Rising College Costs: A Federal Role? - Room for Debate Blog - NYTimes.com

Is the government responsible or contributing to the high costs?

Is more government and regulations the solutions?

Should the government "cap" the salaries of professors.

Should Universities' endowments be taxed at corporate rates?

Is this a more important issue than healthcare since college tuition has has increased 10 times since 1978? [ healthcare 6 times, and cost of living 3 times ]

If TEA party activists blocked highways, what kind of press would they receive?

Are college students wanting too much? Is their generation screwed? [ education costs, healthcare costs, entitlement costs, war, deficits ] :mad:



G&P

Why should getting a credentialed education take 4 years ? Why should students pay for course work that doesn't directly apply towards their career goals ?

The classical 4 year liberal arts BA is all well and good if that is what the student wants to achieve .But it is really not necessary for most of the students.

When you think of it ,how many occupations require 32 individual courses to get adequate preparation for?. very few if any.

In fact ;many of the students leaving college are not prepared for their jobs anyway and do not become competent for at least a year or two of on the job training.

But for some reason we have become locked into the 4 year at a university credential system. Good for the colleges ;good for the professor's careers ,but it is the best for the student ?

If you are going to become an accountant you don't need the many irrelevant courses you take. It would be better to use the money to take course work to help you pass the CPA test. I could take all the course work necessary for that end in on-line classes and still get a decent grade on the CPA exam.

But let's say I did that and tried to compete for a job with an applicant who spent 4 years partying on campus and came away with a BA in accounting .The employer hires the other applicant instead of me... why ? Because of a 4 year phoney certificate for course work that had no relevance for the job being applied for.
I say the whole system needs to be reevaluated. The 4 year liberal arts university may have made sense years ago when it was affordable .But even then was it necessary?

Looking back at my time ,I recall courses that seemed frivilous .I studied hard to pass courses I paid for where the material learned is locked somewhere in the vault of my memory ;but really have had no value otherwise.
I paid for my education by working part time from Jr high school through my 4 years of college ;and I still needed to borrow money that took almost a decade to pay for.

And yes ;I socialized with the best of them. Even if I find value in that as some kind of life's experience ,was it necessary ? Why should it be subsidized by taxpayers ,many of whom bust their butts to make ends meet and were never able to take a 4 year haitus from life ?

I agree with Tom. I know this coutry is behind in education and higher learning mainly because they are not being taught well in the primary schools. But as far as a free ride? No. Drop out rates would be much higher. Plus the institutions would turn into public schools and that could kill off what advantage we do have. The government should have some role. Like low cost loans for students but that is about it as far as Im concerned. One thing that people don't realize is how much of a budget sports gets at major universities. Look at how many head coachs have over 1 million dollar contracts. Then think of the staffing. That alone hurts a lot of students that want to attend.

College costs are high because of the loans ,and the fact that there is an unnatural demand for the university's services .
What is the market incentive for the universities to keep costs down ? Nada . The more student loans ,the higher tuition and text book costs go up .
If the university degree wasn't the holy grail it has been built up to be then they would face competition with trade schools and On line education. It is the concept of credentialism that is flawed.I don't mind professional licenses .I just don't think the college degree should be that license.

There is absolutely no rational for a $150 text book. If I were the students that is what I would be protesting . You get to buy a book for a half year that the professor doesn't use in the coursework ,and you can't resell because that edition is conveniently obsolete the next semester .

Yes all over the world university education is a crock, but employers have been educated to require a minimum standard of education as a way of weeding out the applicants. Don't knock educating students to do critical evaluation and be capable of expressing themselves on a broad range of topics but targeting the courses may have merit. There should be less emphasis on higher qualification and more emphasis on getting the balance right in the basic degree

The sad thing is that a degree does not guarantee that a potential employee or hire has experience, a work ethic, integrity, critical thinking skills, or interpersonal skills.

G&P

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Originally Posted by inthebox

The sad thing is that a degree does not guarantee that a potential employee or hire has experience, a work ethic, integrity, critical thinking skills, or interpersonal skills.

G&P

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Well of course not, it has just been somewhere to park your carcass and have a good time for four years. You can't get experience in a University, what you get is normalised so you think like everyone else, you want a work ethic, bring back constription

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Are college students wanting too much? Is their generation screwed? [ education costs, healthcare costs, entitlement costs, war, deficits ]

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Actually no they aren't asking too much ;they did not create the system. But their anger is a little misplaced because as you say ;the tuition issue is just the tip of the iceberg. They best be prepared to pay for a generation of mismanagement in Sacramento.

There are now more than 7,000 former state workers who receive in excess of $100,000/year pensions. The state university system contributes plenty to this problem.

California is already one of the highest taxed states in the union. So here you have a situation where in some sections of the state unemployment is topping close to 20% ;and much of the rest of the work force is facing freezes in salaries and benefits.
A California teacher's salary is 145% that of an average 12 month worker in the state .Yet ,non-unionized private sector workers are required to use their tax dollars to subsidize larger salaried and bigger benefit state employees. It's the world turned upside down.

States across the country are faced with some real hard choices lest we have a nation of 50 "Greece's".

Big article in a Chicago paper today about rising R&B costs are due partly to students and their parents demanding chefs and interesting world cuisines and dorm rooms and laundry done for them plus other amenities that the students have at home. They, of course, bring their own technology, but need wi-fi and sufficient outlets and larger rooms to house stuff.

Dorm life: U. of I. takes out phones but piles on dorm amenities — and fees - chicagotribune.com