Why do Americans have to pay so much for College???

RubaDub

I know there is a huge College/University lobby here in the US that lives off of students paying, in some cases, enormous amounts of money just to attend.

Putting politics aside, if that is possible, (and I am not a Bernie Sanders guy by any means), but how can we pay for pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, elementary school, junior high, high school, and then throw a huge debt to someone who wants to continue learning? Can't the US (public and state universities) afford four more years for young people to get on a career path without having to, in some cases, take out a mortgage/loan more than the cost of some homes?

Then, (and nothing against immigrants, I am married to one), but then the US has to "import" students from other countries to fill the needs that we should be supplying here. People (I'm trying to stay away from politics here but you know who they are) then yell and scream that "foreigners" are taking away our jobs. I bet the technical people that come from India, China or other countries don't have a $100,000 debt (or more) tied around their necks. I bet the doctors we import don't have a $250,000 debt tied around their necks.

What am I missing?

Rub a Dub

RandomUserName3500

My workplace (in the US) is offering a benefit - Free tuition & no cost for books for a college education at an accredited university. I am just finishing my 3rd term.

There are other options vs a large student loan debt.

Sanchy

Having the taxpayer pay for other's college tuition would not necessarily make them less expensive.

RubaDub

Having the taxpayer pay for other's college tuition would not necessarily make them less expensive.

Sanchy ...

I wasn't necessarily talking about more or less expensive. I was just trying to get others' thoughts on why we are happy to pay for a public high school education (K-12) but not 13-16.

From an expense standpoint, wouldn't it be better to reduce the taxpayer burden and just charge for high school too?

Rub a Dub

RubaDub

There are other options vs a large student loan debt.

R U N 3500 ...

Yes, you are absolutely right. My wife worked on her master's degree part-time over two years. She was fortunate to work for a company that paid her full master's degree and books (around $40,000) if she just signed that she would stay with the company for at least 24 months afterwards. It worked out very well and she got a nice promotion.

If you work for a company that has that type of benefit, it is great. But in most cases to get to the position she was in to have that opportunity, you would need a good undergraduate degree, which, going back to my original premise, typically costs a lot of money.

18 year old Johnny, born in a small coal-mining town, or Becky, born in an urban city next to a crack house, are not likely to have these benefits.

Rub a Dub

Jehalapeno

The reason it’s so much is because the government started to guarantee student loans.

That means no matter how much colleges charge, they still get paid. If a student defaults on debt, their wages are garnished.

It stifles competition and is creating a back-end single payer system without checks and limits on tuition.

Simon

When you have Warren paid $400k for teaching "a" class, there's your answer.

They cost too much, they don't provide value, they don't want to reduce their prices but instead have everyone else prop up their scam.

Spiral

Our attitude about education is very dysfunctional in the US. We think two limiting things: One, education needs to "pay" for itself (in dollars) in the workplace. So, if you need higher education or training to do a job, it should cost the student a significant amount. Two, parts of our society believe only the privileged should have access to higher education. The worker bees should only do what we think is "blue collar" work and only need the education to succeed in what is (incorrectly) perceived as low level jobs.

Education for the benefit of society isn't even acknowledged as a right for the average citizen.

So, since we think everything should be linked to profit, higher quality education for most people doesn't matter. The minority who do get a good quality higher education often have that sense of entitlement that we are all acquainted with.

We've shot ourselves in the foot in this matter (among so many other things).

MeanMrMustard

First, I am not, in any way, satisfied with K-12. I would much rather have the option to take my property tax money and seek private education. Or at least if it must be publicly funded, provide vouchers and let the market compete for student dollars.

Second, the cost will necessarily balloon when you flood the market with billions in government grants and loans. Kids are taught that the only path to success is a college education, and regrettably, college is really not for all people. The flood of money creates a bubble, costs rise, and quality falls as all the <insert bull shit word>-studies programs are created.

MeanMrMustard

Education for the benefit of society isn't even acknowledged as a right for the average citizen.

Because it’s not. You are confusing “right” with “entitlement”...

Why do Americans have to pay so much for College???

Share this