Do you guys feel the tuition fees in the US is too high?

25 comments

1. Yes. We pretty universally, it seems, feel the fees are too high for US universities.

2. Yes it’s expensive.

3. Yup some of us take loans

4. Crazy expensive.

5. In state tuition is pretty reasonable here. If you combine that with 2 years of junior college and a direct transfer, I would even say its affordable.

6. Yes. The only issue I take with people who want to address it is they always want to focus on passing the high cost onto the government instead of addressing the high cost itself. The reality is that the cost is so high because loans are available to everyone. Universities jack the price up exactly because people will just take huge loans to pay it.

   The real solution is no federal student loans, or at least huge caps on them. The cost would drop like a rock because nobody could afford to go.

   I went to the same school my dad did and we figured out my tuition (adjusted for inflation) was about 350% higher than his.

7. As someone who’s currently in their last year as an undergrad and planning to go to a professional school in the fall, **yes**. They charge more for a semester than I have *ever owned*. It’s not only obscenely expensive, it’s *insultingly* expensive. You either get lucky with a scholarship or go into massive debt in the hope that the job you’ll get will pay enough to work it off later. It’s a racket.

8. We have in-state public universities that are a fraction of the price out-of-state students pay.

   Out of state and particularly foreign students are sought out exactly because they pay full tuition. Your country’s universities likely do the same to foreign students.

   For the most part, the money one makes with a degree (really any degree) enhances your job prospects much more than compared to having only a high school diploma. Considering that, the debt one takes for in-state tuition is entirely manageable.

9. As someone currently paying of college, it’s absolutely too high.

10. One thing to note is that most people don’t pay the sticker cost. Most students receive some sort of financial aid with a large chunk of those receiving grant or scholarship aid.

    https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_331.20.asp

    The cost of college is somewhat related to the ease of securing loans. This reduces the pressure to lower costs.

11. Uh…yeah. I go to one of the “cheapest” public universities in my state and it’s still obscenely expensive.

12. Absolutely and I think most people would agree, and that isn’t enough because what the people want and what the lobbyists and entrenched university bureaucracy want are too completely different things, and the government listens more to the latter.

13. College is incredibly expensive, and most students have loans for it. This is how the student loan debt “crisis” came to be. An entire generation under a huge financial burden. Some kind of reform is needed.

14. The biggest scam there is.

15. Yes, but since student loans are subsidized by the government colleges can charge whatever they want.

16. Overall, yes. I remember when I was applying to colleges I talked to my father who talked about his college in the 70s being something like $25 a credit hour, and mine was $268+ depending on the class. I w as given a full tuition scholarship from the University I attended, so it wasn’t too bad for me, but it’s expensive regardless once you add living expenses.

    It needs to he addressed rather than just having the government pay for it. At least make public Universities affordable, there’s no reason large state schools shouldn’t be affordable for the kids that make the grades/scores to get in. I’d also like to see waivers given to students who are studying something that’s in-demand. There’s always reports on how we’re lagging behind in producing scientists, programmers, engineers, etc. Well, give American kids a waiver if they want to follow those paths. Boom. Everyone wins. The economy gets strong homegrown talent, and kids who may not be able to get past the financial hurdle can, and can open up a whole future for themselves. That should go for trade schools as well, we constantly need tradesmen and tradeswomen.

17. Yes. Having also studied in France (for study abroad in undergrad) and the UK (for my full master’s) it’s clear that US university degrees have become a commodity and are treated as a business venture. In other parts of the world, they’re treated as a public good, similar to how we view K-12.

    My semester in France cost a few hundred dollars. My entire master’s in the UK cost about $17K. These were significantly cheaper than my local state school and in both instances I felt I got a comparable education.

18. It’s ridiculous.

19. Anything past community college is fucking insanely expensive

20. You are about twenty years late to this problem.

21. They are astronomical & not equal to the gain.

22. It depends.. in state school isn’t too bad. Out of state and foreigners get hosed pretty hard. Private colleges are generally real pricey.

    Things like textbook pricing are scammy high.

23. Yes. A thousand times yes

24. Fuck yeah, they’re expensive as all get out. You can blame years of letting universities charge whatever they want, bloated systems, and a “go to college or you’re screwed” attitude. Millennials have been shackled by all the debt, I *really* hope gen-z doesn’t fall into the same trap, I hope college attendance falls so sharply that they re-evaluate the costs. I hope we actually make it hard to get in and reserve college degrees for people who actually *need* to go. We also need to keep the loan companies who blatantly use young, naive kids as profit centers, in check. For what it’s worth, my sister went to a community college for her first 2 years and saved a lot of cash.

    OP the American dream is *not* shattered (harder than it used to be). Most Union trades people I know make $100,000+. They also took way less time to achieve this. Most are millennials and own homes too. Many skilled trades jobs are in huge demand here too.

25. You will have to take a loan or sometimes colleges give scholarships. I would try applying first and see which ones give the best deal.