<p>AMES, IA, United States (UPI) -- Several U.S. universities` decision to price certain degree programs higher than others has caused officials at other colleges to condemn such practices.</p>
<p>While universities such as Arizona State University are set to increase tuition costs for specific majors, other collegiate officials have labeled such measures a hindrance to the overall learning process, The New York Times said Sunday. </p>
<p>University of Kansas dean Richard W. Lariviere said that by making business or engineering students pay more for their education, individuals would soon be limited in their collegiate options.</p>
<p>While his university is among the schools enacting such additional costs, Lariviere warned the underlying concept may be flawed.</p>
<p>'Where we have gone astray culturally,' he said, 'is that we have focused almost exclusively on starting salary as an indicator of life earnings and also of the value of the particular major.'</p>
<p>Supporters of those measures have cited the additional teaching costs associated with certain majors and the increased earning power of successful graduates, the Times said.</p>
<p>Copyright 2007 by United Press International </p>
<p>While it may not seem fair, it does make sense to me...</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Obviously, some classes cost more to fund than others. That's a no-brainer. </p></li>
<li><p>It doesn't directly state it in the article, so I'm not sure if this was one of the reasons....but it seems as though some of the majors that will cost more are the majors that, on a national level, have far too many people enrolled. A problem that many of these students run into is that there simply isn't enough demand for their major in the real world, meaning that the job market will be extremely competive, and it will be difficult to get good jobs. This is especially true for communications and journalism majors. And I suppose business majors as well, to an extent. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>By making these majors more expensive, more students may consider other majors with higher demand (I think it would be a good idea for colleges to make these majors the cheapest, to lure more people in). </p>
<p>While it does make sense, I'm still not sure how I feel about it...</p>
<p>Yeah, the averages vary greatly by subject. In some subjects, the average pay for professors is around $100,000. In other subjects, it's only $30,000.</p>
<p>I agree with Mominva, although not just because of program-wide "lab fees." </p>
<p>I think this article is very naive, as if the reporter just stumbled across something and didn't bother asking whether it was, in fact, news. There is nothing "Soon!" about this--students are already paying tuition differentials at some schools, and have been doing so for years. </p>
<p>It's not done by "major" on my campus, but by entire schools. So the College of Engineering student will pay a different rate than that paid by students at another college within the University.</p>
<p>I can't speak for elsewhere, but on my campus it's not in place to "discourage" enrollment. The differentials are only in place because the programs have demonstrated to the academic leadership--and the Board of Regents--that the cost of education in those programs is sufficiently greater to justify a different rate.</p>
<p>Hoedown,
Now that you mention it, the fee was for students in the Engineering or Nursing schools, but did not start until you declared your major.
Recently, DD had a similar fee at her school, again based on school. Since we had seen this differentiation in the past, we were not surprised.</p>
<p>I go to Iowa State (in Ames, IA, site of the article in the OP's link) and as a College of Business student I pay higher tuition & fees than other majors, as does my brother who is in the College of Engineering. My higher tuition & fees is due to a Computer Fee to have access to restricted programs and unlimited use of the computers in the Gerdin Business Building. My brother's higher fees is due to the higher computer fee/priviledges similar to the b-school, as well as the fact that he is classified as a senior and therefore has to pay higher fees because they have more labs and also fewer restrictions.</p>
<p>Bottom line...most of it comes down to paying for more computer access, covering lab fees, etc. If they raised tuition across the board and said it was to help cover costs in the b-school and e-school, LAS students/parents would complain that they're paying for something their kid will never get to use anyway. You can't please everybody.</p>
<p>How much more do these degrees cost? Call me a cynic, but I'm betting people are up-in-arms over something along the lines of a 5-10% increase in tuition. Big deal.</p>