The first argument I usually hear when I say “College is a
total rip off” is that people say college isn’t actually that expensive. In the
case that you think that it’s just slow day at the news station and when they
run a “higher education is too costly” story, I will attempt to convince you
here.
The average cost of tuition and fees was $9,410 for the
2015-2016 school year (collegedata).
Without adjusting for increases over a four year period a degree will cost $37,640.
This is of course, a large generalization because actual price for any
individual will vary based on school, state, scholarships etc. But it’s a
pretty good number for observing trends and determining policy.
If you don’t think that $37,640 is a lot of money... The
median wage for an American worker in 2014 is 28,851.21 (Social Security
Administration). I’m using median here because an average would include the
hyper earners including 93 Americans who earn more than 50,000,000 a year and
skew the numbers pretty hard (to an average of 44,500 mybudget360).
Also note that these wage earners include those with college degrees. It’s over
a year’s earning to pay for the opportunity to earn more.
You might say “hey that’s just a poor person’s yearly wage,
not my family’s”, well then the median person in the US is poor to you. And then
you admit to using price discrimination as a sorting mechanism for those who
get education, which comes with a host of its own problems that I won’t get
into here (But probably some other time).
You might then say “well you take out a loan because it’s a
long term investment on yourself”. Yes it is an investment, but one with continually
diminishing returns. Salaries have stagnated and tuition has flared. Blame the
economy for the slow salary growth fine (maybe). But then why has tuition risen
so much?
“You get what you pay for”, I’m often told. It is implied
that my education is magically worth what it costs because… it is? That’s some
circular logic. It’s assumed that my tuition money goes to getting the best
professors and teaching resources available. Sadly, this also isn’t the case.
The price of education is not reflective of the cost to
educate.
On the most basic level, information has become nearly free (I
highly recommend The Zero Marginal Cost Society by Jeremy Rifkin as it explores
the trend of capitalism pushing marginal costs to zero). Really it almost
always has, since the first public libraries, but now access to all the
libraries in world is seconds away from most Americans. Even entire college
courses from top universities like MIT
and Harvard are free.
You can become an expert in anything you want for whatever it costs to connect
to the internet.
Right here I’d like to point out the more notorious of
educational scams. Textbooks. From 2003 – 2011 the average price of textbooks
rose 83% and some books easily breaching the $200 mark (USA
Today). This has consequences, I know I’m not the only one who’s not purchased
a “required” textbook because it was too expensive. 65% of students have
reported doing the same (PIRG).
It’s possible for publishing companies to charge this much because they have a
captive market. We’re “required” to purchase these materials. I put these in
quotes because there’s always ways around it and students are forced to get
creative. Perhaps that’s a good thing, here’s a link to download
all your textbooks for free.
“Don’t writers and publishers need compensation for putting
these books together??” you seethe as you slide another undercooked basa fillet
into your gullet. No, no they don’t. Because nothing changes in the
information. It is the same product repackaged every couple of years, with no
new value added. A new hardcover copy of James Stewart’s Early Transcendental
Calculus 1st edition costs $5 on Amazon.
Do you think that entry level calculus has changed so much since 2007 that the
7th edition is worth the $270
tag? Even if that’s an extreme case(and it’s not), the insane variation of
prices between editions is indicative of a malfunctioning market. It’s almost
as if textbook publishers have customers who are forced to buy their product.
That’s not capitalism, that’s an authoritarian economy. It's a pretty great allegory for higher education in general.
So then if information isn’t costing more then where is my tuition
going? Professor’s salaries I’d hope!
The salaries of professors have increased about half a
percent in real terms since 2002(American
Association of University Professors). The report includes a chart
comparing tuition to professor’s salaries to the cost of tuition. The contrast
is stark. Look at that. 72% increase in tuition for public universities with a .6% increase for college faculty. A five percent decrease in pay for Masters' salaries. Additionally, during this period, hiring of part time, low
compensation faculty increased greatly (AAUP).
Where else could tuition be going that helps me out?
Computers? Moore’s law. New housing units? Don’t I pay for those outside of my tuition
costs? That’s room and board. Even student groups and activities are an
additional fee. Where is this tuition money going?
The American Association of University Professors suggests
that it’s going to highly paid administration positions. So does the New
York Times. So do I. Do you the last time I used a highly paid administrator?
Never. Administration only gets in the ways of student’s and professor’s needs.
Inside
Higher Ed suggests that reduction in state funding is the real cause of rapid
tuition increases, directly in conflict with the New York Times article. I have
a feeling that a real culprit is nuanced and hard to write a short article
about.
This post was just to show that college is expensive. It is.
And that has consequences. The next question is to ask whether college is still
worth the cost. I’ll bet you can guess the answer.
