Why is college tuition in the USA so expensive?

[Smauldy]

Greed. That is all.

[Gestopft]

Wow, all of the conspiracy going on here...

There are plenty of factors that add to it, but the number one reason tuitions are rising is cuts in state funding. Since higher education is discretionary, not mandatory spending, states are cutting funding to colleges to balance their budgets and passing the onus on to students who can get loans.

http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency...he-bottom.aspx

http://www.demos.org/publication/pul...-affordability

[Zecora]

Why is college tuition in the USA so expensive?

Because a nation whose economic systems are based on greed and a "I've got mine, screw you" morality is never going to prioritize general access to education.

[Sargerasraider]

We have a situation where nearly everyone is told that college is necessary for careers. This makes demand high.

On top of this, those who give educational loans do this risk free. Somehow, they are excluded from bankruptcy laws.

As a result, you have high demand for a product, and easy access to money to pay any price. It is not surprising the price is high.

[IntellectuallyChallenged]

It all comes down to one single word: Greed. Because that's the American way. Land of the greedy, home of the depraved.

[Spectral]

Greed. That is all.

It all comes down to one single word: Greed. Because that's the American way. Land of the greedy, home of the depraved.

Because a nation whose economic systems are based on greed and a "I've got mine, screw you" morality is never going to prioritize general access to education.

On the part of whom? Despite all the money flying into academia, academic salaries aren't especially high. Even administrators (who admittedly have absurd salaries) aren't reaping particularly large rewards. The majority of excess "profit" at universities goes into endowments that are used to fund university operations. Much of this money is spent on financial aid to defray costs for the underprivileged students.

[IntellectuallyChallenged]

On the part of whom? Despite all the money flying into academia, academic salaries aren't especially high. Even administrators (who admittedly have absurd salaries) aren't reaping particularly large rewards. The majority of excess "profit" at universities goes into endowments that are used to fund university operations. Much of this money is spent on financial aid to defray costs for the underprivileged students.

That would take a bit of research. Much of that money for financial aid comes from donations from former students. Universities with big time athletic departments like Alabama, Oklahoma, USC, and the like get a ton of money from bowl game appearances. Not all of that goes to other programs that aren't sports related, and even the other sports are overlooked in many of those institutions. But like I said, that would take some research.

[Spectral]

That would take a bit of research. Much of that money for financial aid comes from donations from former students. Universities with big time athletic departments like Alabama, Oklahoma, USC, and the like get a ton of money from bowl game appearances. Not all of that goes to other programs that aren't sports related, and even the other sports are overlooked in many of those institutions. But like I said, that would take some research.

If you don't know where the money's going, but do know that it's from donations, doesn't it seem kind weird to be really confident that costs are primarily greed-driven?

[Theinquisition]

It all comes down to one single word: Greed. Because that's the American way. Land of the greedy, home of the depraved.

Sigh...

tell, me, who in the world isn't greedy in some way or another?

[Manaleaf]

I don't think they implied that somehow they were unique in being greedy.

So just a vapid comment then.

[wooters]

The US is the richest country in the world, education in the US is the most prestigious and recognized anywhere on this planet. Plus, quality education is mostly private. They never have a shortage of people willing to enroll; when you have a huge demand and a limited supply, you can charge outrageous sums and still be in business.

It is a sorry state of affairs. I think, like with many fields in Switzerland, government in the US should step in and regulate the prices to an extent. I think $60k for one year in Harvard is insanity.

usa is not the richest country in the world. every family over there owes the rest of the world almost a million dollar each. and US schools are not the most prestigious either. in the rest of the world, the british schools are looked upon as if not the best...they are certainly the most prestigious. money is not everything^^

[Deleted]

usa is not the richest country in the world. every family over there owes the rest of the world almost a million dollar each. and US schools are not the most prestigious either. in the rest of the world, the british schools are looked upon as if not the best...they are certainly the most prestigious. money is not everything^^

MIT is undisputably the best in its field, by some distance. The other prestigious universities are, as you say, generally considered inferior to Oxbridge and some of the euro universities.

[Deleted]

Its way simpler than all those you proposed.

Its a hidden way to keep Inequality.

This way only the rich can get the best educations, and more importantly the alumni contacts.
Poor people will never be able to climb up this way so they stay poor.

Its how the world works. Look at "becoming rich", you know how many tax laws are in place just so that you cant pass on your wealth to a relative without having to cut it in half? Why? Because every family would be rich after a few generations.

[Rasulis]

The problem is with the for-profit universities. When the university is also the lending broker, you know there is a problem. When the only criteria for acceptance is the dollar sign, there is a problem.

Your Harvard, MIT, CalTech, Princeton, etc. are not the problem. Yes Harvard cost 60k a year. However, with the exception of the rich kids, nobody pay that amount. The same with public colleges/universities. In CA, unless your parents make more than 75k, you don't pay a dime to attend a public university. Even if you don't qualify, in-state tuition for the U.C. system is less than 12k a year.

Then there is FAFSA. Last year FAFSA application went down 4%. If you qualify to go to public university free in CA, you qualify for at least 8k a year from FAFSA that you do not have to pay back. That is 8k that you can use to pay for living expenses.

