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He also claims that the average current cost of attending 4 year public colleges in the US is $2000. This is complete nonsense. I think the author is correct,

He also claims that the average current cost of attending 4 year public colleges in the US is $2000. This is complete nonsense. I think the author is correct, but you're largely misquoting him. The author actually said this: "First, many colleges are not very expensive, once financial aid is taken into account. Average net tuition and fees at public four-year colleges this past year were only about $2,000 (though Congress may soon cut federal financial aid). " And if you read the cited article it points out that over the five years from 2004 to 2009 (when the cited article was written), while the "sticker price" of college has gone up dramatically, the actual amount paid by students has actually declined (for tuition and fees): "Yes. At public four-year colleges, the sticker price rose by 20 percent over the past five years (these are inflation-adjusted dollars, as are all historical comparisons I’m making), but the average net price fell $400 — from about $2,000 to $1,600. At private four-year colleges the sticker price rose by 15 percent, but the average net price fell 9 percent, or about $1,100. It is important to note that these figures are just for tuition and fees. Students also have to live, eat, buy books, and cover other expenses while they are in school. "

shareme 15y ago
author is still wrong, average costs of public college is $6000 not $2000 per 2 full time semesters
Duff 15y ago
I wonder if the author went to college? By his logic, my $200k house only costs me $16,000, because of financial aid. (ie. mortgage)
- kenjackson 15y ago
  I'm really not sure what you're talking about, but this might be relevant: "The net prices I mentioned don’t take loans into account. We consider loans to be part of the students’ contribution. The students have to pay them back eventually."
  - bugsy 15y ago
    Thanks very much for digging that up, that's a good find and very relevant. That is the source he uses to claim it's $2000, and the interview it's from claims the actual cost has gone down from $2000 to $1600, but then near the end admits that loan debt is not considered part of college cost using the reasoning that "it's the students contribution". So it's not a cost, it's a contribution. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/q-a-the-real-cost-of-college/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/q-a-the-real-co...
    - kenjackson 15y ago
      but then near the end admits that loan debt is not considered part of college cost using the reasoning that "it's the students contribution". Actually she said the opposite. :-) She says, "The net prices I mentioned don’t take loans into account. We consider loans to be part of the students’ contribution. The students have to pay them back eventually." Net price is the price the student pays. It is reduced by financial aid, but she says that they do NOT take loans into account (whereas they do take Pell Grants into account). That is because students have to pay the loan eventually. So if you have a college tution that is $10,000/year. The sticker price is $10,000. If you have $2,000 in grants and $4,000 in loans then your net price is $8,000. They don't take loans into account when computing the net price.
  - Duff 15y ago
    What I'm talking about is that the author made up some meaningless statistic (ie "net price") to support an assertion with no basis in reality -- that tuition at the 4-year public university costs about the same as a 5-day vacation. By that logic, I asserted that my home's "net price" is $16,000. A figure equally opaque and equally useful.
    - kenjackson 15y ago
      So to be clear, you're asserting that a report by one of the most reputable organizations around college pricing and enrollment, with published data, full sources, and better access than any other organization in the world on this topic -- is equivalent to some meaningless mortgage thing you stated? They provide the data, a report (which you can read at http://trends.collegeboard.org/downloads/College_Pricing_2010.pdf http://trends.collegeboard.org/downloads/College_Pricing_201...), and have better access than anyone else on this outside of the gov't itself (although they're much better organized). Furthermore, this has also been reviewed by chancellors and college presidents. I just find it hard to believe that in the battle between one of the most high profile publications that the College Board does and Duff -- anyone would go with Duff.

shareme 15y ago

author is still wrong, average costs of public college is $6000 not $2000 per 2 full time semesters

Duff 15y ago

I wonder if the author went to college? By his logic, my $200k house only costs me $16,000, because of financial aid. (ie. mortgage)

kenjackson 15y ago
I'm really not sure what you're talking about, but this might be relevant: "The net prices I mentioned don’t take loans into account. We consider loans to be part of the students’ contribution. The students have to pay them back eventually."
- bugsy 15y ago
  Thanks very much for digging that up, that's a good find and very relevant. That is the source he uses to claim it's $2000, and the interview it's from claims the actual cost has gone down from $2000 to $1600, but then near the end admits that loan debt is not considered part of college cost using the reasoning that "it's the students contribution". So it's not a cost, it's a contribution. http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/q-a-the-real-cost-of-college/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/q-a-the-real-co...
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    but then near the end admits that loan debt is not considered part of college cost using the reasoning that "it's the students contribution". Actually she said the opposite. :-) She says, "The net prices I mentioned don’t take loans into account. We consider loans to be part of the students’ contribution. The students have to pay them back eventually." Net price is the price the student pays. It is reduced by financial aid, but she says that they do NOT take loans into account (whereas they do take Pell Grants into account). That is because students have to pay the loan eventually. So if you have a college tution that is $10,000/year. The sticker price is $10,000. If you have $2,000 in grants and $4,000 in loans then your net price is $8,000. They don't take loans into account when computing the net price.
- Duff 15y ago
  What I'm talking about is that the author made up some meaningless statistic (ie "net price") to support an assertion with no basis in reality -- that tuition at the 4-year public university costs about the same as a 5-day vacation. By that logic, I asserted that my home's "net price" is $16,000. A figure equally opaque and equally useful.
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    So to be clear, you're asserting that a report by one of the most reputable organizations around college pricing and enrollment, with published data, full sources, and better access than any other organization in the world on this topic -- is equivalent to some meaningless mortgage thing you stated? They provide the data, a report (which you can read at http://trends.collegeboard.org/downloads/College_Pricing_2010.pdf http://trends.collegeboard.org/downloads/College_Pricing_201...), and have better access than anyone else on this outside of the gov't itself (although they're much better organized). Furthermore, this has also been reviewed by chancellors and college presidents. I just find it hard to believe that in the battle between one of the most high profile publications that the College Board does and Duff -- anyone would go with Duff.