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Well I guess you will just have to dig deeper than Fox did or take them at their word. Don't send your kids there if it bothers you that much.
This is a much larger issue than "don't send your kids there if it bothers you that much".
What does this fact have to do with any new source?
Quote:
2014-2015 Requirements ** NEW**
♦ International students will be required to purchase the Student Health Insurance Plan (see below).
♦ All other students will be required to purchase the Student Health Insurance Plan, unless they can demonstrate that they have alternate U.S. based insurance that:
Is provided by a company licensed to do business in the United States, with a U.S. claims payment office and a U.S. phone number.
Has a maximum benefit of at least $500,000.
Will be in force for the duration of the academic year, or until their program ends.
Provides coverage for medical and mental health care where they are attending school (Ithaca or elsewhere) at a reimbursement rate of at least 70% of U.S. based "reasonable and customary" charges. Coverage must include inpatient and outpatient emergency, urgent, and routine care.
It’s not a bad deal for the university, which charges students $2,352 to opt in this year. If they opt out, the school will soon charge $350. It makes you wonder if that kind of model would work for a college cafeteria — charging a higher fee for students who eat in the dining hall and a lower fee for students who eat off campus.
Read more at University Announces Fee For Students Who Opt Out Of Its Health Plan
Why charge them a fee if they meet the 2015-2016 requirements for not participating in the school insurance?
Oh, because this is why:
Quote:
The added health fee charged to those not enrolled in the Cornell Student Health Insurance Plan will augment the current method of paying for health care, which the university said has strained its resources. Currently, Cornell relies on central university resources, funds from SHIP for services delivered to its members, and fees charged at the time of service to individuals, primarily those with private health insurance to pay for student health services.
Led by the vision of President David Skorton, Vice President Susan Murphy, Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Harrison, and University Health Services (UHS) Executive Director Janet Corson-Rikert, the university is developing plans for a new health center designed to meet current and future needs of the Cornell community.
Planned to open in 2017 as a comprehensive update and expansion of the Gannett facility, the proposed center will double the size of usable space for campus health services to meet the personal health needs of a growing student population and support increasingly complex public health requirements and initiatives in the Cornell community.
So they need some extra cash.
Last edited by Informed Info; 02-13-2015 at 10:46 PM..
Too bad Fox did not spend one minute digging into the fee.
Had they done so they would have learned that Cornell students present with more than 1000 different plans and most of the plans have regionally restrictive networks unless it's an emergency. Students who opt out of the university's plan are required to pay out of pocket at the point of service for non emergency healthcare.
The $350 fee allow students to access preventative and routine healthcare services with a $10 co- pay. In other words students are recieving something in exchange for the fee. It also takes routine medical care out of the area ERs
This service fee is rather common at schools throughout the U.S.
Except that most Cornell undergraduate students don't use the University's health services as is and, to the extent that they do use the system and have their own private insurance, are already paying an upfront fee to use the University's health services (this is largely out of pocket, but some students' insurance will reimburse them for the fee). Note, I bring up undergraduate students as most graduate students are already on the University's health plans.
And its great that you're concerned about students "receiving something in exchange for the fee," but the point is that many feel that this should be the choice of the students and their families. At the end of the day, most Cornell students I know using the ER or other non-University health services on their outside health insurance plans are NOT paying $350 in a year; and this doesn't get into the fact that most don't seem to use any medical services throughout their 4 year stint at the University. This is highway robbery meant largely to finance an expansion that most students didn't ask for. Don't penalize students for the University's financial mismanagement (note, in addition to paying for an expansion that most students didn't ask for, a significant chunk of this $350 fee is being used to pay for debt that is the result of the University biting off more than it could chew as far as expenses go).
And please do provide evidence to support that the service fee is something that is "rather common" at schools throughout the US. From what I am finding, this fee is very uncommon.
Note, I write what I write as someone who is VERY familiar with Cornell
Don't send your kids there if it bothers you that much.
That's all fine and dandy for future students and parents of students, but what about those students who are there now and who are having a fee forced on them that they were not expected to pay? They shouldn't have to just up and leave due to financial mismanagement by the University, especially in light of the already high cost of attendance (and rising) at the University.
I don't think that many care all that much. An extra fee at a private, Ivy-League university is the ultimate first world problem.
Plenty of Cornell students do care, and are now raising hell over the fee (when it comes to caring about this issue, this group, and their parents, are who matter most). Take a look at the Cornell Daily Sun site for stories of their reactions. And while an added fee may not mean much for someone who can afford to pay tuition and fees out of pocket for Cornell, it does matter for many who are on financial aid/have outside insurance and for whom $350 is a significant and unexpected commitment. But this is just the beginning. If Cornell gets away with this, look for other universities, public and private, to try the same thing. Still, I admit that the fee isn't insurmountable for most. Rather, its the concept of this fee that is so disgusting and outrageous to many: a fee for not using the University's health insurance plan, which 70% of undergraduates are exempted from because they have their own outside health insurance.
