5 ms·

Why do people even spend $200,000 on a degree if they're not rich? I went to community college for my associates degree in IT (about $5000 total), and then went

Why do people even spend $200,000 on a degree if they're not rich? I went to community college for my associates degree in IT (about $5000 total), and then went to university for a bachelor's of science in IT (roughly $15,000 all in). Since you work at a university, what does that extra $180,000 buy? What's the sales pitch you'll give to students to get them to pay so much?

gaius 10y ago
That's what we all wonder when Oberlin students paying $65k/year complain about "privilege"...
6DM 10y ago
As a past student, I can tell you that they definitely sell you a much lower number. They also get you to focus on "tuition" and not overall costs. Costs rises a lot due to books they try to force you to buy, food, and housing. Your first year is required to be on campus if you're from out of state. It's a crazy world out there.
epalmer 10y ago
My Opinion Only: If you are going to an Ivy League school you are paying for the network / brand. If you are going to a lesser tier selective school you are paying for outcomes. But the outcomes, I believe, are starting to lag the price. At the school I work for about 65% of the students get some financial aid and we are need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need. They meet need with grants (think scholarships) and a tiny amount of student debt. We do limit student loan debt to a small cap but many schools don't. I'm not the best at selling the points because I went to a technical public university and got a BS and a MS in Chemistry and Environmental Engineers. Today I am a self taught CS guy. I guess what I am saying is I don't fully buy into the Liberal Arts education selling points. My eldest doesn't buy into it as well. Of course the free education makes all the difference. Typical selling points go like: http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/04/28/why-getting-a-liberal-arts-college-education-is-not-a-mistake/#2ce745871a20 http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/04/28/why-...
- gravypod 10y ago
  What are the selling points on a societal level. Why is the government, and by extention you and me, supporting liberal arts degrees that will do little to support economic growth? I've never head an argument made against this question.
  - jogjayr 10y ago
    > Why is the government, and by extention you and me, supporting liberal arts degrees that will do little to support economic growth? As a taxpayer, I'm happy to support liberal arts even if it doesn't lead to economic growth. But you can't convince me that it should cost $200k to get a degree in it; that's just bananas. There's no way it costs that much to provide that service (even with a healthy profit margin on top). They must be subsidizing other costs with that money. On a related note, I think the American model of charging per-credit-unit, regardless of what you study, is illogical (maybe it's not the same at all universities). It might make things easier for the bursar's office but it just doesn't compute that a credit hour of an aerospace engineering course (with all that expensive lab equipment) should cost the same as a credit hour of American poetry. Or that a 200-student introductory chemistry class costs the same as an advanced 20-student organic chemistry class.
    - rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
      Credit-hour was originally conceived for the purpose of quantifying appropriate faculty compensation. It was tacked on to the student side - particularly regarding tuition - as a somewhat lazy afterthought. College usually meant everybody would study the same subjects. The specialization of degrees is a relatively new innovation by way of 19th century German institutions adapting to industrialization.
    - FussyZeus 10y ago
      The biggest contributor to the cost of college rising are the regular cuts to the public schools' budgets, which in turn is caused because boomers vote politicians in who promise to lower taxes.
  - 10y ago
FussyZeus 10y ago
While I agree in principle, when it comes to IT where you're learning more or less the same things wherever you go, when it comes to the Arts you're also usually paying top dollar both for networking opportunities, name recognition, and usually a fair number of very high profile professors. Where schools like DeVry and that kind of thing were charging huge prices for relatively identical products to a local tech college, the same can't be said for higher end Ivy League schools. In my mind it's sort of like buying a Rolls Royce, there are plenty of other cars that can move you, but a Rolls is something relatively unique and very high quality. At least, that's how it goes in theory.

gaius 10y ago

That's what we all wonder when Oberlin students paying $65k/year complain about "privilege"...

6DM 10y ago

As a past student, I can tell you that they definitely sell you a much lower number. They also get you to focus on "tuition" and not overall costs. Costs rises a lot due to books they try to force you to buy, food, and housing. Your first year is required to be on campus if you're from out of state. It's a crazy world out there.

epalmer 10y ago

My Opinion Only: If you are going to an Ivy League school you are paying for the network / brand. If you are going to a lesser tier selective school you are paying for outcomes. But the outcomes, I believe, are starting to lag the price. At the school I work for about 65% of the students get some financial aid and we are need blind and meet 100% of demonstrated need. They meet need with grants (think scholarships) and a tiny amount of student debt. We do limit student loan debt to a small cap but many schools don't. I'm not the best at selling the points because I went to a technical public university and got a BS and a MS in Chemistry and Environmental Engineers. Today I am a self taught CS guy. I guess what I am saying is I don't fully buy into the Liberal Arts education selling points. My eldest doesn't buy into it as well. Of course the free education makes all the difference. Typical selling points go like: http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/04/28/why-getting-a-liberal-arts-college-education-is-not-a-mistake/#2ce745871a20 http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2014/04/28/why-...

gravypod 10y ago
What are the selling points on a societal level. Why is the government, and by extention you and me, supporting liberal arts degrees that will do little to support economic growth? I've never head an argument made against this question.
- jogjayr 10y ago
  > Why is the government, and by extention you and me, supporting liberal arts degrees that will do little to support economic growth? As a taxpayer, I'm happy to support liberal arts even if it doesn't lead to economic growth. But you can't convince me that it should cost $200k to get a degree in it; that's just bananas. There's no way it costs that much to provide that service (even with a healthy profit margin on top). They must be subsidizing other costs with that money. On a related note, I think the American model of charging per-credit-unit, regardless of what you study, is illogical (maybe it's not the same at all universities). It might make things easier for the bursar's office but it just doesn't compute that a credit hour of an aerospace engineering course (with all that expensive lab equipment) should cost the same as a credit hour of American poetry. Or that a 200-student introductory chemistry class costs the same as an advanced 20-student organic chemistry class.
  - rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
    Credit-hour was originally conceived for the purpose of quantifying appropriate faculty compensation. It was tacked on to the student side - particularly regarding tuition - as a somewhat lazy afterthought. College usually meant everybody would study the same subjects. The specialization of degrees is a relatively new innovation by way of 19th century German institutions adapting to industrialization.
  - FussyZeus 10y ago
    The biggest contributor to the cost of college rising are the regular cuts to the public schools' budgets, which in turn is caused because boomers vote politicians in who promise to lower taxes.
- 10y ago

FussyZeus 10y ago

While I agree in principle, when it comes to IT where you're learning more or less the same things wherever you go, when it comes to the Arts you're also usually paying top dollar both for networking opportunities, name recognition, and usually a fair number of very high profile professors. Where schools like DeVry and that kind of thing were charging huge prices for relatively identical products to a local tech college, the same can't be said for higher end Ivy League schools. In my mind it's sort of like buying a Rolls Royce, there are plenty of other cars that can move you, but a Rolls is something relatively unique and very high quality. At least, that's how it goes in theory.