5 ms·

The ones I know of (mine included) aren't giving any discount. They only waive the room and board but you have to pay everything else....

• newen 6y ago
  Hopefully, they waive the gym fees lol.
• elliekelly 6y ago
  Why don’t the students do a bit of collective bargaining? Reduced tuition or you all take the semester off.
  • tyre 6y ago
    because no student is going to pull out of Harvard over this at the end of the day, every single student will put their own interests over taking a stand here the universities have the leverage
  • randomdata 6y ago
    If the amount to be paid is agreeable for the services expected to rendered, why would you want to take a stand? If the amount to be paid is not agreeable for the services expected to be rendered, why would you want to utilize said services? There does not seem to be any reason for a group to take a stand. It is either worth it or it isn't. If it is, everyone is happy. If it isn't, there is no loss in not seeing the transaction take place.
    • sushshshsh 6y ago
      An in person education is maybe worth $30,000 a year, but should it not be worth $20,000 if the instruction delivered online? Hard to say. We would need to look at the level of profit the college is making from this new arrangement.
      • randomdata 6y ago
        If it delivers the same value to the student, shouldn't it still be worth $30,000? The input costs are irrelevant. If it is only worth $20,000 now, which may very well be true, value has been lost. So, what value is lost? I imagine it will be a lot harder to make new friends and find new lovers when you spend your time at home on a computer instead of mingling at school. Were people previously paying $10,000 per year (to stick with your numbers) to make friends and find lovers?
        • sushshshsh 6y ago
          Students don't precisely control the ability to vote with their feet and drive market pricing for a college degree though, right? Virtually all institutions cluster around some specific yearly price, especially those schools that are competitive to enter. Additionally, since students (buyers) can obtain large loans to attend school, they are able to make relatively irrational market decisions such as paying $30,000 per year for tuition. The thing you said about paying for what a thing is worth ($30,000) instead of what it costs to produce that thing ($20,000) is correct. If I buy a car like that, theoretically I'm able to walk away from the deal if I don't feel like it's worth $30,000, and the seller might eventually lower his price to $20,000 if he never finds a buyer at his desired price. But I think with colleges, the presence of loans and zeitgeist irrationally motivate people to buy something for $30,000, and then if they do happen to pay off their loans they assume that they got $30,000 of worth out of it... But I think that isn't true, since most employers aren't treating a bachelor's degree very seriously these days.
          • randomdata 6y ago
            I'm not sure it makes any difference if the perception of value is irrational or not. It remains, for a student to want to spend $30,000 on school, they have to have a belief that it is worth $30,000 to them. If tuition was instead $300,000, a lot more people would balk at the idea. The outstanding question remains on whether or not the perception of value has declined with these announcements. If so, what perceived value has been lost in that transition? Presumably the education is still being provided.