Obama warns colleges: Rein in tuition or risk aid

Parent Cafe
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<p>LivesInAShoe - Couldn’t agree more about Davidson’s effort, it is laudable.</p>

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<p>From the Christian Science Monitor: [How</a> can it be? Student financial aid fuels increase in college tuition](<a href=“http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0105/How-can-it-be-Student-financial-aid-fuels-increase-in-college-tuition.-Video]How”>http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2012/0105/How-can-it-be-Student-financial-aid-fuels-increase-in-college-tuition.-Video):

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<p>obviously colleges are spending out of control… it’s not even a debate. All you need to do is look at a graph of college costs vs. inflation over the last 30 years. Four times inflation from 1985 to 2009</p>

<p>graph: <a href=“http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/sites/www.intellectualtakeout.org/files/tuition.png[/url]”>http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/sites/www.intellectualtakeout.org/files/tuition.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>CPI is a bad measure to compare things to. It excludes all the things that actually inflate. Throw in food and energy and that chart would look different. </p>

<p>Prices increase with demand. Demand increases when people have access to unlimited loans, backed by the government. </p>

<p>Government creates the problem and they tries to “solve” it by causing more problems.</p>

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<p>Vote buying obviously. However, tuition is getting out of control because of liberal policies that require so much money for ■■■■■■■■ jobs for ■■■■■■■■ people. For instance, UC schools have began employing “Commissioners of Diversity” at their campuses. *** is this? AND he makes triple digit salary!! Ther IS NO way this can be justified as costs continue to skyrocket.</p>

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<p>I was a financial aid officer in an overworked, understaffed office … and I made less than $40k per year. Clearly, not all college workers are overpaid. </p>

<p>This struck me: “If students are having to pay more, then financial aid and state appropriations budgets must be inadequate.” As we see so often on this forum, students do not necessarily “have” to pay more … they CHOOSE to pay more. Too many have less expensive options, but borrow to pay for what they cannot comfortably afford. Not only do schools need to rein in costs, but students/parents need to start saying NO to excessive borrowing. Basic economics.</p>

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<p>This issue can probably be split between state funded schools and private schools. Private schools can charge whatever they want. State schools might have an obligation to offer relatively low cost tuition. With that said, there are community colleges kids can go to, they can work while going to school, they can go part time, etc. Plenty of ways to mitigate large student loans. </p>

<p>Thing is this whole “college experience” mystique has been ingrained in so many people that the thought of working during school or choosing a school based on cost is almost sacrilegious. The longer people choose to ignore the economic reality of things the higher tuition prices will climb.</p>

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<p>And the states have an obligation to fund their schools with the tax money they are getting. When the state only provides 10% of the money a school needs, it has to come from another source. That other source is tuition.</p>

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<p>exactly.</p>

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<p>Total spending is not going up people. Tuition goes up as state funding goes down. Get that through your heads Obama and everyone else. At least as far as publics go.</p>

<p>[Education</a> | Presidents lament budget cuts draining state’s universities | Seattle Times Newspaper](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2017398788_presidents02m.html]Education”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2017398788_presidents02m.html)</p>

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<p>I believe you misread my statement – I was saying my ‘daughter-in-law’ (not law school student) was shackled with loans – and she was not yet 21, or even 18, when the decision was made. She was led to believe by the school that there were opportunities for her that just do not exist. Have you read, for instance, about the law school students who are suing based on DIRECT MISREPRESENTATION BY THE SCHOOL of potential hiring stats?</p>

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<p>The point is my – 7 – get that, yeah 7, 6 of whom are through and all GAINFULLY EMPLOYED – take responsibility for their loans, as do I… However, we were not naieve about the process, and I believe many students and parents are, particularly parents of first time college acceptance students. More importantly, many of my 6 who went through were fortunate enough to attend colleges like Davidson WHERE THERE WERE NO LOANS. Count that as one for the good guys.</p>

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<p>My daughter-in-law (not law school student) was shackled to loans when she was less than 18. I was fortunate with my children, having had excellent guidance, and support of wonderful schools so that undergrad my own kids did not have tons of loans – and Davidson led the way in ensuring there were NO loans for those children, undergrad. However, too many parents of particularly first one in the family type entrants, do NOT understand that going to college is not a guarantee of a good job. When they see 15K grant and 20K loans for a 35K tuition/room and board package they think “It’s a full ride opportunity” – rather than saying – but, how is my child going to pay back $80K in loans? They believe in the American Dream and the educational system. Sad…but reality…</p>

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<p>A another lesson from the law of unintended consequences that is applicable to many social policies that are well-intentioned but blind to [behavioral</a> economics](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_economics]behavioral”>Behavioral economics - Wikipedia):</p>

<p>From [Why</a> College Aid Makes College More Expensive](<a href=“Spending & Saving - MarketWatch”>http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/family-money/why-college-aid-makes-college-more-expensive-1330033152060/):</p>

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<p>About “shackling” students to loans – I do generally agree that adults are responsible for their own choices. But I think 12th graders (and most traditional undergrads) are barely adults, and they have so little personal understanding and knowledge about what the loan will mean later in life, and most have been marinated in the cultural myth that any college at any cost is a good idea. So, they are left to take their cues from the adults around them, borrow for something that cannot be resold, before they realistically know what they’re doing.</p>

<p>I question the theory I sometimes hear of giving Junior “skin in the game” by having him take a loan. Junior thinks borrowed money is free money. Junior will find out about the skin after college, when the transcript is final. A gap year, working and saving up for college, would give most kids a far more personal awareness of the value of those tuition dollars. </p>

<p>I also feel that parents who smile and nod when DS/DD signs undergrad promissory notes, have a moral obligation to let DS/DD move back in after college. For what could be a long time, in which DS/DD may begin to resemble Cliff Claven.</p>

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<p>I don’t mean that last remark to sound snarky, and I don’t wish an unhappy post-college existence on anybody. But in terms of reining in college tuition, the topic at hand, I just think that costs have gotten to the point where they work a serious detriment on many, and the tendency to kick the can down the road by taking loans, without realistic assessment of what the loans will mean, is part of the problem. There are people who cannot be educated at all without some loans. There are other people who could help themselves some, to reduce or eliminate debt, by choosing public over private, choosing commuter over dorm, or starting at community college. It surprises me the number of people I talk with in my home region, who counsel their kids to take on debt, when cost-saving measures are not even part of the dialogue.</p>