Last edited by prospectheightsresident; 02-13-2015 at 11:13 PM..
Plenty of students do care, and are now raising hell over the fee. Take a look at the Cornell Daily Sun site for stories of their reactions. And while an added fee may not mean much for someone who can afford to pay tuition and fees out of pocket for Cornell, it does matter for many who are on financial aid/have outside insurance and for whom $350 is a significant and unexpected commitment. But this is just the beginning. If Cornell gets away with this, look for other universities, public and private, to try the same thing. Still, I admit that the fee isn't insurmountable for most. Rather, its the concept of this fee that is so disgusting and outrageous to many: a fee for not using the University's health insurance plan, which 70% of undergraduates are exempted from because they have their own outside health insurance.
It's just the beginning?
Let's put this in perspective.
In 1970, you could go to Ohio State University, work 20 hours a week at the then minimum wage and it would pay your tuition, books, room and board and leave you with money left over. In 1970, 41% of entry-level jobs required a bachelor's degree, now it's 71%.
Since then, the minimum wage has risen by under 400%. The average cost of a college education has risen almost 1000%
Go check out the cost of textbooks at a student bookstore at any major university while keeping in mind, that at the end of the quarter/semester, the student bookstore is likely to refuse to buy back at least a few of a students books because "a new edition is coming out." Every undergrad at every university is getting ripped off by a lot more than $350 every year in text books alone.
In 2013, Forbes argued that the more than $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt is a drag on the rest of the economy considering that massive amount of underemployment recent college graduates face in this economy.
Now, complaining about $350 at a private, Ivy League school, whose graduates will have all kinds of additional doors opened for them by virtue of having gone to an Ivy League school, as opposed to say, a SUNY Albany grad, is akin to complaining that your exclusive, restricted country club just raised their greens fees. Cornell is a highly competitive, highly selective elite private school. If they really wanted an additional $350 that badly, they could simply and very easily up their tuition by that much.
In 1970, you could go to Ohio State University, work 20 hours a week at the then minimum wage and it would pay your tuition, books, room and board and leave you with money left over. In 1970, 41% of entry-level jobs required a bachelor's degree, now it's 71%.
Since then, the minimum wage has risen by under 400%. The average cost of a college education has risen almost 1000%
Go check out the cost of textbooks at a student bookstore at any major university while keeping in mind, that at the end of the quarter/semester, the student bookstore is likely to refuse to buy back at least a few of a students books because "a new edition is coming out." Every undergrad at every university is getting ripped off by a lot more than $350 every year in text books alone.
In 2013, Forbes argued that the more than $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt is a drag on the rest of the economy considering that massive amount of underemployment recent college graduates face in this economy.
Now, complaining about $350 at a private, Ivy League school, whose graduates will have all kinds of additional doors opened for them by virtue of having gone to an Ivy League school, as opposed to say, a SUNY Albany grad, is akin to complaining that your exclusive, restricted country club just raised their greens fees. Cornell is a highly competitive, highly selective elite private school. If they really wanted an additional $350 that badly, they could simply and very easily up their tuition by that much.
"The beginning" refers to the practice of charging students to subsidize a University health care system that most students don't use and even though most students have their own health insurance. I don't dispute the other outrageous rising fees that are part of higher education today. Still, there's a limit that even schools like Cornell are willing to take in terms of single year tuition increases.
Moving on: you're ignoring the fact that most students at Cornell are on financial aid, and a significant percentage of those students come from families with such low incomes that they qualify for Pell Grants. To put things in perspective, a full 17% of the Cornell student body is classified as low income: Cornell an accessible Ivy for low-income students | Cornell Chronicle
The fact that these students are setting themselves up for greater opportunity than some other students are certain other universities/colleges means nothing in the right now to those students who can't afford that fee. These are students, not graduates who are out earning money and making the most of the doors that have "opened" for them.
Also, Cornell upping the tuition fee by this amount wouldn't raise the amount that this fee will raise. Why is this? It goes back to what I wrote earlier about most students receiving financial aid. Upping tuition fees when there is a significant percentage of the student body that is paying little to nothing isn't going to raise the same amount of money for the health care services as this is (not to mention that the tuition fee is already increasing year after year at Cornell). The Cornell administration has already stated that financial aid will not cover this fee, so EVERYONE, as opposed to only those who are paying to attend Cornell, will contribute to this fee. There is a significant difference.
Ultimately, again, the student body and their parents are clearly upset by this plan. Ultimately, as the ones who are going to be paying this fee, theirs is the only opinion that matters. While I'm against the fee for various reasons, I'm not here to argue why or why not people should care about the fee. I'm here to discuss the rationale and effect of the fee on students and families, as well as the overall policy considerations behind the fee.
Last edited by prospectheightsresident; 02-13-2015 at 11:54 PM..
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