Even if your parents make too much, there are a lot of scholarships that went unclaimed every year. My daughter started looking for scholarships 1.5 years before she graduated. She was able to get 15k from the Water Authority, 3.5k from the Asian Business Association, and a few others. Third year she was able to get ASM/CDC fellowship which lasted through grad school, and Congressional Science Fellowship post grad.

How about all the different U.S. military academies, Merchant Marine, Air Force, Naval, Coast Guard and West Point? Ever heard of Webb Institute?

There are ways to get free or almost free education in the U.S. You do have to do your research, work and compete for it. It is no different than in Europe. Just because public universities are free in Europe, it does not mean that you automatically get accepted.

A degree from any of the higher education facilities I mentioned above is definitely worth the time and effort. Most of the time, the students will already have multiple job offers before they even graduate.

[Spectral]

Well if the question isn't particularly deep, the answers aren't likely to be either.

"Why did you steal that?"

"Greed."

"Well that's just a vapid answer."

In the case of college expenses, the reasons Tony laid out in the OP are a lot more plausible than just saying "they're greedy", particularly when the people giving that answer can't even seem to say who they are.

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and US schools are not the most prestigious either. in the rest of the world, the british schools are looked upon as if not the best...they are certainly the most prestigious. money is not everything^^

It's true that there are a half dozen British schools that are on more or less a level playing field with the top half dozen American universities. In fact, this is probably a result of the elite Ivy League schools being founded on basically the same principles as the Cambridges of the world. These places are all great!

After that top group, the difference between the USA and the rest of the world becomes stark. There are a dozen states that have public institutions that only have one or two competitors in the whole of continental Europe. The California state university system alone is better than any European nation's.

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MIT is undisputably the best in its field, by some distance. The other prestigious universities are, as you say, generally considered inferior to Oxbridge and some of the euro universities.

CIT begs to differ and they're pretty close. Times Higher Education ranks CIT higher, the other three major ranking systems prefer MIT. In general, one would be best looking at specific research programs between those two rather than overall rankings. Neither one has an equal in technology around the world.

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Its way simpler than all those you proposed.

Its a hidden way to keep Inequality.

This way only the rich can get the best educations, and more importantly the alumni contacts.
Poor people will never be able to climb up this way so they stay poor.

Its how the world works. Look at "becoming rich", you know how many tax laws are in place just so that you cant pass on your wealth to a relative without having to cut it in half? Why? Because every family would be rich after a few generations.

So who's perpetuating this evil conspiracy and why did they make tuition all but free for the poor at Harvard?

[Jester Joe]

You can go to nearby community college for cheap, usually a couple hundred of dollars a semester.

That's two years.

If you go to your state's school, if you live in Texas say University of Texas at Austin, it's very reasonable too.

Where it get's expensive is when you go out of state or to one of the big private schools like Harvard or Yale. But even there, Harvard and Yale give free tuition to families who make less than $65K a year.

Even the cheapest community college near me is $2,400 for a full time student, I wish it was only a couple of hundred, I would of saved a lot of money.

[Deleted]

So who's perpetuating this evil conspiracy and why did they make tuition all but free for the poor at Harvard?

In the old days they were called the Noblemen. The people that made you pay for your land because you lived in a 50 kilometer radius around them, leaving you just enough to survive.

Can everyone get into Harvard? Or only people who are smart? How do you get smart? Good education. Who gets good education? Rich people.
Its a selffulfilling prohecy. There are very few poor people who actually make it to harvard. These people would eventually have a good chance to make it without Harvard aswell, so might as well bind them to the university. Damages done = 0.00001%. Image boost +1000000%

[hrugner]

Government subsidies - There is no getting around supply and demand. The US government subsidies college tuition because it's expensive, but that causes a malicious cycle. Subsidies raise demand for college, which in turn results in increased tuition, which results in increased subsidies to counteract the higher cost, which raises demand for college, and so on.

I've seen this one often enough, but the decline in US college subsidies per student over the past fifteen years or so didn't come with a more stabilized tuition. This theory may be dead by now.

[Spectral]

In the old days they were called the Noblemen. The people that made you pay for your land because you lived in a 50 kilometer radius around them, leaving you just enough to survive.

Can everyone get into Harvard? Or only people who are smart? How do you get smart? Good education. Who gets good education? Rich people.
Its a selffulfilling prohecy. There are very few poor people who actually make it to harvard. These people would eventually have a good chance to make it without Harvard aswell, so might as well bind them to the university. Damages done = 0.00001%. Image boost +1000000%

This is a hell of a just-so story. In practice, clever people nail their SATs, get preference in admissions based on background, and get in. While there is a bit of an element of noblesse oblige, the reality is that Harvard's pretty open to poor folks if they're actually clever.

[icausewipes]

I was curious as to how MMOC feels about these theirs so far. I'd say the biggest contributing factor that I've seen, is the price increases associated with subsides.

Go into the trade field and bypass the 6 figure student loans waiting for you at graduation. It can be a trap for a fresh 17-18 living with ppl their age and trying to budget their time and money.