5 ms·

I like the way that these articles and the comments ignore the elephant in the room: The cost of living while attending college. Here is a data point for my lo

I like the way that these articles and the comments ignore the elephant in the room: The cost of living while attending college. Here is a data point for my local State University. I happen to work there, so I can verify that these numbers are pretty much correct. You can pay cheaper rent, but you'll pay back the difference in car mileage and/or roommate drama. Tuition is (roughly) 40 percent of the cost. What really drives up the student debt is the cost of living. If we really wanted to do something about student loan debt, I think we'd do better to apply the same political pressure to the cost of living as we do to the rate of tuition. Indiana University [1] Tuition: $10,388 Room and board: $9,794 Books and supplies: $1,230 Transportation: $1,030 Personal Expenses: $2,096 [1] http://admissions.indiana.edu/cost-financial-aid/tuition-fees.html http://admissions.indiana.edu/cost-financial-aid/tuition-fee...

saturdaysaint 11y ago
The "books and supplies" section would be interesting to break down. How much of it is due to needlessly churning out new editions to cut off the used book market? In the age of the iPad, shouldn't someone be producing first rate, open source textbooks in core subjects? It's a pittance of the total, but that $1,200 (x4) could still add up to a lot with interest.
- WBrentWilliams 11y ago
  Let me answer that with a statement and an anecdote. The statement: The proportion of costs I outlined, from my point of view, have always been true. I finished my first degree in 1997. The anecdote: All the professors in my computer science program (I'm not going to name-drop, but I had some great teachers that insisted that I learn scheme, then Java, then C, then assembly) either had no required text or gave syllabi that referenced several versions of their listed texts. The context was that we were free to get the best deal possible on the texts.
- icewater0 11y ago
  > How much of it is due to needlessly churning out new editions to cut off the used book market? And there is all the more incentive when the instructor requires a book he has written himself.

saturdaysaint 11y ago

The "books and supplies" section would be interesting to break down. How much of it is due to needlessly churning out new editions to cut off the used book market? In the age of the iPad, shouldn't someone be producing first rate, open source textbooks in core subjects? It's a pittance of the total, but that $1,200 (x4) could still add up to a lot with interest.

WBrentWilliams 11y ago
Let me answer that with a statement and an anecdote. The statement: The proportion of costs I outlined, from my point of view, have always been true. I finished my first degree in 1997. The anecdote: All the professors in my computer science program (I'm not going to name-drop, but I had some great teachers that insisted that I learn scheme, then Java, then C, then assembly) either had no required text or gave syllabi that referenced several versions of their listed texts. The context was that we were free to get the best deal possible on the texts.
icewater0 11y ago
> How much of it is due to needlessly churning out new editions to cut off the used book market? And there is all the more incentive when the instructor requires a book he has written himself.