<p>My daughter told me the amount of the bill for Fall at Community College and it was twice what I was expecting so I asked her to send me a screenshot. A third of the cost was for health insurance (gotta love universal healthcare) and the remaining increase was due to a 25% increase in per-credit costs. Oh well, it's still dirt cheap - just surprised at the rate of increase.</p>
<p>Is she covered by your or other parentss health policy? If yes, you can usually get the school charge waived.</p>
<p>Our local JC raised rates from $42 per credit hour to $50. Not a big increase but the big hit is still the text books. Texts required for some classes (science and math) are more money than those required at son’s ivy. Crazy.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>I (my mom) paid about $18 per credit hour for classes I took while still enrolled in high school in the mid-70s. I now teach at that cc and our tuition is $125/credit hour. I am speechless that there are places charging $50/credit hour for tuition. What a bargain!</p>
<p>This thread got me curious. I checked our CC where my son took summer school classes. It is $20 per unit. Out of state is $181 unit. High School students $0 per unit. California CC.</p>
<p>Two weeks ago Obama was pushing & plugging for community colleges-- a little gratuitious grand standing if you ask me-- everyone who can’t afford the alternative state or private is flocking to them anyway!</p>
<p>Ridiculous</p>
<p>
The books at our CC are a ridiculous price. I either have my daughter pick them up at a book store in her town (if they stock them) or but them on the internet. The CC used book prices are higher than new prices on the internet. And their buy back prices are ridiculously low as well so even if we can’t sell them back it is still cheaper to but them on the internet.</p>
<p>Daughter’s CC is $360/credit outside of New England.</p>
<p>We get the health insurance waived for both kids. It’s just a shocker to see it there - happens every year.</p>
<p>This time of year, right before the start of fall semester, our local Craig’s List is full of used texts. Beats the bookstore every time. Son was able to purchase O Chem book for sis from a summer school class mate for $5 a few days ago. It is selling for used in the community college bookstore for $165 used, $225+ new. The O Chem class at the CC is $150 (4 units) and the required (not recommended) texts for the class are over $800. $800 for 1 class at the CC. How is that affordable???</p>
<p>Many of our local high school students go on to this local CC and many, many drop out because they just cannot afford the text book costs, the can handle the tuition. One of the reasons we moved from CA to here was the affordability of the undergrad and grad school tuition at both the unis and CCs. UNC is running a little over $5k for the year and State hovering around $4200k tuition for the academic year. Summer tuition is a bargain as well. With 2 summer sessions offered, and son has taken 12 units per session a student can knock out a large amount of classes in a short amount of time at a greatly reduced rate. He was fortunate this summer in that the last summer session classes required no texts whatsoever, 3 upper division bio and chem courses. Profs provided all online links. That is at the 4-year and not the CC. It’s the CC that is requiring and charging for the much higher priced textbooks.</p>
<p>UGGGHHHH…</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>One thing that I’ve seen at the CC that I haven’t seen at the Uni is the greater use of technology. The CCs require textbooks that also come with online software for quizzes, tests and working out problems and this adds to the cost of textbooks. At our son’s uni this fall, he has a course with a two-semester textbook written by the professor: $54 new. A comparable course last fall had a textbook for one semester at $140 to $160. The author of that textbook does a new edition every year. I’ve never seen that before.</p>
<p>Son’s Uni has put focus into reducing textbook cost but you’re right, it appears that the CCs aren’t putting as much work into this area.</p>
<p>Our state has consistently reduced the state support for the cc system over my twenty year career, meaning the student needs to pick up a bigger share of the tab. I teach in a discipline where the new version of the text and the automated homework program runs around $175/semester. Authors don’t write texts for cc students vs. university students. One of the things that lends credibility to your cc courses is when a student can prove they used the same or a comparable text to what is used at the four year school. We are continually asked to do more with less. My students spend a comparable amount each semester to what my children spent at a private university. I am sensitive to the sticker shock, but you are unrealistic for the most part to expect the cost of the texts to be less.</p>
<p>Someone earlier mentioned the additional technology involved in cc classes. This is especially true for occupational classes where students need to be fully up to speed in a particular skill upon graduation from a two year program. I am not unsympathetic, but after 20 years, I’ve discovered that kids and/or parents can for the most part afford what they choose to afford, particularly many of my students who receive funding for job retraining or through Pell grants well above their cost of attendance. I used to worry about students’ financial burdens until I would see the same student who had woven me a tale of woe walking down the sidewalk smoking on a regular basis. Often it’s all about choices.</p>