What exactly is the reason for these ridiculous tuition prices and why is America okay with this?

Paying for College
21

my daughter lives at home while going to CC for 3 years for nursing, followed by a year at local state U for her BSN. Pell Grant and State Grants will cover all or most of the expense.

my son is earning his AA while in high school, and can live at home and go to local State U on full-tuition scholarship.

so if either of them decides to go somewhere else and take out loans, none of us has a right to complain because they would have essentially passed on free college.

it would be hypocritical of us to turn up our noses at the virtually free college options right here, and then complain how expensive other places are to attend.

you probably could have gotten (or could still get) full-tuition or full-ride scholarships at a number of schools on this list:
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

granted none of them are BU, but even in today’s climate, affordable college options are more abundant and available than many people realize.

i think much of the problem today is not that college itself is too expensive, but that one’s “dream college” is, and they overextend themselves to go there

22

Bernie Sanders is not advocating a “free education” in the manner that the OP seems to want.

If anything, Sanders wants students to be able to commute to the local public and attend tuition free. He’s not sayin that Johnny can skip across the state (or OOS or to a private) and have all costs covered.

23

I wrote a big post, but decided not to discuss politics and deleted.

So just this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credentialism_and_educational_inflation

Read Randall Collins books and articles about educational inflation. He calls it kind of welfare. I call it future servitude, but I am not a professor.

Also, find federal government budget and check what part of it is interest paid back on educational loans. You will be shocked.
Much better way to fill the budget than to increase taxes, definitely.

24

Our D attended 3 semesters of CC. The main expenses every term were the books. I believe tuition was about $1000/term. She could have stayed even longer and gotten more credits. Nearly all of her credits transferred toward her 4 year college degree. There are ways of saving expenses if folks wish to do so.

25

Some states have guaranteed CC to state university transfer agreements. In VA, the local CC students can do two years there and have guarantee transfer arrangements with UVA, VT, GMU, etc. to finish up their last 2 years.

26

At our CC system, you can take a large % of our courses in the CC at cheaper prices and still get your degree from the state flagship U. People can and do make things work.

27

OP

The proportion of all college students in the US that actually pay +60k is small.

Get over it.

28

Where does the money go?

A lot of it goes on liability.

Everyone wants to sue everyone else, so when we older folks went to college, we didn’t have to sign away our first born to acknowledge that you take your life at your own.

Now you have to sign a liability waiver to go to the gym, use the pool, or eat something in the cafeteria that causes your allergies to erupt.

There are ways to go to school on the cheap.

29

Where does the money go?

Well, at publics, the largest chunk of rising tuition can be laid directly at the feet of reduced state appropriations.

At both public and privates, the growth in the administrative ranks relative to both faculty and student bpdy size appears to have been the primary expense driver.

Things like nicer dorms or food, or even pure luxuries like a lazy river (more so than climbing walls, 'cause at least those provide a workout!), are trivial expenses in comparison to these specific revenue decreases for publics (revenue shift, really, from appropriations to tuition) and expense increases for all.

30

Colleges here have become resorts. Universities are free in Germany because they literally have nothing but classrooms. No dorms, no student centers, no gyms, nothing that’s not related to class.

31

What? No sombrero police?

32

Supply and demand. There are enough people willing to pay whatever it takes. Not sure where you’re talking about with crappy food and crappy dorms - compared to 20-30 years ago, many colleges, especially private, are like country clubs (there’s even one with its own water park!). Parents and students are willing to pay based on factors like rankings. And rankings go up when schools build luxurious dorms with all suite-style housing (no hallway bathrooms for our princess!) and world-class workout facilities. And in the meantime colleges add layers and layers of administration while cutting faculty pay and abusing the adjunct system.

Go study the housing bubble. People were willing to borrow more and more for bigger and better houses with amenities their parents never dreamed of having, and banks were doing all kinds of shady things in the background, until finally the bubble burst and the system collapsed. Colleges appear to be following a similar path. Some day the bubble will burst. In the meantime, if no one bought the overpriced product, colleges would be forced to lower costs.

33

As pointed out previously, few people pay that $60,000 per year including people with incomes over $100,000. Next, I want professors to make six figures. Who hear wants to go to grad school for 5-7 years to make $50,000? Yes, some professions fit that mold but I’m fine with six figure salaries for the top professors.

Why can schools pay that? America offers choice. You can go to many state schools for around $25,000 per year if you are full freight. State schools offer far more merit aid than privates in general further reducing that number.

My wife and I both went to state schools and we’ve both been successful enough to send our kids to private schools that offer merit aid to defray part of the costs or if fortunate enough to be accepted, schools like Harvard/Princeton that offer generous need based aid. Schools like BU are left off the list because the net price is still too high.

