I read this great piece in ‘Money’ magazine last month in August by one Kevin Carey. It talked about how tuition is out of control and nothing is being done to stop it. The line I remember the most was, “people confuse quality with price”. Reading that one line, I couldn’t have agreed more. Between books, food, clothes, & transportation alone, your spending a small fortune. And don’t even get me started on how hard you get hit for schoolin out-of-state. What’s worst, with college costs rising at twice the rate of inflation, we’re almost bound to see another recession based on the levels of debt people go into because of borrowing to go to school; or at the very least, see a vast majority from this generation go bankrupt somewhere down the road.
Now, I don’t think the problem is solely costs. Certainly more can be done to educate students (and their families) about alternative options, that work. Emphasis on options THAT WORK. ‘Scholarship’ is a word I hear used commonly by those who don’t deal with college 1st-hand, and in my opinion have no idea the trouble & strings that come with getting something that should be as simple as a scholarship. It also wouldn’t hurt for parents to start saving for their kids tuition at an earlier age. No, I don’t think parents should foot the bill. But with the vast majority of them pushing their kid towards college, it wouldn’t hurt to set them a cushion, as opposed to expecting cover (or expecting their kid(s) to cover) the bulk amount come high-school graduation. A year, year & a ½ tops. Let’s not forget about teaching our kids to live frugal. Many people get to college and really go crazy with spending. That can be curbed a lot easier if people were educated about money before they have learn the hard way.
I think what scares me most about this subject, is the fact that no one seems to be talking about it. We get stupid over health-reform, we go crazy over big stimulus packages, we get some kind of passionate about going to war, but at the end of the day, education is still the biggest priority, and our biggest ticking time bomb.
[pic via monorailkatze]
