Will the College System Collapse?

Parents Forum
101

@‌GMTplus7

“So it’s really disingenuous to claim that in Africa, anyone can go to university for free/cheap.”
Again, no it isn’t. First let me point put that I did not say * everywhere * in Africa. And your list has 19 African countries. Out of 54. And anyone * can * go to African universities for a cheap/free cost. That people choose not to go (or can’t for whatever reason) is another thing; but it is available for those who want higher education.

I would also like to point out that Africa is filled with developing countries. America is a first world country. Economically, they are better equipped to provide cheaper education for its populace than most other countries.

102

Yes, but America has a population of 322 million.

Here is a ranking of per capita oil production per year:

The data columns:

  1. oil production (barrels/day)
  2. country population
  3. per capita oil production (barrels/year) (bold)
  4. country name
2,450,000   |   3,479,371   |   ** 257.0   **    |   Kuwait  
1,437,000   |   2,267,916   |   ** 231.3   **    |   Qatar   
2,134,000   |   5,091,924   |   ** 153.0   **    |   Norway  
10,520,000  |   29,369,428  |   ** 130.7   **    |   Saudi Arabia    
2,813,000   |   9,445,624   |   ** 108.7   **    |   United Arab Emirates    
1,789,000   |   6,253,452   |   ** 104.4   **    |   Libya   
867,900 |   3,926,492   |   ** 80.7    **    |   Oman    
1,041,000   |   9,514,887   |   ** 39.9    **    |   Azerbaijan  
3,483,000   |   35,524,732  |   ** 35.8    **    |   Canada  
1,608,000   |   16,606,878  |   ** 35.3    **    |   Kazakhstan  
1,988,000   |   22,137,261  |   ** 32.8    **    |   Angola  
2,375,000   |   30,851,343  |   ** 28.1    **    |   Venezuela   
2,642,000   |   34,768,761  |   ** 27.7    **    |   Iraq    
10,270,000  |   142,467,651 |   ** 26.3    **    |   Russia  
4,252,000   |   78,470,222  |   ** 19.8    **    |   Iran    
2,078,000   |   39,928,947  |   ** 19.0    **    |   Algeria

9,688,000 | 322,583,006 | ** 11.0 ** | United States
2,983,000 | 123,799,215 | ** 8.8 ** | Mexico

1,393,000 | 63,489,234 | ** 8.0 ** | United Kingdom

800,100 | 48,929,706 | ** 6.0 ** | Colombia

2,458,000 | 178,516,904 | ** 5.0 ** | Nigeria
2,301,000 | 202,033,670 | ** 4.2 ** | Brazil

1,030,000 | 252,812,245 | ** 1.5 ** | Indonesia

4,073,000 | 1,393,783,836 | ** 1.1 ** | China

954,000 | 1,267,401,849 | ** 0.3 ** | India

Kuwait: 257 barrels x $50/barrel = $12,850 per capita.
Norway: 153 barrels x $50/barrel = $7,650 per capita.
Angola: 33 barrels x $50/barrel = $1,640 per capita.
USA: 11 barrels x $50/barrel = $550 per capita.
China: 1.1 barrels x $50/barrel = $55 per capita
India: 0.3 barrels x $50/barrel = $15 per capita

103

No doubt the African subsistence farmer who “chose” to drop out of secondary school to support his family doesn’t “want” higher education…

104

Ah, but the Arabian countries (especially the GCC) mainly depend on oil production. The United States has a * mixed economy *. I’ve lived in Saudi Arabia and I can tell you they don’t produce a lot more than oil/natural gas(it makes 90% of their government income, and 88% of exports in 2010. The numbers haven’t changed much since then). For example, you can’t compare the revenue made from agriculture by the US with that made by Kuwait.

105

@rhandco, college (and obviously, HS) enrollment has ballooned in China in recent years. The statistics you’re looking at are out of date.

