<p>Why don't they just make the tuition around 20000bucks. i mean.. right now its around 45000. And they brag about how much financial aid and scholarships they give out. if they are gonna give out the financial aid, why not make the tuition cheaper and not give out financial aid?</p>
<p>don't make any sense. i mean.. do colleges really need 40000dollars from each student?</p>
<p>that amount is mainly for private colleges. They should make it expensive because that money goes for your education. Universities hire better professors, build research buildings, etc.</p>
<p>c’mon gogobet: have you taken an economics course?</p>
<p>I know that Yale estimates that it costs them approx $90K to educate each student. Therefore, every full tuition paying student admitted costs them $45K. This doesn’t include Y’s generous FA (approx 50% of students get some)</p>
<p>To answer your question of why colleges dont just lower the bar and not give financial aid is because there are people who don’t qualify for financial aid yet still can afford the college (AKA rich spoiled brats). This way the college gets bank for a rich kids education and the rich kid goes to a college he doesn’t want to because his parents are overprotective, snooty pricks.</p>
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<p>Actually, I would say that there’s a serious question that gogobet has touched upon. You say that it costs Yale $90k to educate its student, but that just begs the question of why they need to spend so much. The truth is, college doesn’t really need to be as expensive as it is. Colleges spend prodigious amounts of money on highly questionable expenditures.</p>
<p>To give you an example: why do colleges have their own gyms? And not just any old gym, but often times, a world-class gym? For example, it cost $20 million (in 1990’s dollars) for Berkeley to build the RSF. It cost nearly $60 million (in early 2000’s dollars) for MIT to build the Z-Center. Don’t get me wrong, I work out quite often, but I have often times wondered why do these schools really need that? Surely those students and faculty who want to work out can just buy a membership at a private gym. What does building a world-class gym have to do with the core mission of the school, which is to educate students? Berkeley students who want to work out are free to buy a membership at the local 24-Hour Fitness. </p>
<p>Similarly, it has been mentioned that schools need money to erect research buildings and hire top faculty. But again, the question is, why? After all, many top professors are not exactly great teachers, especially of undergrads. Heck, many of them hardly even bother teaching undergrads at all. For example, when exactly was the last time that Nobel laureate George Akerlof actually taught an undergrad course? Or Richard Schrock? Hence, if you’re not going to teach undergrads, it is a fair question to ask why the undergrads should have to pay for you. </p>
<p>Or take the research apparatus of universities in general. Let’s face it. Most undergrads do not participate in research. They will never read the academic journals. They don’t care. So, for the students who aren’t going to perform research, it is a fair question to ask why they should have to pay to maintain the university research apparatus. </p>
<p>I also question why exactly do universities, especially those that are located in metro areas, really need to have their own libraries. Why not just have the students go to the public library? For example, Harvard University has the largest university library system in the world, but it is still smaller than the combined resources of both the Boston and Cambridge Public libraries (and the associated systems). Perhaps I can understand having your own rare volumes that nobody else has. But, does Harvard really need to buy its own copies of Harry Potter? Can’t the students just get them from the local public library? </p>
<p>The point is, while I agree that colleges do spend a lot on their students, but the question is why do they really need to spend so much.</p>
<p>cause they are corporations from the way i see it. makes sense why many college presidents earn more money than CEOs.</p>
<p>colleges have benefited from the easy money available through student loans. their professors work part time (many vacations and off during long summers). every friend of mine who is a college professor agrees with me (privately).</p>
<p>college doesn’t have to be so expensive. In France, for example, college is almost free (I think it’s paid for more thru taxes).</p>
<p>College doesn’t have to be so expensive. There are numerous scholarships available and financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships, work study, etc. You don’t have to have a certain talent or be a gifted athlete either…a lot of scholarships can be found on the internet or through local businesses. Sometimes all you have to do is apply, no essays required. Fastweb has a ton of scholarships available. </p>
<p>There are a lot of online colleges that are cheaper that offer a quality education as well. You should look at elearnportal.com for a quality school with the degree program you are interested in…all of the schools are highly ranked and offer a quality education at an affordable price.</p>
<p>Mcgill, arguably the best school in Canada is 15k for out of country students,
5-7k for out of province, and 1k for quebeccers…
US is ridiculous</p>
<p>McGill would seem to be a bargain, but the $15K you cite is not comparable to the $45K mentioned earlier. Tuition is about 2/3 of the $45K (about $30K). The other $15K is room, board and other fees which are difficult to find on the McGill web site.</p>
<p>“College doesn’t have to be so expensive. There are numerous scholarships available and financial aid in the form of grants, scholarships, work study, etc. You don’t have to have a certain talent or be a gifted athlete either…a lot of scholarships can be found on the internet or through local businesses. Sometimes all you have to do is apply, no essays required. Fastweb has a ton of scholarships available.”</p>
<p>scholarships aren’t that easy to get</p>
<p>even if my D goes to a state school tuition and room and board is about 15 grand a year…Its getting a bit outrageous I think. Plus she will need money to live on…add another few grand…How do families who dont qualify for anything but loans pay for it when the stafford loan barely gives you anything? We wont be able to get grants for our D they will tell us we make too much yet we dont have any money left to pay for college. We have 3 kids, mortgage cars payments . insurance, etc etc. IMHO the FAFSA does not take into account your true real life expenses. The EFC is a joke.</p>
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<p>Wow, what a mature and insightful opinion! 
