Back In The 70’s I Was Able To Pay For College Without A Student Loan Working At Minimum Wage Job “What Happened” (racist, companies)

[newtovenice]

Colleges became more about landscaping, pool size, rec activities and food options instead of academics.

That's what you are paying for. Not academics.

[TheGoodTheBadTheUgly]

. It would help if the OP indicated which state and tuition

I went to a college in Massachusetts that offered a co-op plan where 6 months of the year you would work in your related field. I was paying tuition at that time approximately $500 per quarter.

[GreggT]

Originally Posted by TexasLawyer2000

Which school are you looking at? A decent school like Harvard was over $4000.

https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2...tuition-hikes/

Is this a serious post??

Harvard is a PRIVATE University, not public (apples and oranges). Harvard is one of the best universities in the nation, not sure where you figure just "decent".

Best I can remember, I paid $14.00 a quarter hours or $70.00 per course not counting books. This was in 1970/1971 in a public university.

[Grlzrl]

Originally Posted by GreggT

Do you have some facts to back up your $3,700.00. I did a quick Google and in 1970 it was like $1,400.00 which included tuition, room and board, plus fees per year.
The real reason for the increase is inflated administration, land and buildings, tenure, professors that are on full pay but only teach part time, and over inflated sports programs. Not to say the stupid federal loan programs which encourage run away inflation on tuition and fees.

Yep. And federal loans given like candy. I know people who lived off them in fancy apartments and bought designer purses costing several thousand dollars.

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by FKD19124

1. state funding of public universities has been cut drastically.

2. more students means more faculty which means more money needed.

3. dorm room housing. dorm rooms today look like the Waldorf Astoria or a country club.

Good point about the dorms. They are ridiculously expensive with meal plans etc. Much cheaper when my kids transitioned to apartments.

[Goodnight]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTheBadTheUgly

I went to a college in Massachusetts that offered a co-op plan where 6 months of the year you would work in your related field. I was paying tuition at that time approximately $500 per quarter.

That is what it was in NY now its $3500, meanwhile the minimum wage went from around $2 to $15. Pretty close but I don't know if they have a co-op program today, the federal government did have a program back then not sure about today.

[Ponderosa]

I ended up carrying a rifle in Vietnam because I couldn't afford college. I went later on the GI bill money and a fellowship grant. It would be tough today. As an example of the costs these kids and their parents are facing, a shared dorm room at Arizona State downtown Phoenix campus costs $9000 for an academic year. The school dorms are only available to freshmen and sometimes sophomores because of growth in AZ that exceeds supply and funding from the state. So after one year they move out into the world where a one bedroom now costs about $1200 with utilities. Tuition is another $10K and then there still are books and food. What part time job is going to pay $30,000 per year? That's $15k an hour full time. Heck most jobs in AZ don't pay that.

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by GreggT

Is this a serious post??

Harvard is a PRIVATE University, not public (apples and oranges). Harvard is one of the best universities in the nation, not sure where you figure just "decent".

Best I can remember, I paid $14.00 a quarter hours or $70.00 per course not counting books. This was in 1970/1971 in a public university.

There's nothing wrong with attending a private University that provides good education. There's only a handful of public universities that are decent... And they can survive as private if they wanted to (with some adjustments).

The idea of comparing tuition from the 70s to now without looking at the long history of tuition is ludicrous.

People like to cherry pick a period where higher education was artificially cheap instead of looking at the whole picture.

[TexasLawyer2000]

Originally Posted by newtovenice

Colleges became more about landscaping, pool size, rec activities and food options instead of academics.

That's what you are paying for. Not academics.

Good colleges have always had impressive grounds. Simply because they can afford it based on their research. It's not new.

[BeerGeek40]

Originally Posted by TheGoodTheBadTheUgly

why did colleges get so expensive and who do you blame?

Government guaranteed loans.


And secondly, have you noticed what the average college campus look like these days? Brand new buildings, brand new everything. Brand new sports stadiums. Brand new dorms. Somebody pays....guess who.