Reply to Just calculated projected college costs for my kid and almost vomited

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Two points:

1. [b]College tuition soared because the federal government made loans easy to get.[/b] The $$ was virtually unlimited, and the colleges found ways to spend it. Now, there’s a whole generation of students who regret their choices, but it’s hard to put that genie (plus all his overpaid college admin friends) back in the bottle.

2. Countries that have free universities have lower college attendance rates than the US, and generally select for college potential at a much younger age than the US.  I’m sure this wouldn’t affect any of your special children, but limiting the # of kids that can go to college hurts the upwardly mobile.

Oh, and one more — government-funded college is a huge giveaway to the UMC/rich.  It’s an incredibly regressive government program. [/quote]

Actually, college tuition soared because states drastically cut funding for higher education.

Check out the interactive bar graphs here: https://www.cbpp.org/research/state-budget-and-tax/state-higher-education-funding-cuts-have-pushed-costs-to-students

As an example, from 2008-2018 Louisiana cut funding per student by more than 54%, and tuition rose 106% in the same time frame.  The talking point that "government got involved, and costs went up" is being perpetuated by the very same people who pushed for the funding cuts that actually drove increases in tuition.[/quote]

Then why did tuition at my private law school soar over the same time period? Was that also the state cutting support?

No. It was the school taking advantage of how much their students could and would borrow. [/quote]

Private schools absolutely do get state funding, as well as federal.  Both were cut in tandem with the loosening of loan restrictions (and exclusion from bankruptcy).  Shifting the burden from the government to the individual was not a single issue.  Loans are only part of it, and they're pushed by the same Contract with America cum Tea Party folks who cut the funding.[/quote]

Yeah.  And the skyrocketing amounts being spent on college administrator salaries would have nothing to do with it.  Nor the lavish building programs.  I don’t  even recognize my old college campus.  Lots of snark about climbing walls — but it’s true. The amount of $$ spent on amenities, fancy dorms, dining options, etc is just incredible.  Why?  Because no one was price shopping in those years and they thought they needed it to attract students.  After states cut funding during the recession, and recent college grads realized what $200k+ in college loans really meant in a tight job market, there’s been a reckoning.  But walking this back is going to take a long time and probably some college bankruptcies. [/quote]

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