Let's talk about... taxes.

Parents Forum
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I look at this issue from 2 perspectives. One, is the use of tax money on lowing the sticker price of higher education a progressive policy? Who tend to go to colleges? Kids from low-income/wealth families or from high-income/wealth families? The reality is that kids from low-income/wealth families tend not to attend a college relative to kids from high-income/wealth families. The use of tax money on higher education will tend to benefit (in absolute $ sense) high-income/wealth families and their kids. I do not think this is progressive. I like a rather “high” sticker price that is not too far away the cost of the education so that kids from high income/wealth families will not be subsidized too much. I do believe tax money has a role in making college affordable for those kids from low-income/wealth families so that they have a chance of existing poverty trap. In other words, need-based aids make sense.

Second, I have always heard complains about how expensive the US higher education is relative to those in Europe where their more socialist system requires their citizens paying something like 2 times, or almost 2 times of tax rate that we are paying in the US. Do we really want to pay that amount of tax? When was the last time any state elected a governor who run his/her campaign on a high tax agenda? Let us not kidding ourselves and doing those pick and choose: like to have low cost of higher education but would not want to pay more tax. There is no free lunch.

If we compare the cost of in-state tuition relative to the starting salary with other developed countries that charge a level of tax that is similar to ours, you will find our college cost is actually not far away from international standard:

US: public in-state tuition is about $10,000 per year and starting salary per year is about $45000-$50,000.
Japan: national university tuition is about $6,500 per year and starting salary per year is about $25,000.
South Korea: national university tuition is about $6,000 per year and starting salary per year is about $25,000.

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@jym626 @katliamom is right, I’m curious about how do you feel about the system and the path that it’s taking.

@austinmshauri I did not ask what you thought about the cost of your public higher education because the evidence in this forum (and all the sources provided in it) implies that it is getting higher and higher.

I also agree with you about lowering the cost of education for Non-US citizens, it’s not your job, but it’s YOUR job lowering the cost of education for YOURSELVES. There are lots of countries in which internationals are required to pay extra and that’s completely fair IMO because it helps to maintain the Universities’ funding and their financial stability. Nevertheless, there are countries (very few, mostly located in Europe) which offer free higher education for everybody regardless of their nationality; although their context cannot be extrapolated to other ones like in the US.

I think the international community here and outside CC should be aware of that.

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@austinmshauri btw, I’m a student

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@Mrduque, rest assured we’re aware. Parents and students both.

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Yes, we are aware that the cost of education is high. We are not thrilled. But … it’s not so easy to fix things.

In the U.S., there is a culture of inclusion. We don’t test students and exclude all but the “best” from higher education - in fact, we believe as a society that pretty much everyone should be able to go to college. Colleges have to support every student, with every conceivable need, within a very over-regulated climate. This adds a huge administrative burden (which translates into high costs). I suppose if the federal government were to severely restrict who could go to college, it would be easier to pay for those who are allowed to go … in fact, they could manipulate the system to allow only the number that could be supported to go to college. It’s just not how we do things in the U.S.

Yes, we can and should do a better job. But I will state emphatically that there is no shortage of concern about the issue, and there is no shortage of people trying to figure it all out.

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Yes, the average cost of tuition has increased a lot, about 3x in real terms in the past 30 years. What has also increased is the system of cross-subsidies, encouraged by the federal government. This is similar to other programs (e.g. Obamacare) where one group (the full-pay students) pays for the subsidized group. The effective increase in tuition falls entirely upon the full-pay group so , say, if 100 students are full pay and 100 students are zero pay, and the tuition increase in revenue terms to the university of 5%, tuition rises 10% for the full pay students. That is part of the reason you see such enormous increases in tuition costs. (which is the apparent rate of college inflation). Even worse is that you have NO idea of the cost until you run a calculator. Imagine going to buy an F-150, arriving at the dealer, and only knowing that it will cost you somewhere between $0 and $75,000. Any private business that followed that model would quickly disappear. Only quasi-monopolies can follow this insane model.

It is also unfair to look at only the top sliver of colleges as an example. The vast majority of students attend community colleges and directional/regional universities which are much cheaper and students can live at home and/or work at the same time.

Contrast that with European universities. Classes are generally large lectures held a day or two a week. Instructional time is minimized, there are no elaborate facilities, and in general no frills like fancy dorms, gyms, and medical/mental support services. Even our community colleges look better in comparison facility wise. In S. America much of the education is part time and students live at home.

When you look at costs, Europe has high taxes on everything - 20% consumption tax, 40% income tax, 200% gas tax, etc, etc. They also don’t defend themselves fully and have more money available to spend on education.

US states have diverted much of the money they spent on education toward prisons, social services, etc… Only a few states, mostly in the south and flyover states continue to devote large resources towards education. Add that to increasing labor costs, bloated administrations and fancy facilities and your have the current situation.

The irony is that if the OP was a US resident he/she would probably pay very little at a state college because of these subsidies, but as an international is full pay. The OP is in a similar situation to many American families who would like to have attended a well-regarded private university but find their state flagship a much better deal. That was exactly what happened during the great recession and accounted for much of the lower admission rate at many flagships.