But again, my wife and I went to state schools and did just fine. If our daughter goes to the state school, Harvard, or something in between, she’ll succeed because of her gifts, abilities, and work ethic. The two reasons we’re considering privates are to avoid state budget cuts during college and to gain increased interaction with professors as an undergrad. Even public honors colleges can solve the second but not the budget issue. Simple economics dictate that if I want a lower student/faculty ratio and to avoid schools that receive money from the government, then I will pay more. It’s a personal choice.

Yes, book costs are ridiculous but that is a different topic and when factoring the book’s cost, they author’s time should be taken into account. The question there is do we really need a new history book every two years so the used market is useless?

As to dorms and food. We’ve toured five schools including my alma mater, a state school. Trust me, the dorms and food are substantially improved from 25 years ago.

34

Many things today are ridiculously expensive yet people pay for it because they value it or think they need it or think it is a status symbol. People buy homes with glamorous gourmet kitchens and use only the microwave to heat their food that have more bathrooms and bedrooms than they can ever keep up with cleaning. They buy much fancier cars than they need, wouldn’t be caught dead without a up to date iPhone, etc. etc. etc. Education that you have to pay for is no different.

35

there are tons of wealthy families all around the world who will gladly pay full price for a prestigious college. it generates so much income that such universities would almost be irresponsible NOT to charge $60K tuition. but many of those who do, are also part of the 62 or so top universities who pledge to cover 100% of demonstrated financial need for lower-income families. they can afford to so this in large part because of the income generated by the wealthy families paying full sticker price.

where i live in NC, tuition and fees for community college are $2500 per year, then you can transfer to ECU for 2 years at $6500 per year for tuition / fees. you can live at home to save tons of money on dorm room and meal plans. that’s very affordable for most people and many kids do just that. but many still go live on campus for the “experience.” my neighbor’s kid lives on campus but comes home every weekend and a few nights per week. or many go to other schools and wind up back here a year later, after their first sip on a tall cool glass of Real Life Money Issues.

36

@austinmshauri I did get aid, but nobody is helping with anything but rent & food, so I was working and going to school but still couldn’t afford the commute, tuition, books etc etc and went to a CC instead. What you suggested is exactly what I did, because there was no other option.

I’m actually looking to get my BA, which CCs do not offer, so I have to shell out money to either a state or private school. Even with aid and scholarships, I don’t know if I can pay for it…so I don’t know what to do.

37

Unfortunately many states are not as generous as the southern ones. In PA, our community college is around 9K per year. Not 60K, but still not $2.5K. Add on transportation and 2 years at a state school (some of the most expensive in the US) and the options are limited. 1.3 trillion dollars in student loan debt (nationally) tells me that this is a huge problem, and I think people tend to minimize it.

38

$9K per year for CC? good grief. i remember that Rutgers was $1200 tuition/fees per semester in the mid-80’s. i guess i should be grateful we live in NC now.

OP, i really hope you can figure out a way to overcome the obstacles in your way and get that BA

39

Every year, our president presents the institutions budget to the employees. I do not work at a 60K university, but I am at a private school. Where does the money go? I’ll tell you…

Infrastructure-buildings need new roofs, wiring needs updating, heating systems need replacing, parking lots need to be paved (or built as more and more students bring cars to school), labs needs updating and equipment. And then, maybe, something can’t be renovated and you need to build…

Technology-all those student cell phones now connecting to the campus WiFi? Better hand enough bandwidth. Keeping technology up to date and keeping staff to keep that technology running is a huge expense.

Personnel and training-Faculty numbers have been pretty constant, but admins have grown, and no, it’s not bloat. Counselors, tutors, housing staff, IT support, maintenance and housekeeping, people who keep your institution in compliance with federal law (e.g. disability or title IX officers), security officers, etc. aren’t cheap. Very few people on this site are going to want to send their kids to a school with no health office or counseling services.

Marketing and Fundraising-Believe it or not, unless you’re a top tier school (top 100 of so out of 3000+ educational institutions in the US), students don’t just beat a path to your door. You have to go get them, and doing that often requires…

Amenities-and I’m not talking anything as extravagant as climbing walls, but fitness centers and dorm rooms with A/C or private baths or apartment like amenities. Students and their families want dining options and club sports and entertainment on the weekends. All those things require infrastructure and staff, neither of which is free.

So, as many have said, nobody is going to make you pay $60k year for school. Vote with your feet. And as for the notion that prestige is where it’s at, well I think that as you talk to people, you’re going to find a whole lot more who went to state U, maybe even started at a cc, than who went to a name brand school, and they’re doing just fine. I’d also argue with your contention that a college degree is a must for entering the middle class. My brother, like my dad, was more a trades guy. He and his associate’s degree from a community college easily out earn me every year, in spite of my holding an advanced degree. I wouldn’t like his work environment; he would find mine stifling. Please get off your high horse about community colleges.

40

And employees—and whether in the US or in Germany or anywhere else, the vast majority of college expenses are personnel. So no, this doesn’t explain it—not to mention that German universities have a much, much higher relative level of public money appropriated to them. If you had that level of state appropriations in the US, you could immediately have a much, much lower cost structure for students at US publics.