I am not American so I cannot have a complete grasp of the public higher education system in the US, and I am here wondering how could something that is free/cheap/nearly free in another first world country, be so expensive in the US?
This is not another post from an international complaining about how expensive the US is, this is a post in which an international wonders why the US citizens don’t try to interfere in their legislation in an attempt of lowering the cost of their education. You know the amount of money invested in weapons and military technology (instead of targeting some of those resources towards education) and yet, it seemed like no one complained IMO.
I may be wrong about what I said, but I would really like to know what do you think about this issue.
The most expensive schools are usually the private ones. The government does support them with grants and projects, some financial aid to the students, but for the most part they are private businesses and set their own fees.
There is a great deal of difference in the price of state schools. Some states have high taxes but fairly low tuition for their students, so everyone is paying all along and there is a benefit come college time. Other states have rather low taxes but then there isn’t a lot of money for the colleges, so even instate tuition is high. Almost all states have some very affordable options in community colleges or the ‘directional’ colleges (not the flagship). Students don’t want to go to those schools and would rather pay for what they consider a better school.
Americans like choices. Students don’t want to be told to go to the closest state school, to live at home and take the bus and bring a lunch from home. They want to go to school in a different state because they like the football team or because it is in a small, cute town, or because the best Shakespeare teacher in the world is there.
You are asking why Americans don’t pressure our legislators to raise our taxes. They fight in congress over every dime spent on education and defense.
This is a misleading statement. Many students do attend non flagship public schools or community colleges. Some attend those schools because of affordability and some simply prefer to attend those schools. Many students DO want to attend the closest state school and be near family. Of course other students make more expensive choices.
What makes you think we aren’t trying to keep the costs of higher education down? Keeping in state rates reasonable doesn’t mean out of state rates won’t be higher, and it will have zero affect on international rates. It’s great that there are so many low cost choices in other countries. Your kid should have lots of options.
As was stated, the private colleges are private enterprises that can do what they want under our capitalist system. The fight for public money is a give and take and Americans only care about it when their kids are around the college age. The voting block is small. People vote for things that matter to them and once you move beyond the college years, your cares in life shift.
OP has shared that he is a latin american with high financial need, commenting about the relative cost of education in the US but applying to several schools here. Sorry, but despite the comment to the contrary, it does sound like another thread about an international complaining about the cost of a US education.
Or maybe he/she’s just curious what we think about the situation?
I just hosted three northern Europeans, here on a road trip throughout the southwest. Coming from nations where healthcare and university education are easily affordable, they also asked me and my husband about this. So let’s not jump to unpleasant conclusions.
OP, when I was in college, so just a generation ago, it was possible for a student to pay for his college education by working part-time during the year, and full time during the summers.
The reality is, the cost of education in the US has skyrocketed in the past 25 years. There are many reasons for this – including the fact that individual state governments are investing far less taxpayer money into their state universities than they used to.
And to answer your question: we’re not happy about this. This is not a sustainable model, and if the costs continue like they have, we will start resembling the third world. Countries where only a small percentage of the population is able to afford higher education.
Wouldnt be “jumping to unpleasant inclusion” if most of the OP’s other threads weren’t about needing significant FA and applying to colleges in the US.
Yes. OP did. But that doesn’t mean he set up this thread to complain, but rather than just to find out how Americans feel about this system. At least, that’s how I read his post.
He didn’t ask if we think the cost of education in the US is too high or inquire what steps we’ve taken to hold costs down. He told us the cost is too high and asked why we’re not doing anything about it. It’s not our job to make a US education affordable for citizens of other countries. If OP can’t afford for his kid to dorm at a college in the US that’s unfortunate, but he apparently has numerous low cost options elsewhere. He should encourage his kid to apply to some of them.
The reality is that many Americans cannot afford college. Many middle class families cannot afford to dorm their kids either. Lots of heartbreak in the world. It is definitely a defining moment when kids learn there is no money tree and that there are limits on what you can do.
We have European friends who have said similar things to us (though they like the tax structure in the US better LOL)… But as I understand it, university life in Europe is much less “frill” oriented.
Also, the job opportunities for those with a high school diploma are worse and lower paying than they were a generation ago. A high school graduate a generation ago was likely more able to be self-supporting (without needing parental assistance, including living at home) and have a small amount left over (to pay for the then-smaller tuition costs at a public university) than a high school graduate now.
I put myself through college 25 or so years ago, it was possible to do then. Now it would be very difficult to do with pell grants, loans, and some scholarships, plus work. In California one might be able to cover the cost of a CSU on loans and grants plus work, a UC would be out of reach. In my view that’s a problem if pell grants and loan maxes add up to far less than the cost of attendance at one’s in state schools. The costs have gone up astronomically. I’m not sure what the solution is. In California our taxes are already so high, the odds of more money going into the public universities are about zero. Obviously the costs to international students aren’t really a concern to most people here when we can barely afford our in state schools. International students and the crazy rates they are paying are helping to bridge the budget gaps in the UC system, so there are even fewer spots for in state kids.
@CTTC I think it’s kind of difficult to make an objective comparation between the US and my country, so I will provide you how the things work here, in that way you can make your own conclusions if you wish (in terms of public higher education) :
Admissions are based on single national examination (it tests math, reading, social studies, natural science, and ESL)
you pay according to your economical status (measured from 1 to 8, being the highest the richest) this means that if you belong to the first group you may end up paying nearly nothing (that if your test score if high enough for getting into the desired institution, which is less likely to occur in low income population)
The government provides aid in 2 forms:
Loans which cover the entirety your education. There has been a lot of controversy for these since there are people who have been paying their 5 year education for 15 years or more. They have claimed that interest rates are absurd (you know how compound interest works)
Full tuition + semestral stipend scholarships
These were introduced 2 years ago. If you were from a low income family and had the minimum test score required you could qualify for one of this scholarships (they could be used for both public and private schools accredited as high quality institutions by the government). There are 20000 students benefited from this, although I think the program is not going to last too much.
There are more cons of course, like the quality of education being lower and the amount of research opportunities being almost nonexistent.