106

“No doubt the African subsistence farmer who “chose” to drop out of secondary school to support his family doesn’t “want” higher education…”

That people choose not to go (or can’t for whatever reason)…

You obviously didn’t read the part within the brackets. And my mistake for not editing the last sentence. This is what /i meant (in case it wasn’t obvious enough):
but it is available for those who want and can get higher education. The “can” here denotes the absence of extenuating circumstances that prevent a person from going to college i.e. illnesses, prior responsibilities etc.

All of this does not change the fact that American University prices are on the rise and more people are having difficulty affording colleges. This is in regards to American students, by the way. Wouldn’t want you to assume that I’m “upset” that internationals don’t get free rides again.

107

Re #99

There are some big African countries that you did not highlight. Of course, that one is an outlier means that generalizations about Africa may not apply to all of it.

108

How many people get 4% or 5% in raises each year? And how much do they get out of it, maybe a percent less?

The average tuition and room and board increases are around 5% each year. People’s salaries are not trending that high, and we have to pay taxes. It is very rare that someone gets 5% regularly. My union contract has a limit of 3% pool. To give someone 5% would be to give someone else 1%.

College costs do not track with the cost of living and salaries, and the US government should have NO responsibility to pay the difference between reasonable and ridiculous (let alone pay the difference for international students in addition to US citizens). The only thing they could do is set forth regulations; one nice thing would be to force colleges to freeze tuition for current students, only increasing costs for new students.

109

Tuition freezing CAN be done and IS being done. FYI, Purdue even has a “lazy river” if I’m not mistaken …

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/05/12/college-costs-purdue-university-tuition-editorials-debates/9019497/

110

America is not a country. The Canadian border guards visibly cringe if you answer the question about citizenship as “America.” Try USA for basic global courtesy, please.

111

Trending OT, but this pet peeve triggers a pet peeve of mine: America is a shortened form of United States of America, just like Mexico is a shortened form of United Mexican States and United Kingdom is a shortened form of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Shortened forms are simpler and take less time, and so people use them. Yes, America is ambiguous, in that it could be a shortened form of either United States of America or North America, but since there is no such thing as North American citizenship, I’m sure Canadian border guards are intelligent enough to figure it out without feeling offense.

(Now if the official name of Canada were still British North America or somesuch, well, then yeah, I’d get the problem. As it stands, though, it’s making up a reason to take offense where none is intended.)

112

College costs in the US have soared bcs of administrative staff bloat, the new construction spree.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323316804578161490716042814

113

UK, US, these are appropriate abbreviations. America is a land grab by many, many accounts besides mine.

114

So what should be the nationality of citizens of the USA: United Statians?

115

(re post #111): . . . and the “new construction spree” is largely caused by the “bidding wars” attract the best talent: students, faculty, researchers, administrators. etc. To illustrate, no one says that an undergraduate dormitory must, or should, have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, but if some of the top (perhaps) fifteen National Research Universities do so, the remainder will be pressured to respond, or to risk reduced yield (especially among the most sought students). This is a very simple example, but the phenomenon is identical in attracting top faculty and their requirement for “uber laboratories.”

116

How about UStaters?

In many states, the budget encourages capital improvements as they defund tuition supports.

117

I don’t think Canadians call themselves ‘Americans’ and neither do those from Mexico. Considering it is the United States of America, yes, those from the USA are Americans. American is absolutely a nationality.

118

How do u pronounce that?
U-stater?
U-S-tator?

Citizens of the United Emirates are called Emirati.

119

@rhandco, the average college listprice_ increases about 5% a year. The average net price (after accounting for fin aid and merit money) increases at a rate below that and closer to the inflation rate (at least for privates; due to decreasing state support for state schools, their net tuition has gone up much faster in recent decades, albeit from a lower starting point).

The list prices have advanced at a high pace because the market can bear it; until recently, the top 1-5% have also been increasing income at a pretty high pace, and recently, there has an a surge in appetite for undergraduate study at American universities from abroad.

120

I like U-Stater myself. It has the idea of you stating it, which is very dialogic and suitable for a democracy.