon your income level. It appears that we all pay the same rate. I don't believe that anyone can blame this on Conservatives, when it is fairly widely known that most of Higher Education officials are considered to be Liberals.
In our current economic times and where we constantly hear that companies are forced to send jobs oversees due to a shortage in skilled workers (this despite a current unemployment rate of 8.6%), I believe that this is a critical issue that must be addressed. How can we expect to compete in a global market if our youth can not afford to go to college to get the skills necessary to succeed in today's workplace?
We keep hearing about how Healthcare costs are out of control and stifling our economy. I believe that a strong argument could be made about the out of control Higher Education costs as well! I would encourage you to contact your Congressional Representatives (and Senators) and raise this issue with them.
CNN Money Article about Tuition vs Income
I am trying to remember for sure, but I swore that in 1989, I paid $56/credit hour to go to college. Today that same school charges $203.50/credit hour for In-state Undergraduate Students. In 2002-2003, it was $137, according to their website. This means that in 9 years, tuition has risen 48.54% alone. This is not an indictment against one particular University. I believe that this is a national issue and thus I am refraining from naming just one particular University.
According to Inflationdata.com, the cumulative inflation increase from August 2002 to August 2011 was 25.37%. This means that tuition in the last 9 years has increased almost TWICE the rate of inflation in the same period? Adding insult to injury, if you go back to the graph in the above article, you will see that the median income has not grown substantially in that same period. In fact it has remained rather stagnant despite inflation. I would be interested in seeing a statistic on the amount of grants offered by the Government and Scholarships offered by the schools themselves comparing that same time period? Did the amount of such aid increase at the same rate?
I can completely understand the frustration of many on this issue. While I don't share a lot of the sentiment of "Hey government, forgive my student loans!", I do believe that this issue needs to be looked at. How can Universities justify an increase in tuition that is nearly double the rate of inflation? I would welcome feedback on this issue. I would love to understand.
What does a student get in an education today, vs those received 9 years ago that can justify an increase in tuition nearly twice the rate of inflation?
While I agree that the Middle-class is probably the largest victim from this, I don't believe that this is some "class warfare" conspiracy of the rich trying to keep the middle-class down. I could not find a variable tuition rate based upon your income level. It appears that we all pay the same rate. I don't believe that anyone can blame this on Conservatives, when it is fairly widely known that most of Higher Education officials are considered to be Liberals.
In our current economic times and where we constantly hear that companies are forced to send jobs oversees due to a shortage in skilled workers (this despite a current unemployment rate of 8.6%), I believe that this is a critical issue that must be addressed. How can we expect to compete in a global market if our youth can not afford to go to college to get the skills necessary to succeed in today's workplace?
We keep hearing about how Healthcare costs are out of control and stifling our economy. I believe that a strong argument could be made about the out of control Higher Education costs as well! I would encourage you to contact your Congressional Representatives (and Senators) and raise this issue with them.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I welcome all comments from both points of view. I reserve the right to delete comments that are personal attacks or name calling towards me or another commentator. One of the many things that is great about our country is that we have the right to our opinions. Let us all be adults about it no matter if we agree or disagree.