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<p>Seriously, plenty of people don’t qualify for financial aid, but still have trouble paying for college. And it’s only going to get worse if the economy goes further south. </p>
<p>…Anyway, I do think these schools could spend their money more wisely, though I don’t know if that would possibly result in a reduction of tuition. I mean, here they just built another marble bench, which I personally don’t see as necessary…</p>
<p>Textbook companies should also be rebuked for the prices they’re producing their books for. It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>The EFC assumes that you have been saving for college. It isn’t meant to come completely out of current income. People can make choices that allow them to save for college. If you are really strapped, then the Federal Gov’t will come in with Pell grants and even merit money. With grants and tax credits anyone can attend a community college and move on to a local four year state institution. The problem arises when kids or their parents feel that should be able to go to any college and then can’t afford it. Any qualified applicant in this country can get a college education, but it might not be the dream school, but it is possible. The best way to finance an education is to get good grades and apply to colleges where you are in the top of their applicant pool, then you can get merit money.</p>
<p>colleges are expensive because people are willing to pay the price.</p>
<p>Quote: “but the question is why do they really need to spend so much.”</p>
<p>Each private university is in business to educate, profitably (or at least not at a loss). If the school estimates that the additional prestige of hiring the most well-known professors, building that new high-tech gym or replacing the dormitories will increase the donations from alumni sufficiently, they will spend the money. Tuition is based on what some students can afford and what other schools of similar repute are charging. It’s a business model. Next year will be interesting (not in a good way), due to the way the economy has played havoc with their calculations.</p>
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<p>This is a truly offensive comment about the many college students who are wonderful students AND people…who are fortunate enough to have parents with the resources to pay for any college.</p>
<p>MomfromPA, know exactly what you mean. My parents are just mad about the EFC thing and also cost. Not like we didn’t know, but the economy has been hard in this area for a while and it’s messed things up for a lot of people. Most haven’t been able to save, but according to calculations make too much for grants or aid. The very bright but not genius, lower middle class Caucasion males where I live are getting nothing for school; the girls a few more options for scholarships.</p>
<p>My parents work, dad has two jobs, modest income, our newest car is 1996, live in a modest home, frugal, savings not even close to what I would need for 1 year, my parents just never made enough to save that even with their caution (and around here jobs aren’t available for teens until they are 18, which is a problem). The only thing I/we will qualify for is loans and I am petrified to graduate owing money in this economy. I will get some merit aid, but because I am just a point or percentage under the scores for huge merit, the amount will be minimal. We live in a very rural farming (and therefore somewhat low income) area of an Ohio county which also has several high-income regions up north, so our county is often excluded from local or regional scholarships (they are usually directed to the local Appalachian-designated counties, a mile from my home of course!).</p>
<p>After looking at numbers and $$$, I almost feel like I wasted my time and effort getting the high grades, scores, and ECs as I will probably have to go to the local community college. Not that it’s the end of the world, but I had much higher hopes after all of my effort. It’s been frustrating and it feels like kids like me are left in the dust, always going to owe, owe, owe, if we want something more. Too “rich” for aid, to poor to pay any the difference.</p>
<p>“schools need money to erect research buildings and hire top faculty. But again, the question is, why?”</p>
<p>Research (at least in the sciences) is paid for by grants from NIH, NSF, DOD and others. School endowments do pay for the construction of buildings but labs pay to rent space from the university and these “top faculty” have salaries that are paid through the grants they earn, eg. no support from the university. Research exists at universities not due to the schools’ generosity but due to the access to students (cheap graduate student labor). Some research faculty do teach courses, but in the biomedical sciences, these will tend to be graduate courses, medical courses or other relevant courses (but not undergraduate courses).</p>