With 1 kid in college......and 2nd entering this fall..........I'm
facing 5 more years of college expenses.

The annual price increases way above inflation rate drive me
nuts........I read a book recently where author's theory for explaining
higher college costs was sort of supply and demand situation........in
last 25 years society has placed a higher value on kid's going to
college........coupled with trend of wive's entering the work
force......therefore having more money to spend on college......drives
up annual cost.

I graduated college 27 years ago at a state school and my total 4 year
cost was $10,000..............my starting pay as an engineer was
$18,600.........so ratio of starting pay to college expense was
18,600/10,000 = 1.86X.

My son will finish an engineering degree in 1 more year.......his total
college cost will be $51K........with a starting pay of $50K.....gives a
1X ratio of starting pay to college expense.

Dropping from roughly 2X ratio to 1X ratio indicates college expenses
are out of control.

If college continues to compound indefinitely at 8% increases per
year..........and salaries go up 3% per year......at some point college
is no longer a good investment.

I suspect that until this point is reached...........college expenses
will continue to rise.

Dale Maley

================================================== ==============
Lawrence Bleau wrote:

- quote -

In article <Xpedna_ioMg6CRPfRVn-gA[at]comcast.com> , "JJ" <jj[at]nospam.com> writes:
- quote -

Here's an alternate p.o.v.: Where is the money coming from? At my
alma matar, University of Maryland, where I also work, one recent
problem is that the State is cutting its contribution towards higher
education. Hence, UM has to increase its tuition (as well as decrease
costs) to make up for the shortfall.

Maybe other state supported schools have a similar problem.

Lawrence Bleau
University of Maryland
Physics Dept., Space Physics Group
301-405-6223
bleau[at]umtof.umd.edu

I agree with what you said, but I would also add that the "customers" (i.e.
parents and students) never seem to question WHERE ALL THEIR MONEY IS GOING.

Every year, I see articles saying "college costs are rising x%" where x% is
3 or 4 times the rate of inflation. Instead of anyone questioning WHY,
people just seem to say "oh gee, I guess I need to put even MORE money into
my kids' college fund".

Until someone starts questioning how all of this money is being spent, or
why their kids are required to take and pay for nonsense P.C. courses, the
cost is just going to keep going up. No one is being held accountable.


"Winter" <downeaster1000[at]yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1116547650.717305.158170[at]f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

Naaa. The cost is going up because the federal programs reimburse
whatever the costs are so there is no incentive to find cost
reductions. Maybe not on an individual basis but on average. If the
average price of college goes up then the federal programs allow a
higher cost. No performance standards or any complications like that.
Its the best of both worlds for the colleges. In the last 30 years they
have adopted the marketing aspects of capitalism by hustling anything
or anyone who even looks like a student. And then the source of revenue
is assured.

We are also teaching students to start life early loaded up to the
gills in debt which may play out okay on average but it actually
cripples many people from being able to do other things in life. Take
for example the analysis that everyone put into the question that the
fellow asked about taking on debt to go to law school. The numbers may
look good on average based on the return on the investment. In the real
world there are lots and lots of lawyers and many of them hate it and
either want to or actually end out doing something else. Kind of hard
to decide you really wanted to be a elementary school teacher after all
when you have $80,000 in debt. It can be done but at a cost. It was
easier to make those decisions when college costs were not rediculous.

Winter

The cost of college, like that of housing and health care, always seems
to be rising faster than the overall level of prices (as measured by
the C.P.I.). I think some reasons for this are that colleges are
largely insulated from foreign competition and that much of their costs
are covered by third parties, such as the government.

A story in today's Wall Street Journal shows how some of the money is
being spent:

Colleges Get Building Fever:
When Big-Ticket Amenities
Are Added to Campus Unions
Students Often Foot the Bill
By JUNE KRONHOLZ
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
May 18, 2005; Page B1

...

"Why is the price of college going up? There are a lot reasons,
including declines in state budget support, the ballooning of college
bureaucracies and the competition for superstar professors. But also
high on the list is what Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics
professor, calls the "country clubization" of universities, as
competition for students heats up."

...

"These aren't the linoleum-tile student centers of a generation ago.
The new, $75 million student union at the University of Massachusetts
Boston features a curved-glass façade overlooking Boston Harbor. The
$72 million Rams Head Center at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill has a sports bar with 40 videogames, including a helicopter
simulator. The $60 million, 440,000-square-foot University of Arizona
center, in Tucson, takes its architectural inspiration from the USS
Arizona, the battleship sunk at Pearl Harbor."

Colleges should be ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, not playgrounds or adjuncts
of sports teams. I think luxuries for students distract students from
their work and encourage them to linger in college longer than they
should. I've read that many if not most students take five or more
years to graduate, with large direct (college room and board) and even
larger indirect costs (delayed entry into the workforce). Parents
should think carefully about why one college pays more than another
before opening their checkbooks. I will be willing to pay for academic
excellence and rigor, not frills.

In general, I think too many youngsters, especially in upper-middle and
upper class families, regard college as the "13th grade", something
they automatically progress to after finishing high school. It is
possible to fund various college savings plans as soon as a child is
born, and I am concerned about the message this sends. I will be happy
to spend money on my childrens' education, but only if they take full
advantage of their opportunities.

Economist Richard Vedder's insightful testimony before Congress is
cited in the WSJ story, and it is online at
http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearing...905/vedder.htm